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Sara Lyle Answers Your Questions about Cervical Cancer
Sara Lyle is a senior editor at JANE magazine, where she edits feature stories as well as multiple service and shelter pieces each month. Her first-person account of a long-time friend's struggle with cervical cancer (“I Hate Tumors,” JANE, March 2006) recently won a prestigious Newswomen’s Club of New York Front Page award in the category of Science, Medicine and Health. Prior to JANE, Sara worked at Budget Living magazine and YM, where she wrote and edited lifestyle stories and profiles. She began her magazine career at Link, an indie publication for college students, and has been published in Time Out New York and ESPN the Magazine. Sara grew up in Fort Pierce, Florida, and graduated with highest honors from the University of Florida. She lives in Spanish Harlem and enjoys getting out of the country as often as possible.
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Cervical cancer is often incorrectly associated with older women. Why should young women be concerned about the disease? |
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It’s true—you always hear, "Oh, cervical cancer is a slow-growing disease" or "Women don’t need to worry about it until they’re in their 40s or 50s." But the reality is, young women especially need to get regular Pap smears and pay attention to any weird signs their bodies may be sending them (bleeding after sex is a big one) so they can detect the symptoms of cervical cancer early—before it ever gets to the point that they’d need a hysterectomy or chemotherapy and radiation. |
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Why is cervical cancer important to you and JANE? |
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One of my best friends, Heather Martin, passed away from it a couple of years ago. She was only 28. When she was told she had an eight-inch tumor on her cervix less than seven months before, we had no idea that she might actually die from it—for exactly the reason I was just talking about: In the U.S. cervical cancer kills less than 4,000 women each year. So I pitched a story to my bosses at JANE that I write about Heather’s battle—since, obviously, she was going to come through just fine. It was going to be uplifting, you know? When Heather didn’t make it, it was devastating, and I ended up having to write about losing a friend—the most difficult assignment I’ve ever had. But my editors at JANE and I felt that it was that much more important to get the message out that cervical cancer does affect younger women. We didn’t want any of our readers to go through what Heather did. |
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What is JANE doing to get the word out about cervical cancer? |
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Once the original story, "I Hate Tumors," came out in our March 2006 issue, it seemed like everywhere you turned, people were talking about HPV and cervical cancer. Readers had an overwhelmingly positive—and emotional—reaction to the story, with some women writing in saying the article saved their lives because it prompted them to go to the doctor, where they found out they had precancerous lesions on their cervix. We wanted to talk about all of this in the magazine, so I wrote a follow-up story, "I Still Hate Tumors," which is in our March 2007 issue. More than that, though, JANE is making a real commitment to the cause of preventing cervical cancer—we’re planning a big awareness event in the fall as well as doing outreach on college campuses. It’s pretty exciting. |
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Are you personally doing anything to spread the word? |
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Other than talking about it any chance I get? Actually, yes, I am. After the first story came out, a lot of people wrote me saying that they wanted to buy an "I hate tumors." T-shirt like the one I’d made for Heather while she was in the hospital. At the time, I was too crushed by my friend’s death to even consider producing or selling them. But once I started writing the follow-up story and met so many inspiring women who’ve survived cervical cancer or are fighting every day to eradicate the disease, I thought, "Why not make the shirts, sell them online and donate the proceeds to help these women and other cancer-related charities?" So that’s what I’m doing, with support from Heather’s friends and family, I’m launching Ihatetumors.com at the end of February. People can buy a shirt, learn about HPV and cervical cancer prevention, hear more of Heather’s story and ultimately weigh in on our message boards about why they hate tumors, too. We’re calling it "a love-in for those affected by cancer." |
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Your 2006 story "I Hate Tumors" really resonated with a lot of readers. Why do you think readers responded so strongly? |
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I think a lot of it had to do with how amazing Heather was. She inspired such loyalty and love in so many people she met—there were literally 30 people from all around the country by her side when she took her last breath. I think readers could just feel the loss of someone so young and full of life, someone a lot like themselves or their friends. As Christine Baze, one of the incredible cervical cancer survivors I’ve since met, put it, "People were like, 'I know that girl.' She wasn't a statistic." |
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What was the most surprising thing you came across during your research? |
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Two things: The first is that there’s been a federal government-sponsored program since 1991, the CDC’s National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, which provides free cervical cancer screenings (i.e. Pap tests) to low-income and uninsured women in the U.S. Heather worked several jobs, none of which provided insurance, and it makes me sad to think that the program might have saved her life if she’d known about it years before. Second thing that caught me off guard is how many women around the globe still die each year from cervical cancer—it’s something like 270,000. And about 500,000 get cervical cancer each year. With all the efforts underway to eradicate cervical cancer in America, I hope we can share some of our medical advancements soon. As far as I’m concerned, any death from cervical cancer is senseless death. |
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What can young women do now to best protect their health? |
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As my friend Kristen, a cervical cancer survivor, says, "No one is responsible for your health care besides you." By that, (she and) I mean, even if there’s a free screening program or even if your insurance covers the Pap test , you still have to be the one who makes it a priority to go in and take advantage of the services. You can’t assume that just because you’re young, you’re safe. You don’t even know you have it—until it’s already started causing problems for your cervix. Don’t take your health for granted. |
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Where can young women get more info about cervical cancer? |
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CCFacts is a good start! I’m also partial to janemag.com—we created a great resource page to go along with the follow-up "I Still Hate Tumors" story, the CDC's site (www.cdc.gov/std/hpv), the National Cervical Cancer Coalition (nccc-online.org), Planned Parenthood (www.plannedparenthood.org/sexual-health/std/hpv.htm), Say Something (www.say-something.org) and, not to self-promote, but Ihatetumors.com has a cool timeline that traces the issue all the way back from ancient Italy up to the latest cervical cancer headlines. |
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How can women help the fight against cervical cancer? |
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The biggest thing you can do is get educated about it by visiting the sites above, asking your doctor questions and being vigilant about your health—pay attention if you start having any not-normal symptoms down there; don’t just assume they’ll go away. I also think women shouldn’t be embarrassed or ashamed to talk about cervical cancer. The Say Something campaign (see above), Christine Baze’s Yellow Umbrella Tour and the “Beat the Clock” cervical cancer-awareness march this May in D.C. (go to say-something.org for more information) are all a step in the right direction—no pun intended. |
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If you could offer one piece of advice to young women, what would it be? |
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Pay off your credit cards. Kidding! Seriously, I’d say, "Love yourself enough to look out for yourself." We all loved Heather so much, and it wasn’t enough. The cancer was too aggressive and the doctors caught it too late. And if you’re having symptoms that the doctor blows off or that the tests don’t catch, yet the symptoms don't go away, keep seeking answers. At the risk of sounding like a cheesy self-help guru, "You’re worth it." |
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