Mom’s ‘menopause’ symptoms turn out to be cervical cancer

By Isobel Williams

A single mom who was diagnosed with cervical cancer says she dismissed her symptoms initially, thinking it was the menopause.

Michelle Griggs, 50, started experiencing unusual bleeding, achy joints, and night sweats in June 2024, which got worse over the next two months.

Having looked up her symptoms online, the mom from Folkestone, Kent, said that she felt confident that they were related to the menopause.

The social club manager had regular smear tests and had been given the all-clear just months earlier, so she said that cancer was the last thing on her mind.

However, after a visit to her GP just in case and several scans, Michelle received the devastating news that she had stage one cervical cancer at Kent and Canterbury Hospital.

She said: “I, like everyone else, figured maybe it was menopause because I was about that age. I really thought it was the menopause, because everything matched what I had read online.

“I had a scan, and when I called the next day to see if the results were back they asked me to pop in, so immediately I knew it wasn’t going to be good news.

“I remember leaving that appointment feeling really dazed, it didn’t really sink in.

"It was a total shock because I had been having my smears regularly and I just didn’t think of that. I left in disbelief.”

Michelle faced a grueling regime of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and brachytherapy, where small rods containing radiation were placed near her cervix.

It also included two months of radiotherapy treatment five days a week which caused her to lose her eyebrows, eyelashes, and most of her hair.

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The mom-of-one says that her job and her close network of friends helped her to get through those tough months.

She said: “I was able to still go in to work and do the admin bits which kept me going. You need something. I think if I just sat indoors all the time it would have just eaten away at me.

“It helped me to have a positive attitude and mindset, and I was so lucky to have a really supportive network around me.

“I have got some really good friends who stayed with me. You do really find out who your friends are when you’re going through something like that.”

Michelle was given the all-clear in September 2025, celebrating with lunch and cocktails, and she will have regular check-ups going forward to make sure the cancer hasn’t returned.

She added: “I still get a bit tired sometimes depending on what I am doing. I can’t walk as fast as I used to. But apart from that I haven’t really had any long term side effects at the moment.

“My eyelashes and my eyebrows grew back, and I had my first haircut in December.”

The single mom is now showing her support for Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, encouraging other women to attend their smear tests and get unusual symptoms checked out.

She also thanked the team at Macmillan, who she says were always at her hospital appointments and helped with her travel costs.

Michelle said: “Obviously when people go to have smears it is not a very nice experience, but it is definitely worth going and putting yourself through those 15 minutes of not very niceness.

“If you feel any change or see any change go straight to the doctors to get it checked out, even if it is something silly, it is still worth it.

“Macmillan are really good. Being a single parent who can’t work anymore I needed help with finances, and they let me know what help I could get. Don’t be ashamed to ask for help.”