Gran discovers cystitis is actually aggressive cancer – and has part of her vagina removed in life-saving op
Julie Morawaka had a life-saving op to remove her bladder, womb and part of her vagina - without it she wouldn't have survived
A GRAN was given just two years to live after her "urine infection" turned out to be aggressive cancer.
Julie Morawaka thought she was suffering bouts of cystitis for almost a year.
But, when she couldn't seem to shift the UTI, the 55-year-old started to worry.
Doctors eventually sent her for a scan, which revealed a 5.5cm tumour invading her bladder.
The walnut-sized growth was burrowing into the muscle wall, prompting surgeons to remove the lump immediately.
But they were forced to remove her womb and part of her vagina at the same time - destroying Julie's love life.
The mum-of-three, from Great Wakering, Essex, said: "My love life has been very difficult ever since.
"It's not the same as it was. All the nerves have been taken away from that area, so I'm still very numb all around my legs, pelvis and tummy.
"It's also very painful, because things aren't as lubricated as they were before.
"I've essentially had large chunks of my body taken away, so not everything is still where it should be."
But the bank manager knows, it's a small price to pay for her life.
"Obviously, I have to offset that against the fact that I could be dead instead,"; Julie added.
"So I always have to be thinking about that."
It was devastating news. It was such a shock, because for nine months I’d just thought I had a water infection
Julie Morawaka
Recent scans have shown that Julie is free of cancer, and in January she became a grandma for the first time to her granddaughter Myla.
“Meeting her was incredibly emotional for me," she said.
“After being diagnosed, I really never thought I’d see the day when I became a grandma.
“Holding little Myla for the first time, everything that I thought was never going to happen suddenly became real.”
Julie first noticed symptoms in December 2015, when she realised she was having trouble passing pee.
She was treated for cystitis, a common UTI, but months past and still she was suffering.
"I just wasn't getting better and I didn't think it was normal," the mum to Scott, 31, Sian, 27, and Danny, 22, said.
SIGNS THAT MEAN YOU COULD HAVE BLADDER CANCER
BLADDER cancer is a lesser known form of the disease.
Signs and symptoms include:
- blood in your pee
- problems peeing - needing to go very often or very suddenly
- pain when peeing
It's important to tell your doctor straight away if you notice any of these symptoms.
If they are due to an infection, antibiotics will be able to clear it up quickly.
And as with all cancers, if it is bladder cancer, your chance of surviving is much better if you catch it early.
"It crossed my mind that it could be bladder cancer, but there wasn't any blood in my urine, which is the classic sign."
By August 2016, Julie was taking strong doses of antibiotics she asked doctors to send her for further investigations.
Julie was referred to Spire Hospital in Brentwood, where she had a full abdominal scan.
The scan revealed the tumour growing in Julie's bladder, already invading half of it and burrowing into the lining of her muscle tissue.
“Because it was so aggressive, the doctors said I would have to have my entire bladder removed to give me the best shot at surviving,” she said.
“It was devastating news. It was such a shock, because for nine months I’d just thought I had a water infection.
“My whole life really did flash before me and, immediately, I imagined the worst – my children living their lives without me.
“Then reality kicked in and I realised that wasn’t an option – that I had to have the surgery, no matter how horrific, because I’d do whatever I could to keep living.”
Julie had a 12-hour operation two weeks before Christmas in 2016, at The Royal Marsden in London.
She spent two days in intensive care – with her family waiting on tenterhooks to see if she would be well enough to come home for the festive celebrations.
They vowed only to turn on the Christmas tree lights if she was there to join them back at home.
“The hospital only told me that I could come home on Christmas Eve, so, suddenly, my kids got into a mad panic – rushing around to try and find the lights!” Julie said.
The operation was a success and within three months, she was back at work.
But the radical surgery has taken its toll on Julie, who now has an artificial bladder, fitted to a catheter which runs through her belly-button and has to be emptied at regular intervals.
“It means I’m always having to clock-watch and makes it tricky to go out anywhere for the day,” said Julie, who now has a 10-inch question mark-shaped scar across her belly.
“I have to carry a bag of medical supplies with me everywhere – even to the supermarket. I can never just take my keys and purse with me.”
With a previously clean bill of health, Julie feels very unlucky to have been struck down by this type of cancer.
She said: “I don’t smoke, I’ve never worked in the paint or dye industry – all the sort of things you usually associate with bladder cancer.
“It isn’t one of those cancers that gets talked about much, not in the same way as breast cancer or leukaemia.
“It’s the ‘Cinderella’ of cancers – the poor relation.”
MORE ON CANCER
Now Julie, whose son Scott will be running the Royal Parks Half Marathon in October to raise money for the Royal Marsden Hospital – a centre of excellence for cancer treatment – is keen to raise awareness of bladder cancer.
She said: “It’s so easy for people like me, to have what they think is a water infection, only for it to turn out to be something much worse.
“Doctors and nurses need to be made aware of all the symptoms of bladder cancer.”
She continued: “It’s easy just to write a prescription for antibiotics, assuming it’s a UTI, but they should be encouraged to look further.
“If I’d had a scan just a few months earlier, some of this terrible ordeal that I’ve been through over the last 18 months might have been avoided.”
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