KYM'S CANCER SCARE
Coronation Street’s Kym Marsh begs women to get smear tests after revealing one saved her life
THE Coronation Street actress has shared her own brush with cancer to support Loose Women's Face Your Smear campaign
KYM Marsh has begged women to get their smear tests done after revealing she could have died without hers.
The Coronation Street actress - who quit the role of Michelle Connor in the ITV soap last week - said her smear test saved her life after pre-cancerous cells were found just months after she lost her baby son Archie.
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Speaking on today's Loose Women to back their Face Your Smear campaign, she said: "I lost Archie in the February.
"It was sadly when Jade Goody died in the March around Mother's Day. And after everything that had just happened to me it was an emotional time.
"And I thought I had to go and make sure it was all fine. Doing that I was then told I had pre-cancerous cells. I was absolutely terrified, distraught and wasn't in the best place mentally anyway. Luckily for me it was caught early and I was treated."
Asked if it saved her life, Kym said: "Absolutely. If I hadn't, who knows? The thing is about cervical cancer is that it's so treatable if it's found at the right time.
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It comes after the Sun launched its #CheersForSmears campaign to raise awareness of the importance of cervical screening.
Kym added: "It's so important. For the sake of 30 seconds of discomfort, it can save your life.
"After that I had a regular one every year for three years and after that I went back to every three years.
"I think the age restrictions are madness. I know what the doctors say about getting false positives. But for me I feel as soon as a woman is sexually active, or as soon as they have children, and my daughter Emily is 21 and having a baby. They should absolutely be having a smear test."
Kym also begged women to have their smear tests, no matter what. She said: "Absolutely go, please go. As soon as I get my reminder I'm there. They're probably sick of seeing me."
Kym Marsh reveals her daughter's child will call her Lolly not grandma
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The actress also spoke about how she panicked when she realised she was going to be a grandmother at 42 - and has refused to be called it for her daughter Emily's baby.
She said: "I am so excited. She's a wonderful kid. It was a big shock for all of us when we found out she was pregnant. But she had a wonderful pregnancy.
"I think she's clued up on it all because I had Polly when Emily was a teenager. So she knows what it entails and saw what it involves."
She added: "I'm so excited but I have said you can't call me grandma or nanna. I went online to find alternative names for grandparents. We got Lolly and Pop."
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