Living with cancer can be a scary and challenging experience . When you least expect it, the disease can sneak up on you and totally destroy your life.
The fight against cancer can be difficult for anyone who faces it, and sometimes , all it takes is a little support from others to know that the fight is all just worth it.
Kenzi Paquin is a mom of five and an advocate who shares her experience fighting cancer on social media.
Kenzi is currently battling cervical cancer for the third time, after surviving and being told her cancer was gone. She was originally diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2016 and had a procedure to get rid of it.
She was supposed to go for routine pap smears following her procedure to ensure she was okay.
However, Kenzi told BuzzFeed she didn’t go for her follow-up pap smears. “If I had been getting my regular check-ups, I would’ve caught it early again. I waited three and a half years and the next thing I was told is it was stage IIIB,” she said .
Cervical cancer impacts women more than people might think, and if left unchecked, can be fatal.
The CDC reports that every year in the U.S., 13,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer. Of those women, 4,000 of them die from cervical cancer, as well.
Cervical cancer happens to be the leading cause of cancer-related death in women, as well.
Fortunately, pap smears have made it easier to detect and diagnose cervical cancer earlier in women. Not only that, but the HPV exam has become a good way to detect it.
As Kenzie notes, when you skip pap smears, you leave yourself open to danger.
Kenzie shares that skipping pap smears can be dangerous, as she found out, urging other women to get theirs. Other organizations also stress the importance of going regularly to your doctor.
Kenzi shared that when she was diagnosed again, she was more fearful because of her children.
For any mother, the fear of losing your life and leaving your kids is all too scary and real. Kenzi said that was she was diagnosed again, “the first thing I thought of was my kids and how hurtful it would be for them to live without a mother.”
Kenzie waited three and a half years before a pap smear to find out she had cancer again.
Kenzie advocates for other women to stay on top of their health and pushes for women to go to the doctor regularly to get checked as often as they can—at least within the six-month window of when they should.
When her cancer came back, she didn’t know at first.
She shared with BuzzFeed that you don’t get symptoms usually until the prognosis. At first, she didn’t really have many symptoms. That’s why Kenzie shares pap smears are super important.
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She then started getting symptoms that come along with the diagnosis.
“I eventually had symptoms of bleeding between periods and during/after sex. I also experienced horrible cramps and back pain, an odd odor and discharge, and pain during/after sex. I have constant nausea and fatigue,” she said.
She shares very real videos about what it means to battle cancer.
Individuals who have cancer know how scary some things can be, like waiting on scan results to see if things have spread and progressed further. It can be incredibly scary to wait.
She also shared with followers the moments of shaving her head.
Many women who go through chemotherapy treatment have to shave their heads due to hair loss. Kenzie shared those moments with her followers, to support those who also go through this.
Kenzie’s not afraid to open up about the unknown.
The moments in cancer that everyone goes through—Kenzie shows those behind-the-scene moments where she wishes things would just get better already. She isn’t afraid to hide the truth from her followers and show them what it is really like.
She also continues to push for women to get their paps.
In various videos, Kenzie pushes women to get their pap smears and not wait on them, as she did. She shares how much she regrets waiting and wishes she went sooner.
While she is still fighting cancer, she shows how her family keeps her going.
Sharing all of her videos on going through her treatments and fighting cancer, Kenzie reminds everyone online why she fights. She shows her kids, her family, and her friends, to remind people that the people you love are the ones that can keep you going.
And, despite the hate, she has no plans on stopping her advocacy.
While some people accuse the mom of five of trying to get attention on social media, she shares she will continue to advocate for women’s health and to spread awareness.
