With a huge bump and swollen ankles, anyone would have assumed Beryl Romaine was pregnant.
Indeed, many a kind stranger gave up their seat on a train for her, asking when the baby was due.
But Beryl was not pregnant - far from it, in fact.
Her 'baby' was actually a huge growth on her womb that would not only wreck her dreams of marriage and motherhood, but leave her confidence in tatters.
The now 50-year-old was one of millions of women suffering from fibroids - benign or non-cancerous growths in or around the womb.
Symptoms include heavy menstrual bleeding, pain and the need to urinate frequently.
Around one in three women develop fibroids at some point, most often between the ages of 30 and 50.
And they are thought to develop more frequently in women of African- Caribbean origin.
The exact cause is unknown, but they are linked to the female hormones oestrogen and progesterone, which are at their highest levels during a woman's reproductive years. (After the menopause, fibroids often shrink and symptoms ease or disappear.)
There is a strong genetic predisposition, says Isaac Manyonda, consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology at St George's Hospital NHS Trust, South-West London and the Newlife Fertility Centre in Epsom, Surrey.
'If your mother had them, you are likely to, as well.'
In 50 per cent of women who have them, fibroids do not cause symptoms: they may shrink and disappear without treatment.
However, the other half experience pelvic pain (from the pressure caused by the fibroids) and heavy and/or extended periods.
Both the long and short-term health consequences can be devastating.
Research has shown that:
- 1 in 4 women with symptomatic fibroids will wait over five years before being diagnosed
- Around 40 per cent of women diagnosed with fibroids have experienced fertility issues
- 75 per cent of sufferers say the condition has a severe impact on their day-to-day life
- 50 per cent of women with fibroids say that their condition makes them depressed
- Heavy menstrual bleeding causes 3.5 million working days in the UK every year
The traditional way of dealing with fibroids is a hysterectomy.
But experts say many women are not being given any other options - such as less-invasive surgery or a new daily pill to manage symptoms - and as a result, are being denied the chance of motherhood.
'Hysterectomies are in the forefront of doctor's minds when it comes to fibroids,' says Dr Nicki On, who founded the support group, the British Fibroid Trust.
'A survey found nearly 70 per cent of women with fibroids had hysterectomy mentioned to them and 50 per cent were offered one.'
It's a situation Beryl, from Essex, knows only too well following her 15 year nightmare ordeal battling fibroids.
'I first noticed something was wrong when I felt some lumps in my stomach while having a shower,' she told MailOnline.
'They were equivalent to a couple of grapes and didn't protrude, but they did feel hard.
'They made my tummy feel constipated and I thought "that can't be right".
'I was a size 12, I was a petite lady. I went to the GP and said "I'm putting on weight around my middle but I don't think its me getting fat because its hard".'
Her GP eventually agreed to refer her to a specialist, who diagnosed fibroids.
'I was shocked - and terrified it meant I had, or would get cancer,' she recalled.
While the doctor reassured her this wasn't the case, the news that followed was equally as devastating for Beryl.
'My doctor said: "I'm sorry madam, but the only option is a hysterectomy".'
'At the time I was 32 and engaged to be married. Heartbroken doesn't even cover it. I thought "I'm only 32, I want to have children".'
That evening she broke the news to her fiance.
'He was from Africa, and in his culture children are a must. In the end my confidence was so low that my relationship broke down and I called off my marriage.'
She also became increasingly angry that a hysterectomy was her only option.
'It's a woman's prerogative to have children. Your womb, it's a woman's organ, part of that taken away is a whole part of your life and future taken away.
'I thought "you've cancelled your marriage plans, you'll have your uterus taken off you, what else can life throw at you?"
'It affected my career, too. I was going to do an MA in journalism, but I thought "you can't go around the world doing interviews with a big stomach".
'So I changed to marketing instead because then I thought I could sit in an office and nobody would see it.'
Indeed as time went on, Beryl, who now works as a finance and housing contractor, looked more and more pregnant.
'I'd see friends and they would say "Oh are you having a baby?" I would get very defensive and upset.
'I didn't share all of this it, I locked myself up and bore it all alone. I had no one to talk to. '
Despite her surgery being scheduled for 2006, she did not attend the appointment.
Instead, she sold her house and used some of the funds to travel to Africa, where 90 per cent of women have fibroids.
'I spoke to the hospital and they said I could have two years of doing my own research around fibroids so I was sure a hysterectomy was the right choice for me.'
By the time she embarked on her trip, she looked heavily pregnant.
'I was so uncomfortable- I always had swollen ankles due to the weight.
'My consultant later said it was like I was pregnant for nine years, not nine months. I would waddle everywhere.'
As well as Africa, Beryl went to Atlanta, Georgia, another area where fibroids are common.
There, doctors suggested she request a myomectomy, where the growths are cut out, sparing the womb.
But back in the UK, surgeons refused - due to the size and location of the fibroids.
'I was told I had 10cm of them laid over the top of my uterus, like a baby sleeping in the womb. The risk of blood loss was too great.'
Only then did she agree to the radical surgery.
'I was exhausted - I'd been "pregnant" for nine years and I wanted relief.
'By that stage I was happy to be alive - I wasn't worried about children any more.'
Two days later, she held a party to celebrate the start of her new life - where her consultant revealed it was the third largest fibroid he'd seen in his career.
Today, she feels bitter there was so little information around at the time of her diagnosis.
'My advice to girls with fibroids would be always double check your body. Even if you get an answer from the doctor, get a second opinion.
'Never leave the surgery unless your questions are answered. No matter how silly, ask questions.
As what your options are, if you don't understand, ask them to explain again. Tell them to tell you in plain language so you can make the right decision.'
[DailyMail]
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