Cancer-stricken mother, 42, dies after doctors dismissed her heavy periods that left her in agony: Disease was only spotted five years after symptoms began

A mother-of-two whose terminal cancer was missed after medics dismissed her unusually heavy periods has died.

Kelly Pendry, 42, from North Wales, first developed worrying symptoms — which included being in a ‘lot of pain’ — in 2016.

It would later be discovered she had an aggressive, and ultimately deadly, form of cancer in her uterus, with doctors only spotting it after it had become terminal. 

But medics initially made her feel ‘like a drama queen’, recommending she instead go on the pill, have a coil fitted, or take antidepressants. 

One doctor even claimed Mrs Pendry’s heavy, prolonged periods were down to her body ‘normalising’ after pregnancy.

She would later be diagnosed with fibroids, normally harmless growth in the uterus, and was scheduled in for a hysterectomy in 2020 to stop her symptoms.

But her operation was delayed due to the disruption of the Covid pandemic to the NHS. 

Then in 2021 she given the devastating news that one of the fibroids was actually a rare form of cancer — which had spread to her lungs, chest and lymph nodes.

In a post on Facebook, her husband Michael said his ‘amazing and beautiful wife’ died early on Sunday.

He added that she ‘fought until the very end, her spirit and strength was incredible as always.’

Speaking at the time of her diagnosis, Mrs Pendry said that it had inevitably left her wondering ‘what might have been’ if the disease had been spotted earlier.

Her cancer, called uterine leiomyosarcoma, affects approximately one to five out of every 1,000 women with fibroids. 

It is usually diagnosed by chance when a woman has a hysterectomy to remove the growths and they are then examined.

Even if caught early, only about half of women who develop the cancer live longer than five years. If not caught early, the odds of survival decrease rapidly. 

Leiomyosarcoma is a type of cancer which appears in smooth tissue found inside the body, such as the intestines, stomach, and in women, the uterus.

About 600 people in the UK are diagnosed with this cancer every year. 

Mrs Pendry vowed to make memories with her two children Sam (10) and Isla (8) in the aftermath of the diagnosis. 

She also wanted to warn other women who might be in her position to not be put off by medics dismissing worrying symptoms, and to demand further investigations. 

‘I want people to know my story because fibroids are so common and I don’t want what’s happened to me to happen to anyone else,’ she previously said. 

Mr Pendry raised over £75,000 by conducting a 180mile run in a bid to get his wife treatment in the US to help prolong her life and make her more comfortable.

The treatment eventually went ahead in the UK, but Mr Pendry said the remaining funds will be donated to charity to help other people in his wife’s situation. 

Fibroids are a common growth made of muscle and fibrous tissue which appear in the wombs of about a third of women at some point in their lives.

They are relatively harmless but can cause discomfort and pain in some cases.

However, fibroids can develop into a rare form of cancer, as in Mrs Pendry’s case. 

Speaking in October 2021, while undergoing gruelling chemotherapy to extend her life, Mrs Pendry said she wanted to fight as long as she could to make memories with her family.

‘I want to be that person who beats all the odds, even if it just gives me more time to make memories with my family because they mean the word to me.’

‘My husband is my rock and I have two phenomenal kids so I’m determined to fight for them, no matter what it takes.’

Mrs Pendry was just one of millions of people in the UK whose surgery was delayed or cancelled due to the chaos of the Covid pandemic.

Data shows more than 1.5million NHS operations were cancelled or delayed in England in 2020, the first year of the pandemic.