Glasgow Southside woman makes miracle cancer recovery

Julianna Boles sat in disbelief.

She, like other young mums, was busy planning for the upcoming Christmas season and her daughter’s fifth birthday on New Year’s Day.

She was 24 and had put some unusual symptoms down to stress brought on by the recent break-up of her relationship.

Yet, somehow, she had found herself in front of a doctor who shrugged looking at her recent scans.

Was it cancer? Yes, but what kind or where to go next, they didn’t know.

Her medical information was sent to a specialist in London who diagnosed the mum-of-one from Shawlands with rare clear-cell cervical cancer.

Julianna told the Glasgow Times: “My friend came with me and they were just saying there was nothing that could be done.

“I was in such shock, I was just sat in silence and my friend was saying ‘what? Is there nothing you can do?’.

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“I was trying to wrap my head around it when, a week later, I got a call out the blue saying they were going to try me on this new make-or-break treatment.”

Julianna’s issues had begun months earlier when she experienced some unusual bleeding in between her periods and was feeling drained.

She had had letters inviting her to a smear test but had put them off due to a hectic life caring for her daughter Julianne.

After receiving her fifth letter, she finally decided it was time. Moments after the examination began the nurse requested a doctor who informed Julianna she would need to be sent to the hospital immediately.

Then came a long wait for the results.

“They just kept saying they didn’t know what they were dealing with and they didn’t hold out much hope for me,” she said.

Julianna was put on several courses of radiotherapy, chemotherapy and the relatively new selectron therapy.

It was an incredibly aggressive form of treatment which left her ill, suffering from weight loss and some hair loss, however, she focused on meditation and other holistic approaches to get her through.

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She even continued visiting martial arts classes she had taken prior to her diagnosis. She wasn’t fit enough to participate but wanted to keep the “fighting spirit” alive.

She said: “Luckily, I lived near my grandparents who were a great support to me and they took my daughter while I was being treated, which was good for them as well rather than watching me go through this.

“She was my motivation. I wanted to be there to see her grow up, to be with her at all of her milestones.”

Much to the shock of the medical team around her, Julianna did just that.

Almost 20 years on from her diagnosis in 2004, now 45-year-old Julianna is living a healthy life in Glasgow’s Southside.

Now, when she’s not with her daughter, she spends her time working as a part-time carer and cat sitter.

“After the treatment, I was really scared about what was coming next. Nothing was really explained and there wasn’t any support. It wasn’t like it is now.

“I had to phone the hospital and ask what happens to me now. Some doctors were saying I didn’t need smears anymore and others were saying I should, so I was really confused.”

Julianna soon began experiencing side effects of the premature menopause which she had been plunged into as a side effect of her treatment, but she determined it was best to handle it as she had done before – holistically.

Doctors warned her she would need to make an urgent return to the hospital if she experienced any further bleeding, which happened occasionally over the years. Luckily, however, scans have come back clear.

Today, Julianna works alongside Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust as a volunteer to help other people in a similar situation and has now backed the Glasgow Times Don’t Fear the Smear campaign in a bid to encourage others to keep up with their smear appointments.

The campaign is also calling on both the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board and the Scottish Government to tackle lengthy waiting times for test results and vital follow-up appointments.

“Go and get your check-ups, don’t put them off. Prevention is better than the cure,” she said.

“Maybe if I had gone sooner, it might have been different, and I wouldn’t have had to go through all that.

“I know it’s a difficult thing but you can’t put it off. It’s the difference between living and, you know, the alternative.”