GO FOR HEALTH TESTS THAT MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE; vital AFTER HER OWN PERSONAL HELL BATTLING CANCER, 28-YEAR-OLD KATRINA GUCKIAN MAKES AN EMOTIONAL PLEA TO WOMEN WHO MIGHT BE TOO AFRAID TO GET CHECKED OUT.

Byline: By Joan McFadden

JADE Goody may be one of those characters you either love or hate,but there can be few who aren't saddened that her cervical cancer is terminal.

She has had a tumour removed from her bowel and been told there are also growths in her groin and liver.

Katrina Guckian, 28, a nursery nurse from Edinburgh, has more idea than most of the devastation the celebrity star must feel, as she too is living with the nightmare of advanced cervical cancer.

"This sounds awful, but until this happened to me, I didn't know about cervical cancer," said Katrina.

"I am now desperate to make sure young girls are aware of this cancer and take up the HPV immunisation, because there is no need for them to go through what Jade and I have experienced.

"This is the only type of cancer you can be immunised against. How could anyone refuse it?"

Katrina is not only passionate about urging young women to be aware of cervical cancer, but immensely brave, as she talks about the intimate details of a condition which has robbed her of the future she planned, which always included a family.

She said: "It is really hard to talk about something like this, but I cannot bear to think of anyone else going through it.

"I was crying when I read about Jade because I thought she would be fine after her surgery, and it's devastating to read that her cancer is now terminal."

Katrina, like Jade, is plagued by 'what if?' as both these young women had missed smear tests.

In Jade's case, she admits that fear made her miss an appointment to have abnormal cells checked, while Katrina had thought she was having smear tests.

"I had been attending the Well Woman Clinic for family planning and I thought I was getting tests," she explains.

"It wasn't something my friends and I really spoke of until the year leading up to my diagnosis, when some of my friends had to have pre-cancerous cells removed.

"I had received two letters from my doctor reminding me of the need for regular smear tests but also saying that if I was getting them elsewhere to ignore the letter. I believed the checks I was getting at the Well Woman Clinic included smear tests, but when I got a letter in 2006, I went along to the nurse for what I thought was my third smear test.

"That was a bit embarrassing because I had already started my period, so I had to go back at a later date."

Katrina is embarrassed discussing such intimate details so openly, but is convinced speaking out is worth it to warn other women to be vigilant.

She said: " I was a bit surprised as my period wasn't due, so I went back a few weeks later and the same thing happened again.

"This was the end of 2006 and it wasso embarrassing that I didn't go back until May 2007 when I had an abnormal discharge.

"My doctor took swabs and said my cervix was inflamed with thrush. Then, in June, I had dreadful lower back pain and abdominal pain."

By this time, Katrina was frantic with worry and started researching her symptoms on the internet.

"When I found cervical cancer I was convinced that's what I had, so I went back to the doctor who told me I would need to have a smear test.

"She told me I had never had a smear before and the tests I had at the Well Woman Clinic didn't include a smear."

Shocked by that information, Katrina had blood tests and despite bleeding badly, also managed to get a smear test done. When the results came back, they revealed there were significant abnormalities.

Katrina said: "Although I thought I might have cancer, I wasn't prepared for the answer, which was that I had a massive tumour and might need a radical hysterectomy.

"I love children and I couldn't take it in. My mum was with me when I was told on the eve of my 27th birthday that I had cancer. The biopsy confirmed two days later that it was cervical cancer."

All Katrina could think about at that point was her infertility.

She said: "I didn't think about dying, I just couldn't bear the thought of not having a family."

KATRINA then took the decision to delay her treatment for four weeks to have IVF and have eggs retrieved and frozen, but even this procedure had its problems.

"Because I don't have a partner, I couldn't get this done on the NHS," she said. "I had to travel to Glasgow to have it done privately at a cost of pounds 4000. I now have 16 frozen eggs and need to pay a yearly fee to keep them frozen."

The hysterectomy removed the bulk of the tumour, but the cancer had spread to the lymph nodes and vaginal wall so Katrina needed five weeks of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, ending with internal radiotherapy.

Katrina said: "If you don't know about cervical cancer you cannot imagine how terrible the treatment is. The internal radiation was extremely invasive and undignified and I had to lie on my back for 21 hours while it was delivered.

"The nurses were lovely. They came to talk to me and rub my back, but this cancer strikes at the very heart of your femininity.

"Afterwards, I went into the menopause and now have to take HRT and it's so hard to feel like a real woman.

"If it hadn't been for the support of Maggie's Centre, I really don't know how Iwould have coped."

In June of last year, Katrina was told her cancer was in remission but during her regular check-ups, she has already had one scare, when it appeared a tumour might be reforming.

"I thought I was going to die, but an MRI scan revealed it was only scar tissue.

That was amazing. It was like being given a new lease of life."

The last couple of weeks have been hard for Katrina, as cervical cancer has been in the headlines. Yet she remains determined to make as many people aware of it as possible, despite her embarrassment over her own experience.

She said: "Neither Jade or I should be in this position.

"I have only just stopped blaming myself for not checking that it was smear tests I was getting and for not overcoming my embarrassment. I am sure Jade feels the same way.

"Even if I get a sore head, I think my cancer is back and I'm sure I drove my friends mad, nagging them to go for smear tests.

"I worry about my future and I've not just been through a physical nightmare, but I'm battered emotionally.

"I'm still very anxious about the cancer recurring, but aside from that, it's so hard to feel feminine when such an intimate part of you has been removed or damaged.

"It's not just the cancer which is so hard, but the treatment."

Katrina admits she worries about Jade as if she were a friend.

"I do feel I know her because we've gone through the same thing," she said.

"But I have to say over and over to other young women and girls that this doesn't have to happen to them.

"Please be aware, go for the tests, get the HPV immunisation and keep talking about it.

"I know some people criticise Jade, but I actually think she's very brave and could well save other lives."

Yet as she reveals her own agony to the world in the hope of doing just that, Katrina Guckian seems unaware that brave is really the only word which could be used to describe herself.

'When I got the news, I didn't think about dying, I just couldn't bear the thought of not having a family'

The highs and lows of life in the public eye

JUNE 5, 1981

Jade is born in Bermondsey, South East London.

MAY 2002

On Big Brother 3, she is ridiculed for her daft comments, but finishes fourth and becomes reality TV's biggest ever star.

JUNE 2003

Son Bobby is born to Jade and partner Jeff Brazier, a former Leyton Orient footballer-turned-TV presenter.

SEPTEMBER 2004

Second son Freddie is born, but she splits with Jeff shortly afterwards.

APRIL 2006

Collapses during the London Marathon. Later admits her training for it consisted of "Chinese food, curry and drinking".

MAY 2006

Publishes Jade: My Autobiography - it's a bestseller.

June 2006

Launches her fragrance Shh... Jade Goody. It outsells rival scents from Britney Spears and J-Lo and earns Jade more than pounds 1million.

January 2007

Enters Celebrity Big Brother with boyfriend Jack Tweed and mum Jackiey Budden. Leaves in disgrace after a row over racist comments about Shilpa Shetty.

MARCH 2008

Involved in a fight in an Essex nightclub.

Dumps Jack after a series of claims that he has been unfaithful.

JULY 2008

Launch of new scent, Controversial.

AUGUST 2008

Enters an Indian Big Brother programme called Bigg Boss, but two days later, she is told tests confirm she has cervical cancer. She is reconciled with Jack as he supports her through her illness.

SEPTEMBER 2008

Undergoes surgery to remove a large tumour, her womb and her ovaries and allows cameras to record her fight for survival.

SEPTEMBER 2008

Jack is sentenced to 18 months behind bars for attacking a 16-year-old boy with a golf club in December 2006.

OCTOBER 2008

Releases second autobiography, Catch A Falling Star.

JANUARY 2008

Jade talks about losing her hair to chemotherapy.

JANUARY 2008

Jack is released early from jail.

FEBRUARY 3,2009

She receives the news the cancer has spread and tumours had been found in her liver, bowel and groin.

FEBRUARY 6,2009

Jade undergoes emergency surgery to remove a tumour from her bowel.

FEBRUARY 10,2009

Doctors tell Jade her cancer is terminal.

CAPTION(S):

SYMPATHY: Katrina has Jade Goody in her thoughts as the TV star battles cancer PICTURE: CRAWFORD BROWN; SO BRAVE: Katrina with her mum, Frances and gran Terry