INDIANAPOLIS — Looking back, it's scary to realize it was an appointment Bethann Kelley almost canceled. Her husband was traveling for work and if Kelley kept her annual OBGYN appointment, it meant she'd have to take her two young children with her. It certainly was going to be inconvenient, but for some reason, she decided to just make the best of it and go.
She had no way of knowing a global pandemic was about to shut down everything in a few months. She felt fine and also had no symptoms or signs that cancer was present and threatened her future. At the time, she was 41 years old.
"I went from a screening exam to 'You're going to visit an oncologist," Kelley said.
Her physician, Dr. Sarah Goodrich, a gynecological oncologist at Ascension St. Vincent, specializes in treating cervical cancer.
Goodrich said the earlier abnormal cells are detected and removed, the more promising the outcomes. Kelley's case was a textbook example of that.
"Thanks to her showing up to see her annual GYN appointment, her cervical cancer was caught at a very early stage and she was able to be treated and cured surgically," Goodrich said. "Had she waited, it could have spread to the point where surgery was not an option and a cure potentially wouldn't have been possible."
Kelley is grateful doctors were able to move quickly and schedule her surgery just days before the lockdown last year.
"If I hadn't gone, if I had rescheduled that appointment, I probably would have pushed into COVID times and I would have waited a year," Kelley said. "I still maybe might not have gone, and my outcome would not have been as positive."
Now, she wants the same outcome for others and is encouraging all women to schedule and keep annual OBGYN appointments for their own peace of mind and for those you love.
"Go, make yourself a priority, and make your family a priority," Kelley said, "It's a small exam with a really big impact."
To encourage women of central Indiana to stay on track, for Check-Up 13 on May 13, 2021, Ascension St. Vincent is offering a free pap smear and HPV test to women 21 and older who haven't had the screening in the past 12 months. Learn more and see if you qualify here.