INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) – Ladies are encouraged to make sure you are up to date on your Pap smears and annual pelvic screening.
Young women like Kelsea Lucas are being diagnosed with cancer.
But the earlier cervical and uterine cancers are detected, the better the outcome.
Kelsea was 21, a nursing student in Bloomington, when she was diagnosed with stage-one uterine cancer.
‘When you hear you have cancer, your first thought is like ‘this is something that kills people,’ you know, so I think that all the time how lucky I was to find it so soon,” she said. “Because it grows and it grows and it grows so fast, and if you find it late, there is not always anything that they can do.”
Her doctor recommends the HPV vaccine for prevention in boys and girls. And women should see a gynecologist every 12 months for an exam.
If you are due for a visit, Check Up 13 makes it easy for you. Women between 21 and 65 years old are invited to register for a free Pap smear and pelvic exam, courtesy St. Vincent.
To learn if you qualify, call the hotline at 1-866-U-CHECK-13 - that's 1-(866)-824-3251.
You may also register online by midnight tonight.