Doctors Discovered My Cancer During Abdominal Surgery — Just Like Kate Middleton: Texas Woman, 39, Shares Her Health Struggle

Becky Black hoped abdominal surgery would finally put an end to the painful menstrual bleeding she had suffered since her teenage years.

But what should have been a routine operation to remove benign growths from her uterus led to a cancer diagnosis that turned her life upside down.

Mrs Black said: ‘I knew something was wrong for years but I kept putting it off. The cancer diagnosis confirmed all of this.’

Becky shares her story with DailyMail.com after being inspired by Princess Kate Middleton’s similar battle with cancer.

Like Ms. Black, who was 39 when she was diagnosed, Princess Kate, 42, was diagnosed with cancer after an unrelated abdominal surgery in January.

Until the last decade, neither woman would have been the typical cancer patient, but their journey becomes a familiar story.

Cancer rates among the over-50s – considered early-onset patients – have now increased, a phenomenon that has baffled scientists.

Ms Black had struggled with irregular periods since she was 14.

The cycles became even more erratic and she started bleeding between periods, which is when she decided to get help.

Scans revealed she had more than six fibroids – small growths in the lining of the womb that are usually benign – and she was referred for surgery to have them removed.

Fibroids can cause irregular menstrual bleeding because they distort the shape of the uterus and disrupt normal secretion.

But because they occur in 77 percent of women – and less than one in a thousand cases are cancerous – it was thought she was unlikely to develop cancer.

However, during the operation doctors found ‘problematic’ cells which were sent for testing – and he was later diagnosed with stage one uterine cancer.

She would then undergo a hysterectomy (or removal of the uterus) to remove the cancer before it spread to other parts of the body.

Doctors say it is common to have a hysterectomy as soon as this cancer is discovered, to remove it before it spreads.

This was successful, with doctors saying she did not need chemotherapy as there was no sign the cancer had spread.

Ms Black said: ‘I wouldn’t say it was a shock so much as a sense of unwanted validation, if that makes sense.

‘My advice to loved ones of people with cancer: even if you mean well, let your loved one with cancer get the space (emotional and physical) he or she needs during this time.

“And for the rest of us, let Kate work through her own process, without our interference, curiosity or concern, no matter how well-intentioned we are.”

Uterine cancer is the most common cancer of the female reproductive system – and is increasing among women – especially under the age of fifty.

Data shows that cases are increasing by about two percent per year among those over 50, and by one percent per year among those over this age, according to Cancer.Net.

It is also the only form of cancer for which survival rates have decreased over the past forty years.

Researchers have previously blamed rising obesity rates, arguing that increased estrogen levels could fuel the disease. But they also point out that fewer women are having their uterus removed to treat abnormal bleeding or non-cancerous fibroids, which can increase the risk of the disease.

Princess Kate revealed her cancer diagnosis after her own abdominal surgery.

She is now receiving ‘preventive’ chemotherapy to remove any cancer cells in her body.

In her statement last Friday, Kate said: ‘We hope you understand that we as a family now need some time, space and privacy while I complete my treatment.

‘My work has always brought me a deep sense of joy and I look forward to being back when I am able, but for now I must focus on making a full recovery.’

Other younger cancer patients have also come forward to share their diagnoses, inspired by Kate’s candor.

Sara Stewart, from Pennsylvania, was among those who revealed she was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer at the age of 45.

The freelance writer said that like Kate, she had also undergone abdominal surgery and chemotherapy.

In an op-ed for CNNshe said: ‘Recovering from major abdominal surgery – as Kate has been doing since January – is horrible.

‘And the fact that you have to do it so that you are healthy enough for chemotherapy is a humbling one-two punch from the universe.

‘For Kate, that’s made even more so by having to endure it all while the whole world is chasing you like a fox during one of those hunts that the royal family always organizes.’

Another patient diagnosed with cancer after abdominal surgery was Jessie Sanders, who was diagnosed at age 21.

The San Diego State University student had surgery in 2021 to have a six-inch cyst removed from her ovary.

But when she came round, doctors told her she had small cell carcinoma of the ovaries, the hypercalcemic type – a rare and aggressive form of ovarian cancer.

She then received six rounds of chemotherapy and also underwent a bone marrow transplant from a donor before being declared in remission in June 2022.

Mrs. Sanders told me PEOPLE: ‘It was just very difficult because I am twenty years old.

“And I’m on social media trying to pass the time and I see my friends are traveling, or they’re practicing and doing normal things that I should be doing.”

Another patient was Devlynn Cyr, 39, from Alberta, Canada, who underwent emergency surgery in September 2023 to repair a ruptured colon.

But she woke up from the operation to be told she had stage three colon cancer, indicating the disease was spreading in her body.

During the first operation, doctors – with her husband Greg’s permission – had also removed her uterus because a tumor had ‘fused’ to the organ and the whole area was ‘like concrete’.

Ms Cyr, a paramedic, then underwent six rounds of chemotherapy to treat her condition.

She said PEOPLE: ‘My husband gets a phone call halfway through the operation saying, ‘This is the problem. We found a tumor and it is cemented to my uterus.

‘I couldn’t come to terms with the hysterectomy because I thought: ‘I no longer have an option for children?

“Did they collect some eggs for me so I can have children in the future? Do they even think about these things?’