Julia Sweeney is best known as the funny, androgynous Pat on Saturday Night Live but she's also written a successful one-woman show called God Said, 'Ha! detailing her bout with Cervical Cancer.
As described in USATODAY, Julia Sweeney's not ambiguous about cervical cancer.
Sweeney cancer odyssey began with a routine PAP smear. "When I had my Pap smear in NY, I bled. The doctor said 'That's nothing. Some people just have a sensitive cervix,'" recalls Sweeney. "Plus, the stuff came back from the lab okay. Nine months later in LA, I bled again during a Pap smear. I said, Oh yeah, I have a sensitive cervix.' And my doctor said, 'That's not right. We have to do a lot more tests.'"
"I had nothing," says Sweeney. "If I didn't have a Pap smear, I would never have known. I had nothing. It's so weird to have someone tell you you're sick when you feel really healthy and good."
In the end, Sweeney kept her sense of humor and turned her experiences into a successful one-woman show called God Said, 'Ha!
Sweeney recovered quickly from a hysterectomy, walking a 10K one month to the day after her surgery. To assist her recovery, Sweeney also changed her diet.
"I cut sugar out, took herbs and the stuff that makes you not bruise as easily. I tried to sleep, not drink, and eat well," says Sweeney. "With a hysterectomy, little things seem to make a big difference in recovery."
After surgery, Sweeney had nine weeks of radiation left to complete her treatment.
"Radiation was not so bad physically as it was psychologically upsetting," recalls Sweeney. "They said, 'Many women get very upset when they see the contraption.' I called it 'the dildo of radiation.' They offered me visualization or an IV of valium."
Sweeney opted to use both methods of coping.


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