An Erith mum whose cancer went undiagnosed for over twenty years has spoken out about her experience.

Clare Baumhauer, 44, had itchy genitals when she was a teenager and was told by doctors she had thrush.

Medication never worked and Clare said she was embarrassed to visit the doctors, often putting off going.

Mother-of-two Clare said: “I was told it was cystitis, I got fed up with being told the same things.

“I had the same symptoms, itching and burning. I was told it could be earlier menopause, I had never heard of vulval cancer, and the GPs are not spotting the symptoms.”

Clare said the constant back and forth with doctors and the lack of results meant that she had given up going.

She said many women are often misdiagnosed with thrush.

However, she did seek medical advice when she was in her early 30s when she noticed a tear.

“Eventually a couple of years ago I noticed a tear in the same area that happens when you have a baby. I just thought it would heal.

“It was quite painful to sit down, and in January 2016 it had become an was an ulcer type thing.

“It was in March I went back to the doctors. I saw a woman I hadn’t seen before, she examined me and thought it was herpes.

“I have been with my partner Matthew for 26 years, so it obviously wasn’t that. She is then the one who said it could be vulval cancer.

"I’m glad now I saw her, someone else might have missed it.

“I was urgently referred to hospital and I was told I had vulval cancer.”

Doctors said it was caused by lichen sclerosis - a condition that causes itching and burning in the genitals that was mistaken as the host of the conditions.

Clare said she had surgeries to remove a tumour, and took part in a medical trial before undergoing radiotherapy to kill the cancer.

Clare’s lymph nodes started swelling and she was rushed to hospital whilst on a weekend break in Butlins in December 2016.

She spent New Year's Eve 2016 in hospital, where she was diagnosed with the skin infection cellulitis.

Clare also had six lymph nodes removed in December 2016.

When Clare returned to Erith, she was sent back to St Thomas' Hospital for her lymph nodes to be drained, but she needed more radiotherapy sessions after scans showed there was still cancer.

The radiotherapy, which triggered an early menopause, finished in March and she was given the all clear earlier this year, and now wants other women who experience similar conditions to speak out.

Clare said it was important for symptoms to be recognised as vulval cancer often goes unnoticed.

She said: “Just don’t be embarrassed. Go to the doctors, and question why you are having to go back and forth.

“I’ve not missed a smear, they came back clear, so it is important to keep going and questioning.

“It was hard for me to tell my story, it is personal, but if I can help just one person it will have been worth it.”

Strangers with similar symptoms have since reached out to Clare to thank her for raising awareness.

Clare said the lichen sclerosis caused the cancer to develop, and had she been diagnosed earlier she could have avoided the trauma, including radiotherapy, that has brought on an early menopause.

According to the NHS, Lichen Sclerosis is a long term skin condition that mainly affects the genitals, causes itching and white patches to appear on infected skin.

Other areas of the body are occasionally affected including the upper arms, back, breasts and shoulders.

Clare said that she has worked with the Eve Appeal to raise awareness for the conditions that have affected her since she was a teenager.

The Eve Appeal is the only UK national charity raising awareness and funding research into gynaecological cancers.

To see more about the work the Eve Appeal does, click here.