A mom who was diagnosed with stage four cervical cancer claims doctors said her blood clot symptoms were “just your period.”
Charley Jayne Law, 31, began bleeding clots the size of her “palms” but was dismissed by male doctors on multiple visits to a London hospital over two months.
She was eventually referred to gynecology at King’s College Hospital and was diagnosed on January 27, 2025, after a number of blood tests, transfusions, and iron tests.
Charley was so unwell she had to be admitted as an inpatient and had to make the hard decision to put her children into emergency foster care.
Now at Guy’s Cancer Centre she has been told her cancer is incurable but treatable and is building up strength – after dropping from 168 lbs to 98 lbs — so she can start chemotherapy.
Charley, a full-time mom from Sydenham, London, said: “I was bleeding clots the size of my palms. I attended hospital multiple times between September and December 2024 and was fobbed off with “it’s just your period” by multiple male doctors who didn’t even do the basics of an examination.
“The news on January 27 tore my world apart.
“My body was on the verge of giving up as during this entire time I was still a mom. I was still doing the school runs, I was still dealing with my toddler by myself, the housework, the appointments and scans, and everything in between — despite begging for help from social services, the kid’s school, and anyone that would help.
“I had to make the hardest decision to place my children who have never been away from mommy not even for one night into emergency foster care. WHY?
“The mom guilt was so bad but I knew that if I didn’t go into hospital I wouldn’t have been here the following day.”
Charley said when she finally got a proper examination, she knew something was wrong straight away.
The mom said: “She referred me to Kings College gynecology and I went in on January 16, 2025.
“The moment she did the examination, not even 10 seconds into it, I knew there was something seriously wrong – she had a really bad poker face.
“The gynecologist brought in a specialist who introduced herself as Lucy, a Macmillan nurse.
“My heart sank.”
Charley is slowly gaining weight and hopes to start chemotherapy in the coming weeks, but says her kids are struggling to understand why she can’t come home.
She said: “Both of my boys have additional needs which makes this ten times harder as they struggle to understand why mommy simply can’t just come home.
“And my daughter is still a baby that wants her mommy.
“All throughout this, my kids have been my absolute rocks and light in the dark.
“They have had their whole world as they know it turned upside down but they have been amazing and I want to be able to make as many memories with them, take as many pictures and videos for them to look back on when I’m not here as possible.”
A fundraiser was set up by a family member, Julie Mullan, with the funds going towards a holiday for Charley and her children to allow them to have “memories to look back on.”
Julie, 47, from Sidcup, said: “It’s destroyed her.
“All she’s saying at the moment is she wants to stay alive as long as possible for her babies.
“All we want this fundraiser to do is allow her to make memories for her and her kids.
“We just want to get them on holiday and allow them to be able to do things.
“She doesn’t want her children to think she’s abandoned them.”
Help Charley and her family here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/julie-mullan
A spokesperson for Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust said: “We were truly sorry to hear of Ms. Law’s diagnosis and our thoughts are with her and her family as she continues her treatment. We would encourage Ms. Law to reach out to us directly so we can look into her ED experience, which concluded in a self-discharge before we were able to complete our medical assessments. Ms. Law can contact us at 020 8333 3355 or pals.lewisham@nhs.net so that we can investigate her concerns and also offer our support as needed.”
