A WOMAN who was misdiagnosed when suffering from cancer wants more doctors to embrace the alternative therapies that helped her battle the effects of the disease.

Cheryl Field, who lives in Woodsford near Dorchester, spent seven months visiting her GP showing symptoms of cervical cancer before she was finally diagnosed.

A specialist told her had the illness been picked up straight away the tumour discovered would have been half the size.

The health service in Britain has come under fire from MPs after a report revealed it was falling behind some European neighbours for cancer survival rates because many cases were not being picked up early enough.

Cheryl, 35, was diagnosed with cancer in 2003, after numerous visits to her then local doctor in the West Midlands, by which time the disease was at an advanced stage.

She said: “I had been going to the doctor for about seven months with ongoing symptoms.

“It got worse and worse and I even said to him ‘Are you sure it’s not cancer?’ “And he said to me ‘Of course not, don’t be silly’.”

After intensive courses of chemotherapy and radiation therapy she later developed scar tissue and suffered from stomach cramps to the extent that she couldn’t get up off the sofa.

It was at that stage turned to KaiAmea and said the therapy did ‘absolute wonders’ in helping her to recover.

She said: “From what I was to what I am now, I have improved dramatically.”

Had the disease been caught earlier Cheryl could have been treated with laser surgery and the mother-of-two might still be able to have children.

After launching a legal battle against her GP, Cheryl eventually agreed an out-of-court settlement.

However, she said: “At the end of the day, if I could give the money back and not have had it I would give it back like a shot.”

Cheryl hopes, with NHS reforms seeing doctors being given more control over health budgets, more GPs will recognise the advantages of alternative therapies and the positive impact they can have throughout the medical process.

She said: “With doctors taking on their own budgets, surgeries might be a bit more open to new ideas and part of that should be putting alternative therapies alongside conventional medicines.

Former bank worker Cheryl, who moved down to Dorset a year ago, was so inspired by her own experience that she now practices alternative therapies such as KaiAmea and Reiki in a in a bid to help others going through what she did.

Anyone wishing to contact Cheryl to find out more about her alternative therapies can call her on 01305 848057.

Early diagnosis could save 10,000 lives

A committee of MPs has been calling for earlier diagnosis to combat the nation's poor survival rates for cancer.

The Public Accounts Committee issued a report that claimed too many cancer patients were being diagnosed too late.

Despite an improvement in cancer survival rates the report revealed that Britain was still lagging behind the best performing countries in Europe.

It was estimated that around 10,000 deaths a year could be avoided if the one year survival rates - the number of patients who survive a year past diagnosis - in England were the same as the best performing nations in Europe.

The report said: "Early diagnosis is still not happening often enough and this is reflected in poor year one survival rates for most cancers compared to other countries."