Ellie Waters-Barnes, 23, is a medical student and lives in Stoke-on-Trent.

Here she tells her story and how the cancer diagnosis and treatment from the age of 14 changed her life forever.

“Lying in bed next to my boyfriend, I felt sad and angry. Scarring and damage to my genitals, caused by cancer treatment when I was just a teenager, had left me unable to have penetrative sex. It didn’t matter how many times he reassured me that it wasn’t important, I couldn’t help but feel frustrated.

I was 14 when, in September 2015, I was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), a soft tissue cancer. A tiny lump in my left buttock had grown, and I became constipated, tired and had leg pain. It was only when I struggled to pee that I told my mum Samantha. I’d been too embarrassed before then.

My GP

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