Stacey Madden, a 35 year old mum-of-two, had gone into hospital to undergo a female sterilisation procedure. But she was instead diagnosed with aggressive bladder cancer. She had no symptoms

throughout her year-long wait for the procedure but a blood test on the day of her scheduled surgery, January 20, revealed pregnancy hormone levels. Confident she wasn't pregnant,

Stacey was shocked when tests indicated she was two to three weeks pregnant. But further complications arose as medics could not find evidence of a pregnancy, leading them to suspect an

ectopic pregnancy. "When they did the scan, they thought they saw a mass on my C-section scar," Stacey told the MEN. "They suspected it could be an ectopic C-section pregnancy

routine procedure revealed a malignant tumour, which led to a devastating cancer diagnosis. "I had no signs or symptoms," she said. "When I was told about the lump, I came

home and cried, but I just thought 'It could be anything at this point'." She chose to stay positive despite the uncertainty: "I couldn't worry about something I

didn't know about. I carried on day to day. I was getting sorted, I was getting seen and I knew what I had to do. I carried on as normal. I felt okay in myself." Stacey initially

downplayed the seriousness of the situation: "I thought, surely, it can't be anything serious, so I swept it under the carpet and carried on with what I was doing while waiting for

the camera test." However, the subsequent endoscopy shattered any hope, confirming invasive muscular bladder cancer. Facing the future with courage, Stacey said, "When I had the

camera test and heard those words, I thought 'You know what? I can't be afraid of it. I have to face it head-on'." The reality hit hard upon receiving the results:

"When I got the results, I just broke down in tears because I hadn't realised how advanced it was. I had never even had bladder removal on my radar – it wasn't even something

I had thought of. My head sort of fell off there, but I took the positives from it." She remained optimistic, concluding: "The fact that it's nowhere else, they've got it

all out, and I'm never poorly – I don't know how to be poorly or ill. So when chemo comes, I'm just worried about how I'm going to be leading up to that and what happens

with it. That's when it took over, and I thought, wow, this is going to be a long process." Stacey was also informed by a consultant that if her condition had been discovered

three months later, treatment would not have been an option. Stacey is now concerned about the effect her treatment will have on her two children, Elizabeth, 12, and Alex, 5, who has autism.

She is due to receive more information about her prognosis within days. "Obviously, I'm devastated," Stacey admitted. "I'm absolutely heartbroken. I've been a

dance teacher for over 20 years. I've performed all over the UK, and now I run my own dance school. I'm gutted that I can't do that. I'll be able to manage things from

behind the scenes, so I'm arranging all that now to ensure it's taken care of and that I have something to return to. I'm just taking it one step at a time, putting one foot

in front of the other. "The most heartbreaking part will be explaining to my two children, especially as my son is autistic and doesn't understand. I'm just taking it day by

day. I've got my head around having the surgery now. I can't hide from it, I can't run from it – I'm going to have to face it head-on when it comes." A fundraiser

has been established to enable Stacey to spend quality time with her children and assist in covering her bills. To donate, follow the link by clicking here. About 10,000 people are diagnosed

with bladder cancer every year and it's the 11th most common cancer in the UK. The condition is more common in older adults, with most new cases diagnosed in people aged 60 and above.

Bladder cancer is also more common in men than in women, possibly because in the past, men were more likely to smoke and work in the manufacturing industry.