[blazey]

I've had a smear test even though I'm under 25, because I had a problem that I was worried about and fortunately all was fine.

The problem with lowering the age is that it was raised in the first place because the cervix isn't guaranteed to be fully developed before 25 and its not unusual for abnormal cells to show up on the tests and it causes unnecessary worry and wasting of time and money in the majority of cases.

I'm currently not old enough to have a smear test at the doctors unless I've got good reason to be concerned about my health. I had mine at the Brook clinic in Blackburn town centre, and I let it be observed so that other women could be trained to carry them out.

Lots of my friends sadly don't go for them even though many have been sexually active from around the age of 14. As they're the same age as me, that is 6yrs without any screening, which I think is pretty terrible but at the same time now the rules have changed on the age you have them, they're mostly going to be turned away anyway.

There's never a black and white solution to problems like these and naturally people are going to get ill. Many will recover, some will die young. Fortunately the deaths from cervical cancer has decreased over the years and yes, maybe the exposure to Jade Goody's story will save a few more.

What I think is sad is that Jade Goody continued to work whilst she was dying. Now there are people who are saying 'well anyone would have done it' but the fact of the matter is that it was only the sheer amount of money that she was getting for it that made her carry on. The 'average person' equivalent would be taking your children to work with you in order to still make money and still spend time with them, and quite frankly most people just wouldn't do it. So she wants her children privately educated, don't we all? Sadly though most people just have to make do with what they've got and accept that there just isn't time to waste on material things.

I doubt her boys would have ever begrudged their mum for being unable to provide them private education because she was dying. They would have loved her all the same and will probably wish they had more time with her, everyone wishes they had more time with their loved ones before they died. And I don't doubt that they would wish they had more time with her away from the cameras and that she'd worked less. And that is what bothers me about the whole thing. The fact that people think these boys are going to really care all that much about the money and the education when they've lost something that can't be replaced and there is a hole that just can't be filled with anything.

What a sad world if we think its great that someone worked til the moment they died and just took their children along with them most of the time. I'd be really upset if my mum felt the need to do that for me and private education certainly wouldn't be something I'd see much value in in comparison to the time I could have spent with her without the cameras and the constant attention.