Debbie Kenny (40), from Arklow, Co Wicklow, was diagnosed with cervical cancer last year and was offered a hysterectomy, a procedure sometimes used when the cancer is at an invasive stage.
She did not need to have chemotherapy or radiotherapy as the cancer was caught early and had not spread to lymph nodes.
Kenny, who lives with her husband, Pat, and daughter, Caitlin (8), believes the fact she had been registered for a cervical screening programme in her native New Zealand was instrumental in ensuring she got appropriate treatment quickly.
"I was in a cervical screening programme in New Zealand for about 15 years, starting in 1991. In 1996 I was diagnosed with a CIN2 smear and had a small procedure and had annual smears after that.
"I moved to Ireland about 18 months ago with my husband, who is Irish. I was due to go back for another smear at the beginning of 2005 but abnormal bleeding started in January.
"I knew something was drastically wrong so I presented to my doctor here who decided to take a smear.
"I was diagnosed with CIN3 and was then asked to go for a colposcopy and at that time I had a cone biopsy as well and they took some tissue. I had to have an MRI scan within a couple of weeks and when the results came back I was asked to consider a hysterectomy. There were two malignant tumours.
"I'm very confident that they got it in its early stages. What I found from the cervical screening programme is that as soon as I was diagnosed I e-mailed my GP in New Zealand and he got back to me with all my information from the cervical screening programme within 24 hours, which was great, because my surgeon had the history.
"A screening programme allows a very busy woman or working mother to get a reminder in the post and, what they did in New Zealand, was send a leaflet to you and also to your GP. The nurse was on the phone to you and it would be very difficult to get out of it.
"I found that having a screening programme was just a reminder to me, even if you had a very busy day," she says.
She is full of praise for the Irish healthcare system and for her doctor, Gráinne Flannelly of the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street.
"I was very impressed about the level of treatment right from the diagnosis to the discharge and their follow-up as well has been amazing. It's all been very good."