Hysteroscopy advice

[Snog]

I'm due one of these for post menopausal bleeding.

Has anyone had one and can share their experience? It can be done as an outpatient with ibuprofen as pain relief or as a daycase with a spinal block or General anaesthesia. I'm very anxious about it and am pretty bad with pain.

@Snog - great news.

I've got my gyny appt on Sat. Will update then.

Thank you Walkingalot, hope it goes well for you on Saturday

@Snog @JinglingHellsBells @HollywoodTease

Update - Had my appt today. They didn't do another TV scan (and I'd shaved my legs etc, lol) Consultant looked at previous scan and said they want to do a hysteroscopy and biopsy - right there and then! She said they can do local anaesthetic and gas & air but given that I hadn't had a natural birth they recommend a general. However, I've got to get my BP down first (176/90) and have to contact my GP. She assured me that as soon as I'm good to go, I'd get booked in as urgent.
So, am non the wiser and whilst I'm very worried, that initial shock on reading the TV scan results has gone.
I'll continue to keep posting here.

I had a one with no GA and I haven’t had kids. My gynae is really nice & very reassuring.

@Walkingalot it's a step by step process. Do you have pre existing high BP or is it due to the current stress I wonder. It don't think it has to come down that much for a GA. How do you feel about the GA route?

You do get to make the choice for yourself - GA was a good choice for me but the outpatient option suits some people best.

Re shaving your legs I had knee socks on for the ultrasound, then perfectly smooth and moisturised legs for the GA - it was a total waste of time as you have to wear surgical stockings and put them on yourself!!!!

It's a stressful time and no mistake, always remember that the odds are heavily stacked in your favour. Taking it step by step was the best advice I had.

I agreed to the GA as I remember how painful just having a coil put in and then taken out was. I was bawling my eyes out during and after, also shock. I've had GA before, so it doesn't worry me.
The high BP - I have periods when it's mega high and Dr says I'll need to go on BP tablets but after some home monitoring, it goes down. It may be the white coat syndrome (it really is a thing). I have my own BP monitor now so will start using that and maybe if Dr can see it's more normal, I won't need medication. I'm a bit overweight, nothing bad, size 14 atm. I drink red wine, mostly in moderation. I gave up smoking in July. I just hope it doesn't slow the whole process down.

Oh that is good news!

I'm back in limbo, Liverpool Women's reviewed my file and said I don't need any specialist treatment so the hysterectomy can be done locally. Which is good, it means less travel and my cancer is very early stage so isn't urgent.

On the minus side, my treatment dates have therefore been downgraded too. I don't see the consultant for the pre-op appointment and consent forms until 21st March. Rather than around now, my op will not be until April at the earliest, possibly later.

This is going to cause me some issues at work (we are somewhat seasonal, May-October is our very busy time, it's very quiet right now) but it is what it is I suppose.

I just want it done and over with. Knowing it's in there is really messing with my mental health.

Oh crikey @HollywoodTease - that's drawing it out quite a bit. But, take comfort that they don't deem it as urgent iykwim. But I think I'd be the same as you, just get it out. I hope work are understanding.
I keep checking my on-line patient record to see if there are any notes from today but there isn't any yet, maybe Monday.

So, got a phone call this morning - can I do Thurs. Yes I can. Just got back from the pre-op tests. I practiced slow breathing and thankfully my BP was OK but my heart rate was so low they sent me for an ECG! It's around 50, sometimes lower. Always been like this and ECG didn't show any abnormalities.
Waiting on the Covid test results and now have to self isolate before admission.

I too got a phone call this morning. I'd rung on Friday and asked to be considered for any short-notice cancellations that came up.

I'm now seeing the consultant on Wednesday. Fingers crossed.....

Course it's relative, like having a baby. I had one plus biopsy for post meno bleeding
Consultant and nursing staff were lovely,he said I might get a bit of cramping or bleeding afterwards
I didn't, have had more painful smears.

@HollywoodTease - great news. Will that be a consultation and/or post-op?

Consultation with the surgeon who is doing my hysterectomy, signing all the consent forms and hopefully getting a surgery date.

@HollywoodTease and @Walkingalot how are you getting along?

Just found this thread and popping on to give @HollywoodTease some reassurance. I had the exact same diagnosis in May 2020 - grade 1, confirmed as stage 1a after my hysterectomy.

I had the whole kit and kaboodle taken out in early June, less than two weeks after diagnosis, and right in the middle of lockdown one, as I managed to get a cancellation. I'm absolutely fine now. Endometrial cancer is very treatable if caught early, which it sounds like your's has been. Sending you and best wishes. Make sure you take it easy after your op too.

Thanks for the reassurance!

Sadly things are not going well for me at the moment. I saw the consultant at the beginning of March, all was OK. The following day my local hospital called me. There had been a protocol error and the specialist hospital (Liverpool Women's) should have taken my case themselves in Feb instead of referring me back to have my hysterectomy locally. The local hospital could not do my hysterectomy, the system wouldn't let them book me in as although it's due to change soon NHS protocols say a hysto for cancer currently can only be done at Liverpool.

Liverpool only have 1 gynae cancer clinic a week, so even though they agreed to fast-track me I haven't seen them yet as they were fully booked. I have an appointment this Wednesday to go and do the exact same consent forms and pre-op procedures that I did at my local hospital 3 weeks ago, and I still don't know when I will actually have the op.

I'm angry, frustrated and scared. I am now 3 months on from diagnosis but no closer to treatment, and my mental health is shot to shit.

I now also have the hassle of travelling to Liverpool to contend with, and no faith at all in their ability to treat me. I'm not in a good place right now.

@HollywoodTease that's awful :( I hope you can be fast tracked for the op, and that's really disappointing that you can't be treated locally after all.

Oh it gets better. I'm laughing now because it beats crying.

I've been to Liverpool today. The reason they referred me back to the local hospital isn't because I don't need any extra treatment, it's because according to their interpretation of my biopsy results I don't have cancer. No really. I still "might" have cancer, but it's just as likely that I have atypical hyperplasia, which is pre-cancerous cells rather than actual cancer.

Either way the treatment is still a hysterectomy, but Liverpool thought the local hospital could do it because it wasn't cancer whereas the local hospital thought they couldn't do it because it was! You really couldn't make it up.....

Anyhow, Liverpool have agreed to do the op. I'ce re-done the consent with them today and had pre-op procedures so bloods, chest xray, blood pressure, egc and mrsa swab. The consultant said all being well with those I'l be having the op in 1-2 weeks, the nurse said usual waiting time is 2-4 weeks.

Feeling a little better in myself today (sorry about my last post) as it feels like I'm finally making some progress. I'm still seeing issues ahead with recovery time and all the work and other commitments I have in May, but I'll just have to deal with them as and when they arise I suppose.

Oh one other thing. Remember I said one of the reasons they sent me for the hysterectomy was because the ultrasound showed my endometrium was very thickened? The surgeon told me today that my uterus is "very large" and although they have booked me in for robotic keyhole surgery it's possible that it'll be too big to come out that way and they will have to do a bikini-line cut after all. Aaargh!

That doesn't sound like fun. I hope you get your op soonest, OP.

Passed my pre-op tests. Surgery on 5th April. Eager to get it done but also scared to have it. The only other time I've had any kind of hospital procedure before was when I had my son in 1985!

Thank goodness you have a date @HollywoodTease. I hope all goes well, will be thinking of you.

Things have moved on so much. I remember my mum having a hysterectomy in the 1970s. She was in a convalescent home afterwards, massive scar etc. It's all so different now. I'm sure you'll be back on your feet in no time, and very relieved.

Glad to hear that you have a surgery date now HollywoodTease, that must be a relief after all the frustrating ping ponging between hospitals 😠

I hope it all works out as keyhole for you and wish you the best of luck, they seem confident it is super early stage so presumably very good prognosis

@MrsMigginsCat

Just found this thread and popping on to give *@HollywoodTease* some reassurance. I had the exact same diagnosis in May 2020 - grade 1, confirmed as stage 1a after my hysterectomy.

I had the whole kit and kaboodle taken out in early June, less than two weeks after diagnosis, and right in the middle of lockdown one, as I managed to get a cancellation. I'm absolutely fine now. Endometrial cancer is very treatable if caught early, which it sounds like your's has been. Sending you and best wishes. Make sure you take it easy after your op too.

Can I ask you how long it took to find out?

I had a hystero last week. Gynaecologist found "polyp like structures" which seemed to concern him and which he said he hadn't expected to find. (Have had 2 or us it 3 scans in the last 6 months which which showed thickened lining, no mention of polyps).

He did keep saying have HRT but don't start on arranging that until you have heard back about the histology.

I very much got the impression that what he found wasn't normal so am gearing myself up for not great news. He couldn't give me a time frame, just that it would be quicker if it was bad news than if it was good.

@comfortablyfrumpy I suspect this is quite area dependent. My results (polyps and smear test) took 17 days and were all clear. Hopefully yours will be too.

[quote Snog]@comfortablyfrumpy I suspect this is quite area dependent. My results (polyps and smear test) took 17 days and were all clear. Hopefully yours will be too.[/quote]
Thank you @Snog