Urgent referral, I’m so scared!

[Bubalie]

Hi, I’ve been on HRT for 5years due ti peri symptoms. Still have periods and take sequential HRT 75mg eastrogen patch and sequential micronised progesterone (2 weeks off/2 weeks on).
in the last few months my night sweats have come back and I am spotting and bleeding between my periods which has prompted GP to send me for a TV scan. For the past two weeks I have had a light pink bleed with cramping (sorry fornTMI).
I had a scan yesterday and a call from the GP last night which freaked me out! She said that lining is 8.5mm and for women on sequential HRT anything above 7mm is investigated under the 2 week rule.
i am now so scared and wondered if anyone has had a similar experience and can help me to calm down.
Thank you for reading if you’ve made it this far!

Hi op everything like is investigated under the 2 week rule. It’s just the protocol. It’s one part of the health service that seems to work. It is really off putting when you see the letters but probably just needs hrt adjusting or changing. X

Mine was 16mm I think. Investigated under two week path. All was fine.

Try not to panic. The vast majority of 2 week referrals are nothing to worry about.

I had an urgent referral pre Christmas which my GP on multiple occasions referred to as The Cancer Pathway having looked at a lump on my cervix, sucked through her teeth in the manner of a plumber about to tell you the boiler needs replacing and telling me it didn’t look like a polyp.
spent all Christmas panicking till the appointment on the 4th. Gynaecologist could not have been nicer and it turned out to be a cyst.
So not exactly the same (though I am also having some weird bleeding and prob need to go back and ask for more tests) but didn’t want to read and run because I really relate to how you’re feeling and it was horrible BUT the referral did come really quick and was all fine so very much hoping you get the same
I read that 9 out of 10 of this type of referral turn out to be nothing serious - hoping this helps.
Hang in there xx

I went through this in August/ Sept / Oct. It all sounded very worrying for me, and they also found a lesion on the ultrasound as well, so I thought I was definitely in for a cancer diagnosis - but after the hysteroscopy and biopsy (the results of which were an awful four weeks coming) I was given the all clear, which I completely wasn’t expecting. Try not to think the worst - sending hugs…

Hi OP, didn’t want to read and run. This was me a couple of months ago, and I was referred under the two week pathway as I had extensive vaginal bleeding out of nowhere. My uterine lining was 11mm, and I needed a biopsy under GA.
Results came back as Endometrial Hyperplasia with Atypia, and I’m having a hysterectomy in a few weeks.
The likelihood is that everything will be fine for you, but there are many things it could be before the big C.

Morning,

This was me at the end of November. Started a thread in a complete panic… .same symptoms as you, had an US, they found a mass. Lining was 15mm. Put on the 2WW. Had biopsy of lining (clear) and MRI. Turns out I have misbehaving fibroids which will need removing, but not the terminal cancer I’d diagnosed myself with when I was in your shoes.

Sit tight (easier said than done, I know)

You will get wonderful advice from people on here, and someone offline advised me to ‘go through the steps you need to go through to get your cancer all-clear’ She said statistically it’s the most likely outcome (the non-cancerous potential diagnoses are many and varied) and if it is something nasty, you will deal with it then.

All the rationalising in the world didn’t help when I was first panicking but that initial shock will pass

Try not to worry and if you do start to worry, allow yourself to worry hard and big and noisily for a bit and then take a deep breath and talk to yourself as you would a friend or loved one.

Thinking of you ❤️

Thank you so much for each one of you taking time to reassure me. It is so easy to go down the rabbit hole and end up in a complete panic. I also have anxiety for which I’m on antidepressants for, but have been in total meltdown since last night. Your comments are really helping me to calm down, so thank you ❤

im glad we’ve been reassuring. Try to frame it as a real positive that you’re being taken such good care of. Let us know how you get on

Same. I have been down this route 3 times over the last 4 years. Lining 12mm. All fine. It’s quite an intrusive procedure. Make sure you take paracetamol beforehand. It was more uncomfortable than painful for me but the nurses were very supportive. The wait for the results took 6 weeks tho which was loooooong.

Best of luck to you.

A little update to say that i just had a phone call and have been booked for hysteroscopy next Wednesday so all is happening quickly. For those of you who have had a hysteroscopy before is it really painful?

Hi @BubalieI went through this in November (thickened endometrium), Drs suspected Endometrial cancer so had to have a hysteroscopy, I was offered it to be done under GA but turned it down, mine was done with pain relief and local anaesthetic, I’m not going to lie I did find it painful so if they offer a general anaesthetic take it, if I have to have another done I will be taking that option. My results were all clear apart from some fibroids which I have had for quite some time and a small cyst on my ovary which I have to have scans for every 4 months for the next year. Turns out my HRT needed tweaking because I wasn’t absorbing enough progesterone, the drs are doing the right thing getting you checked out quickly, try not to worry too much and good luck with your hysteroscopy, hope all turns out well for you.

Just to reassure you I did some research and 98% of women who have a hysteroscopy have nothing sinister found. The thickened lining can be from fibroids, cysts, a 'bulky womb', lots of things. I think they should reconsider the wording on the letter as it's frightening, particularly if it comes out the blue. The 'cure' is to increase or change progesterone and you should discuss this with them when you get the results. I got example, had a coil fitted.

You can ask for a GA for a hysteroscopy.

Thank you so much for the reassurance. I asked them on the phone how it is done and they just said to take paracetamol one hour before and that there will be cramping following the procedure. No other pain relief was mentioned. Goodness, i hope they can at least offer local anaesthetic as i really am not good with pain! I had a look at my scan report which has been uploaded onto the NHS app and i have few fibroids too and an ovarian cyst.

Thank you i have been googling too and along with this thread feel a lot more reassured. So thank you for taking the time to look into things and write here. After this i feel like i seriously want to reconsider HRT as I felt it worked for me in the beginning but in the past couple of years the symptoms seem to slowly creeping back 😥

Try and get some codeine if you can, that’s what I took before hand. I know it’s easy for me to say but try and relax if you can, if you really find it unbearable they might reschedule and do it under general anaesthetic. I’m going to try and stick with the HRT because I do like the benefits of it although it is causing me some trouble, I’m on double progesterone now but it will be upped again because it’s still causing bleeding. I’m only having scans for my cyst because I’m post menopause and the estrogen feeds the fibroids. Once you stop HRT the fibroids will just shrink away, that’s what the consultant told me anyway.

Unfortunately you need to ask them for pain relief, it won't be offered. You need to do this beforehand, not on the day.

There are a few indicators that you may find it painful
-no vaginal.birth
-painful.periods
-painful smears

I had all 3 so asked for a GA. I also had a Mirena Coil put in at the same time.

I just took my usual painkillers about an hour before (I am on co-codamol for something else, so just took those). I didn’t have a local anaesthetic, and I found it okay. I didn’t want to have a GA. At the end, I had a mirena fitted, and there was a bit of a quick, sharp, ‘pinch’ sensation with that, but it was momentary. As an aside - you will be required to pee in a pot for a pregnancy test immediately beforehand. I hadn’t prepared for this (!), so had to consume what felt like a couple of litres of water in a very short space of time to make it achievable!!

Another one who's been through this recently. 2ww and hysteroscopy due to random spotting and known fibroids, didn't even have a thickened lining. I think I was referred because of my age and they wanted to be sure it wasn't post meno bleeding. I got the impression it doesn't take much to trigger 2ww. All clear, my results only took 2 weeks but they told me there and then all looked fine. I was terrified about pain but was just told to take pain killers beforehand. However, on the day I told the very nice lady doing the procedure how scared I was and she offered a local anaesthetic. I barely felt a thing.