Cancerous Tumour??

[Bella198567]

Hello, wondering has anyone experienced a red congested cervix highly suspicious of malignancy?
Waiting for the biopsy results
Normal Pap smear in feb last year and normal ultrasounds until now!
This has come on suddenly bleeding everyday, my oncologist is certain is 99 percent a cancerous tumour which was never picked up even though I had an internal ultrasound done last month
Has anyone experienced this?

Hello,

I had a cervical cancer diagnosis in February last year. For a few months leading up to that point I had several investigations, including an internal ultrasound, none of which made any suggestion of cancer. The biopsy taken from the colposcopy, however, did confirm the cancer. I also had a lot of irregular bleeding for up to a year beforehand. Hopefully your biopsy will confirm for certain one way or another.

I recommend you visit the Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust website/forum. Lots of advice and support on there. Fingers crossed all is well for you!

Thanks so much for your reply!
Can I ask what stage you had and your treatment?

@Bella198567

Of course... I was staged as 1B2, so I had to have an abdominal hysterectomy (I believe that anything stage 2 and up, they just go straight for chemo-radio). The surgery was apparently successful at the time, but a new tumour was found growing about 6 months later, so I then had to have chemo-radio anyway. I'm more than 1 year post-treatment now and all scans are showing no sign of recurrence.

I meant to say in my original post that I never heard the term "red congested cervix", so I'm not sure if that was something I had or not.

Do you know how long you have to wait for biopsy results? The wait can be agonising, but it is better to know what you're dealing with. The treatments available now are so good.

Hi thanks so much for replying
I got the biopsy results and have been diagnosed with adenocarsioma of the cervix
Not sure of staging yet
Off to a PET scan as we speak
Oncologist thinks it looks like Stage 2

@Bella198567

I'm so sorry to hear that. Mine was also adenocarcinoma. Do let me know the results of your staging. I'm happy to talk through anything with you. Please know that the treatments are very good now and total cure is absolutely possible. Try not to Google too much, especially statistics, as they are very out of date.

Do join Jo's Trust forum. It's ever so helpful and you'll find lots of support there, without judgment.

@Bella198567

Just checking in to see how you are? It's probably still a big shock. Have you managed to visit the Jo's Trust website/forum?

Hi there,
I'm so sorry I have a new phone I had to retrieve all of my old data

So my treatment plan will commence tomorrow as I've been told I need 6 weeks of chemo, radiation and bracky.
I have also signed up to jos forum thanks for that

I'm very nervous about all of this as my mind keeps wandering to dark places. But clinging onto hope and all the strength I have at this point.

I've also been staged at 2b
No lymph involvement however it has spread onto my tissue and left side ligament.

@Bella198567

Bless you, it is a dark and worrying time. That's completely natural and normal. Try to focus on the fact that it's been caught relatively early and success rates are high at this stage.

Your treatment sounds the same as mine. I had 1 chemo session per week and radiotherapy every day (excluding weekends) for 5 weeks. This was followed by an inpatient stay for 4 nights for the brachytherapy.

Take lots of entertainment (books, TV progs) for the chemo days, as they are long and boring. In the end I only had 2 chemo days, instead of 5, as I developed tinnitus and they were worried it would cause permanent hearing damage, so do flag that up to your oncology team if that happens to you (tinnitus is quite common, apparently).

They might give you crap anti-nausea meds on your first chemo session. If they don't work very well, speak to them at your second chemo session and ask for better anti-nausea meds.

You will probably go off rich foods, so try to keep quite plain foods available to you at home.

The radiotherapy doesn't hurt and doesn't last very long. You will probably start to feel the effects of it from about 2 weeks after you start. Just get lots of rest (I hope you can take time off work?) and stay hydrated.

The brachytherapy can be tough, but you will get through it. Then about 2+ weeks after your treatment ends you should start to feel more normal again.

I wish you the best of luck and hope for a positive outcome! X

Thank you so very much for your advice and response
I do keep looking at the positives that I am quiet early
I've had the cancer for a long time undetected
My story is very different to others
I only found the cancer by chance as I was struggling to get pregnant and a specialist did a routine check and found a 5cm tumour
Mind you, after two miscarriages 8 months apart and multiple ultrasounds no one saw it! Definitely a story to tell once I overcome this hurdle !
Are you based in Australia?

@Bella198567

I'm based in the UK, but I imagine the treatments are the same as in Australia.

My oncology team thought I had my cancer for at least a year before diagnosis. I'm sorry to hear about your journey so far, but hopefully the medical team will sort you out.

Also sorry this may sound a little vain did you lose any of your hair with the chemo ?

Hair-wise, I think it depends on which type of chemo drug you have. I had a drug called Cisplatin and the only hair loss I experienced was in the pelvic area. The stronger the chemotherapy, the more likely you are to lose head/eyebrow hair.

It's not a vain question at all. I was also not keen on the idea of losing my head hair, but I guess it's like all of these things... if it came to it, I'd have just dealt with it.

I have been told I will be having that Chemo also.
It's one thing being sick then losing your hair on top of it is not fun.

So I think head hair loss with Cisplatin is extremely unusual, so you should be ok. I took two full months off work for my chemoradiotherapy. I know some people continue to work throughout, but I'm glad I made the decision to take that time out. I felt rotten most days, so it was nice not to have that added pressure of having to log into work. If I wanted to sleep, I could. If I wanted to watch a box set, I could. Just do whatever it takes to make your treatment time more bearable for you.

I also am planning on taking time off work
My oncologist thinks I will be able to still go into the office but I highly doubt it from what I have been reading

How long did you have to wait until treatment was over for the results?

I would most definitely NOT have been able to go into the office during treatment... my bowels and bladder were all over the place! Take the time off, if you can afford to... you can always go into work, if you feel up to it.

Just having a look at my diary from that time. So I completed treatment mid-October (2020) and on 1st Feb (2021) I received the all-clear. Though they scanned me a few times during the brachy and said at the time that I had responded well to treatment and they were confident it would be successful.

I feel so much better reading that
Thank you

Yes I think I'll definitely take time off I have a 4 year old which will be with my mum and husband thankfully

I thought that I wouldn't get my results for three months after treatment that was making me nervous !

I think with cancer they never like to stick their neck out and say 100% that you're all clear, but by the end of the brachy they should have a really good idea. Hopefully they'll be happy to discuss it with you at the time.

In fact, just before I had my brachy they scanned me and said that the tumour had shrunk significantly and they were hopeful that the brachy would kill it completely, so I hope you will be able to find out in 5-6 weeks' time.

As long as I have some sort of update I guess that will make me more positive rather than not knowing if the treatment has responded
Did you feel sick as soon as you had your first chemo session or the next day?

Hi guys.

I had stage 1B2 about 8 years ago. Just had a total hysterectomy and removal of lymph nodes. Mine was caught on a routine smear test and was an aggressive fast growing type, so I was lucky on the timings.

I do remember the worry between knowing I had cancer, but not how badly, and also the worry that they’d got it all. My mind went to dark places too, so I’m here just for the hand hold.

Hp79 how worrying when they found the new tumour. But they do keep a very close eye on you afterwards, don’t they, and at least they caught that quickly.

You’ll be fine op. It’s been caught very early and it will soon be a distant memory, just like it is for me. I know it doesn’t feel like that at the time though.

Good luck. Will be thinking of you.

Have they spoken to you about whether the treatment will cause the menopause? I went into medically-induced menopause shortly after my treatment, but not everyone will if their ovaries are out of the line of fire.

@Bella198567

I felt nauseous from about 8pm on the day of my first chemo session. That lasted about 4 days because I had the rubbish, cheap anti-nausea med. On my second chemo session I made them swap the med and the nausea only lasted 1-2 days that time. Everyone is different though, I'm sure.

Hi @Yuledo! Glad to hear you are 8 years post-treatment and still doing well! It's already starting to feel like a distant memory for me now, even though it was only just over a year ago.

Hi @Yuledo thank you for the reassurance! So glad you're well! And a appreciate your support!

@HP79 They have told me I'll be going into menopause as soon as I start treatment I am 36 so this is all new to me. Another thing I need to tackle and deal with I guess