Potentially have cervical cancer. Please help

[lili1998]

I've been having a range of symptoms for the past year or so. Some are newer. My symptoms include abdominal pain, lower back pain, swollen and painful lymph nodes in my groin, bleeding during sex and after sex, pain during and after sex and bleeding between periods. I've had an sti check just to rule an sti out and I'm all clear.
I went to the GP today and told her what's been going on and she said she would do a smear test then and there which I suspected she might want to do and wasn't worried. However, while looking inside me she was quite alarmed and told me she can see my cervix is very inflamed and she said there's a sore on it and the slightest touch is causing it too bleed. When I got up from the bed I could see a lot of blood on the paper liner thing that goes on the bed and I was really shocked by how much her touching it had caused it to bleed.
The gp was really concerned and said she's going to send all my swabs off but is also urgently referring me to a gynaecologist and I need a blood test. She said she's concerned and these symptoms have gone on a long time so it's important it's investigated quickly.
Im always super tired but I am a single mother so im ruling that down to just being busy and not getting enough rest so I don't know if that's a symptom necessarily.
Im obviously really worried and I want to know if anyone else has had these symptoms and what the outcome was for you. Please don't worry about scaring me because I've already been kind of warned by the gp that it could be cancer. Please can someone share their experience I feel so in the dark and have no idea what's going on.

Thank you for reading sorry the post is so long x

No experience but just hope you’re ok x

Hi how are you getting on? I’m having similar symptoms
xxx

How are you op?

Just wanted to say hope you're ok xxx

Goodness me, OP, what an awful thing to go through. I hope you are doing okay xx

So sorry to read this OP. You’ve done the right thing going to the GP to be seen. Best to you xx

Hope you are okay OP?
🌺

Just wanted to share I had almost all those symptoms (only one I didn’t have was swollen lymph nodes) and it turned out I had a large ectropion, hoping it turns out to be the same for you x

I had slight spotting very recently the GP said she could see inflammation ,Within a week I’d had C25 blood test, bowel sample test and internal scan , I was naturally anxious like you all the test have come back clear but I have to have a camera and biopsy for the lining of the womb . All the test were done at local hospital and were not painfull or embarrassing , the staff were very respectful and kind they know you are nervous. I hope everything goes well for you , stay positive x

Hi everyone thank you so much for all your reply's. I have no news to report yet apart from I'm having an ultrasound scan later on this month. However I don't expect to get many answers from that and will probably just have to wait for all the other tests to come back to get closer to an answer, I will update as soon as I hear. I'm hoping it's ectropion like someone mentioned as I have read about that, it's the painful lymph nodes I think that are the most scary thing as I can't find anything that could be related to apart from cancer or an sti but I've of course tested negative for an sti but who knows I might be wrong and the swollen/painful lymph nodes could be something else. I'll feel a right idiot if it turns out to be something harmless but also want to stay realistic so I'm not shell shocked if it is something bad. Thank you all for your replies and as I said I'll update even if it turns out to be nothing xxx

Are these symptoms cyclical in nature?. Endometriosis is a possible cause also and that is not picked up on internal ultrasound scans. Deep pain during sex is certainly present in some women who present with endometriosis.

You certainly need a gynaecologist referral.

What's sad is I've had agonising periods all through my life but having children did seem to help. I did go to a gp which then lead to me having an ultrasound, my gp said the ultrasound can't diagnose endometriosis but will show if something else is causing the pain. So I had the ultrasound which was normal and then I was discharged and no other investigation was done even though they would never have been able to know if I have endometriosis or not. I feel like women have to fight tooth and nail to have any kind of endometriosis investigation to be done. I also went to a clinic for bleeding after sex a few years ago and was just told I obviously wasn't lubricated enough when having sex and the lady just wouldn't hear anything more I had to say on it and that was it, no examination done or anything I feel like I managed to get one sentence out and was just told not to worry about it.

It frustrates me because I waited a long time with all these symptoms without making an appointment because every single time I've gone to the gp with any women's issue in the past I'm just made to feel like I'm complaining over nothing.

Women are so ignored in the medical community. On medical websites they always say something along the lines of 'period pain can be unpleasant but shouldn't affect every day tasks' but if you go to the gp complaining of unbearable pain it's just seen as normal and everyone gets it even though that's obviously not true. I am really grateful this gp did take me seriously this time but I might have gone to see her much sooner if I wasn't worried about looking like a hypochondriac

Sorry I just realised I rambled on without answering your question. I wouldn't say their cyclic but it's hard to know for sure because I have always noticed sex just before my period is more painful deep inside but that's not anything that's worried me because it would make sense. However I know the bleeding after sex is something that only got worse as time went on and definitely not cyclic but I don't have sex that often so maybe if it was cyclic and only happening for half the month say it would be hard for me to be able to notice a pattern. What convinced me that I needed to go to the doctor was when my partner started noticing the bleeding during sex because before it was only small amounts after and then through time it progressed to bleeding during aswell

I had the bleeding and it was a polyp right on the edge of my uterus. Took ages to get scan although my relative had a locum doctor (Polish) and got her polyp removed in 2 weeks, then months again to get in removed(after which I immediately got pregnant so that was preventing pregnancy)!Women’s health taken far more seriously in some other countries. Glad your doctor is taking it seriously now and hope it turns out to be something easily treated.

"I feel like women have to fight tooth and nail to have any kind of endometriosis investigation to be done".

I can attest to this; I was not diagnosed with endo until I was in my early 30s and undergoing fertility treatment. Things are improving these days re awareness but there is still a long way to go. It is NOT normal to have agonising periods your whole life. Endo is associated with severe painful periods too, its one of its primary symptoms.

Deep pain during sex can certainly be indicative of endometriosis being present. It is usually only diagnosed through a keyhole surgery op called a laparoscopy (this is the surgery I had and my endo was excised). I hope your referral comes through soon and I would ask this person straight out about the possibility of endometriosis and how experienced they are in dealing with such too.

How are you doing OP?

@lili1998 how are you getting on?

@lili1998 how are you?