Extensive polyps and 39mm endometrium

[whoateallmychocolate]

Hi all

I am 49 and recently had a transvaginal ultrasound after experiencing 4 weeks of heavy bleeding. I was told I had extensive polyps and a thickened endometrium of 39mm. The doctor kept talking about cancer risks and how serious this was and I have been panicking ever since. I have a hysteroscopy next week and have been googling extensively (I know, I know!). Does anyone have any experience of this? I can't seem to find many people who have had similar circumstances.

Anyone?

It is essentially that you have endometrial hyperplasia so so many cells have overgrown and grown and sometimes that can trigger cancer cells. But try not to worry you will have a biposy during the hysteroscopy and that will day whether it is malignant or not. Are you on contraception or HRT?

Do you want GA for the hysteroscopy? You can get local anesthetic so that you shouldn't feel anything but your still somewhat alert, they should offer you both. It really depends on the person for some people it's only doable with GA and others find it merely uncomfortable. I haven't had one but saw your post and thought I'd just wish you good luck and that it's unlikely to be cancer at this stage, you'll know next steps soon though, hopefully you have a good team of medics as well.

Thanks for the reassurance @LivelyViper. I am not on any contraception or HRT and I have been told I will be sedated for the hysteroscopy. My biggest worry is that I can find lots of discussions where others have had a thick endometrium but the only ones with measurements similar to mine (and I couldn't find many) ended up diagnosed with cancer. I think I shall just have to stop googling and see how it goes next week!

I had incredibly heavy post menopausal bleeding almost constantly for a year, before my (frankly useless & sexist) GP eventually referred me on a 2WW pathway for a hysteroscopy. They tried it without any pain relief which was hideous so rescheduled it under GA. I had numerous large polyps removed and it was all benign. Try not to worry - afterwards they wrote and said that it might come back at some point, but so far it hasn’t (four years later).

Depending on how you feel, you might want to look into whether you want the hysteroscopy under GA or sedation. They should offer you a choice (ignore me if you’ve chosen the sedation option). Hysteroscopies can be very painful so make sure it’s the right choice for you. I know anything like this can seem quite scary, but have a hand-hold; I’ve been through it and it was fine 💐

Sorry, forgot to
mention that I also had hugely thickened endometrium.

IIRC my endometrium was thick too but it was not hyperplasia which tends to arise more post menopause. Constant rises and crashes of both oestrogen and progesterone hormones in peri menopause caused that to arise.

I would consider having the hysteroscopy under GA rather than merely being sedated. It can be a very painful experience for some women and I would personally not want to have polyps removed under local anaesthetic.

Are you on the two week pathway OP? Agree with others about asking about a GA, my first hysteroscopy was just with a local anaesthetic in the cervix and I didn’t get in with it very well. The nurses did stop very quickly when I asked them to though and I had the same procedure under GA arranged within a week. I had a polyp, fibroid, ovarian cyst and thickened endometrium. If you are in England I would recommend downloading the NHS app because a lot of useful info goes on there.
They won’t know if it is cancer until they have a biopsy back, sometimes the surgeon can tell if it looks suspicious when they are looking with the camera during the operation- my surgeon said that it would look fluffy with a woolly appearance. My understanding is that you will get a phone all if it is cancer and a letter if not, they obviously prioritise you if it is malignant so you would have less time to wait for an answer. You can ring them if you are waiting longer than they have said.

Thank you everyone. I am not in the UK so things are a bit different here. My hysteroscopy has been prioritised and apparently they don't offer a GA, the only option is sedation. I am really worried about the whole procedure and will be glad when it is all over. Just a few more days to go!

Sedation may well be fine, in the UK it would be a local anaesthetic in the cervix, or gas and air if not a GA. It is good that it’s only in a few days time, I found that waiting was the worst part. Are you post menopausal?

How is it going OP?

Thanks for checking in on me @fluffythecat1I am currently sat in my very fetching (!) surgical gown and will be in surgery in an hour. I'm petrified but I will update later.

Great that you will get some answers. Had a lovely sleep when I had my GA hysteroscopy, although was starving after having to fast. With all best wishes.

Well, the hysteroscopy wasn't anywhere near as bad as l expected. The doctor couldn't see any cancer but I won't find out for sure until the lab results are back and that could be a few weeks. I will keep this thread updated just in case it helps anyone else in future.

Good news chocolate.

Any news?

I wanted to give some positives from an Hysteroscopy. All you hear is the worst experiences, especially on Google and MN.

I have just had mine done. The procedure took less than 15 mins. Consultant gave me all the options up front, but I chose to go with it there and then.

Numbing gel on cervix, saline in, scope in, good look around and a biopsy. I felt nothing, zero. A really good experience. Everyone was lovely. Extremely efficient service.

This was in a 2ww clinic, NHS at RSCH.

I hope this helps, as not everyone is the same, and most people will have a good experience, consultant stated 99% are positive with no sedation or GA. She was really concerned that many women are put off from all the negative stories, many of which are outdated.

I'm also in 2ww clinc and absolutely terrified.My polyp growth from 3mm yo 9mm in 1.month wich is scary.I can't sleep and eat last 2 days.Have hospital appoinment on 24th December