Because I need someplace to talk about this...
The last few months have been a roller coaster.
I was having some abnormal pain and bleeding this summer and so was referred to an OB-Gyn who did an ultra sound and then an endometrial biopsy at the beginning of September. The biopsy came back positive for endometrial cancer, so I was referred to an oncologist in mid-september and saw him at the beginning of October. At that point they recommended a complete hysterectomy but because the oncologist didn't like the quality of the imaging in the ultrasound he sent me for an MRI to clarify what they were seeing. I had the MRI on October 9th and then saw the doctor again about a week later for what I thought was going to be a routine visit to discuss the surgery that had at that point been scheduled for November 2nd. Instead the doctor advised that the MRI showed that the cancer had penetrated through the wall of the uterus and was growing on the outside of the bladder as well as in the lymph nodes. So the new plan is 6 rounds of chemotherapy, they will do another MRI between the 3rd and 4th round and see if there is improvement. If there is, we will continue the treatment at the end of which there will be a radical hysterectomy and removal of the lymph nodes, and then of course some radiation to top things off.
The crazy thing is that I've had no symptoms and pap smears have come back negative...
I had my first chemo treatment last week (on Halloween)... 1 down and five to go. The next one is scheduled November 21st... so far the side effects have not been great, lots of leg muscle and joint pain in the week after chemo and of course nausea. But I'm into week 2 and things have improved significantly and am finding that the worst part of all of this is going to be boredom as I'm off work for the duration.
Luckily I also have lots of family and friend support and that's been a big help.
I was having some abnormal pain and bleeding this summer and so was referred to an OB-Gyn who did an ultra sound and then an endometrial biopsy at the beginning of September. The biopsy came back positive for endometrial cancer, so I was referred to an oncologist in mid-september and saw him at the beginning of October. At that point they recommended a complete hysterectomy but because the oncologist didn't like the quality of the imaging in the ultrasound he sent me for an MRI to clarify what they were seeing. I had the MRI on October 9th and then saw the doctor again about a week later for what I thought was going to be a routine visit to discuss the surgery that had at that point been scheduled for November 2nd. Instead the doctor advised that the MRI showed that the cancer had penetrated through the wall of the uterus and was growing on the outside of the bladder as well as in the lymph nodes. So the new plan is 6 rounds of chemotherapy, they will do another MRI between the 3rd and 4th round and see if there is improvement. If there is, we will continue the treatment at the end of which there will be a radical hysterectomy and removal of the lymph nodes, and then of course some radiation to top things off.
The crazy thing is that I've had no symptoms and pap smears have come back negative...
I had my first chemo treatment last week (on Halloween)... 1 down and five to go. The next one is scheduled November 21st... so far the side effects have not been great, lots of leg muscle and joint pain in the week after chemo and of course nausea. But I'm into week 2 and things have improved significantly and am finding that the worst part of all of this is going to be boredom as I'm off work for the duration.
Luckily I also have lots of family and friend support and that's been a big help.