Any questions...I was diagnosed with stage 2b cervical cancer last year, had all treatments, radiation, chemo, brachyotherapy(surgical radiation)

Just for all of you that have been recently diagnosed...it is scary but you can get through it.  I am 34 and was diagnosed at 33, I had 8 weeks of chemo, 30 external radiation treatments and 5 surgical radiation treatments...it is tough but doable.  You get tired of all the poking and prodding, the uti's, the nausia, oh I could go on and on but you can fight it!  My last treatment was in July, so far I have had 2 pet/ct scans and regular visits to all of the dr. cancer team.  Next week is my first Mammogram since my my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer 8 months before I was diagnosed with mine....Please be vigilant with this cancer if you have it, or think you may have it.  I almost died before I was diagnosed since I was hemoraging so much.  If anyone out there has questions...I can answer them and I will be as honest as possible.  FIGHT ON!

Hi There

 

I wanted you to know that I was also dx and tx similar to you.  I was tx in April/May/07 and am almost 2 yrs free of cancer.  So yes, absolutely take all the tx and let it arrest your cancer.  I am grateful to be alive.  I am not the person I was but I am alive and my family is grateful for it also.  Take heart, many do not get the cancer arrested if they are beyond our stage, most do get it arrested at our stage.  My heart goes out to you all.  Hugs and Kisses

hi

im new here and just wanted to say im so pleased you both got through it

i was also told i had  cervical cancer in 2005 ,but it was stage 3 so i feel so lucky to  be here ,

good health to you all

marie

xxx

On 4/3/2009 tinkkermel wrote:

Just for all of you that have been recently diagnosed...it is scary but you can get through it.  I am 34 and was diagnosed at 33, I had 8 weeks of chemo, 30 external radiation treatments and 5 surgical radiation treatments...it is tough but doable.  You get tired of all the poking and prodding, the uti's, the nausia, oh I could go on and on but you can fight it!  My last treatment was in July, so far I have had 2 pet/ct scans and regular visits to all of the dr. cancer team.  Next week is my first Mammogram since my my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer 8 months before I was diagnosed with mine....Please be vigilant with this cancer if you have it, or think you may have it.  I almost died before I was diagnosed since I was hemoraging so much.  If anyone out there has questions...I can answer them and I will be as honest as possible.  FIGHT ON!

Your story is very inspirational! You are obviously a very strong women. I just wanted to talk to you and hear your story of survival. You see, my mom just got diagnosed with stage 1B2 cervical cancer. I am really scared and worried. She is refusing to get treatment and I don't know what to do. I would like to talk to you in more detail about undergoing radio/chemo therapy to get feedback and information so I can be more knowledgable and help my mom take this important step. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Seda

It's a scary thing and I think it is even harder for the caregiver, as like yourself to watch.  What treatments are they offering her?  Are they wanting to do chemo, radiation, surigal radiation or all of them like me?  Is operating an option? 

If they are recommending Chemo, she will be taking cisplatin, which I can tell you isn' that bad...she will feel nautious but it is doable.  She may or may not lose her hair, it may just get thin...Mine got thin so I just shaved it off, I mean what other time will you be  able to do that?!  hahaha  The first few days after chemo are the yuckiest but she will get through it with no problem.  Ok...now if she has the external beam radiation that's where it get's difficult.  At first you feel like it's a piece of cake but as you get more radiation you start to feel the side effects, I constantly got UTI's, just to go to the restroom was rough to the point where I didn't want to go, you are constantly tired but can't sleep, chemo gives you insomnia and radiation gives you fatigue.  The radiation had me in tears after a while and then the internal, surgical radiation(brachytherapy) was difficult too.  Like I said I had a 9 cm tumor and was hemmoraging badly and with all this treatment it is now gone....so far.  I feel good now, I exercise, I still have side effects from treatment like insomnia, UTI's and some fatigue BUT the alternative to not taking treatment would have been death.  Ultimitely it is your mom's decision to take treatment BUT it is doable and when you are actually going through it, you are on auto pilot and you just dig deep and do it not just for yourself but more so for the ones that you love.  Me afterwards, felt a little bit of remorse, not only can I no longer have children(I don't have any now) but my husband left me(cheated) right after I was done with treatment. He thought I would be back to "normal" right after you are not by any means.  You develope scar tissue, if you have the brachytherapy treatment to where you have to use a vaginal dialator everyday for 10 minutes for 12 months.  Your mom may not need brachytherapy, so find out what her treatment options are and I will answer anymore questions that you may have.  I am an open book about this.  Do know that I am healthy and happy and every scan so far and exam has been good and it hasn't even been a year since my last treatment.  Let your mom digest all the information that she has received and let me know how they want to treat her.  Good luck!

Hello,

 About two months ago I was diagnosed with stage 3b cervical cancer. I have Adenocarcinoma of the cervix which is a rare cervical cancer that went undetected for nearly two years. I had over 5 paps, a biopsy and cryotherapy. All paps were normal as well as my biopsy. I continued to have abnormal bleeding and the discharge began to increase. I finally said enough is enough and was ready for a second opinion when my doctor performed a LEEP procedure. My labs were sent to one pathologist that said it isn't coming back as cancer, but they were not sure what was wrong. My tests were sent back east when the second pathologist finally diagnosed me with Adencarcinoma. I had a PET and an MRI and I was lucky it didn't spread. However, the tumor was too large to remove with a hysterectomy. I am now on my 3rd week of radiation. I have undergone a full week of chemotherapy and will have my second round in two weeks. The tumor has shrank enough where I can begin my internal treatments next week. My doctor feels confident that we can blast this crap out of my system. I too remain positive. I felt when I was first diagnosed I thought I thought I received my death sentence, but  now I feel that I can truly beat this. I like your attitude as you seem to be positive as well. I hope to be cancer free one day. I feel this disease has changed my life in a positive way, because I can truly appreciate living and letting the little things go. Best of luck to you and your mom.

Leslie