CancerCompass message board discussion started by rita123 on 2/26/2008 http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,21335,0.htm Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://backend.userland.com/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ hi there i was recently diagonsed with this cervical cancer i was bleeding heavy during my peroids for 2 months and sometimes in between it got so bad i was flooding i went to er and next day they did a d@c and a biospy and said i had cervical cancer i was never sooooooooo scared in my lifetommorw i start a 25 day treatment  its light doses of kemo  and radation its not to make me sick at all or lose hair  then i have to go to pittsburgh for the implant and stay for 3 days then home for 5 then do that one more timei would love to hear from someone whos had this and is a survivor  i mean with the treatment i am getti n  they told me the surviral rate is 67% is that good for anyone else?  PLEASE GET BACK TO ME AS IM SO SCARED. IM 36 YEARS OLD AND OTHER WISE HEALTHY   ILL LOOK FWD TO SOME COMMENTS ON THISAND PLEASE GET YOR PAP SMEARS IF I WOULD OF I WOULD HAVE KNOWN SOONER I REGRET IT rita123 Tue, 26 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT Hi,My name is Steve, my wife was just diagnosos with Stage 2B cervical cancer on Feb. 12, 2008. She had a PET, CT, and a MRI scan on the 19th & 20th to see what stage she was at. She started Chemo & radiation on the 26th. Her treatment includes 28 treatments of external radiation 5 days a week for 5 1/2 weeks, Chemo once a week for 6 weeks and 5 treatments of internal radiation.She is having a pretty hard with treatments and it is only been four days. sdavi66572 Sat, 01 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT is she ok so far? rita123 Sun, 02 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT Yes, She is starting to have some side affects from chemo & radiation. Very tired, Nausea, and starting to loss her appitite. Her attitude is pretty good. You have to have a positive attitude. sdavi66572 Sun, 02 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT does she have low dose kemo  i will  they said side affects for me would be rare  i hope shes ok and ty for wrting to me im trien to keep postivehow was her pet scan>? rita123 Sun, 02 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT Her chemo is done once a week (tuesday) and it takes about 4 hours. She will be having this for 5 or 6 weeks. I am not sure if this is a low dose or not. Her Doctor told us that she would not loss her hair, she might thin out a little. They also told us that she should not have any side affects for about 2 to 3 weeks later. Its has only been 4 days and she is having some side affects.Her PET scan went well. She was injected with some medicine for about 45 minutes, then she was scaned from her eyes to her knees. This also took about 45 minutes.Our insurance declined to pay for this scan. The cost is anywhere from $6000.00 to $10,000.00. Her doctor said she would contact our insurance to get it paid. I guess medicare has been paying for this scan for cervical cancer for about 5 years. sdavi66572 Sun, 02 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT  On 2/26/2008 rita123 wrote:hi there i was recently diagonsed with this cervical cancer i was bleeding heavy during my peroids for 2 months and sometimes in between it got so bad i was flooding i went to er and next day they did a d@c and a biospy and said i had cervical cancer i was never sooooooooo scared in my lifetommorw i start a 25 day treatment  its light doses of kemo  and radation its not to make me sick at all or lose hair  then i have to go to pittsburgh for the implant and stay for 3 days then home for 5 then do that one more timei would love to hear from someone whos had this and is a survivor  i mean with the treatment i am getti n  they told me the surviral rate is 67% is that good for anyone else?  PLEASE GET BACK TO ME AS IM SO SCARED. IM 36 YEARS OLD AND OTHER WISE HEALTHY   ILL LOOK FWD TO SOME COMMENTS ON THISAND PLEASE GET YOR PAP SMEARS IF I WOULD OF I WOULD HAVE KNOWN SOONER I REGRET IT In January 2007, I was diagnosed with cervical cancer and it was stage 3B, with a 50-50% survival chance.  Luckily it appeared in only one lymph node.  Anyway, I had the same treatment that you are getting now......low dose chemotherapy once a week (which enhances the radiation treatments) for five weeks, five weeks (five days a week) of external radiation, eight booster external radiations and then five internal radiation treatments.  The chemotherapy didn't affect me much, except for some constipation and I lost a little hair but not enough for anyone to notice.  The infusions took three hours; one hour I was hydrated, the next hour I got the chemotherapy, and the third hour I was also hydrated.  I was told they want the chemo to go through your system quickly so as not to cause any kidney problems.  Didn't mind the chemo, except it meant I had to spend the better part of the day at the hospital (radiation in the morning, then blood work, then talking to chemo doctor, then chemotherapy).The radiation wasn't bad either.  I went into it determined to not let it take its toll on me and it didn't.  Of course, toward the end, I was tired, had to be careful about what I ate, had a lot of heartburn and burping, had to deal with diarrhea, took a daily nap, and made sure I put on lotion every night before bedtime from my waist to my knees to keep from getting radiation burns.  I was very lucky with the internal radiation (brachytherapy)  as the facility I went to had a machine that delivered the radiation on an outpatient basis.  My doctor said there are only a few places in the U.S. that have this machine.  I had five treatment in the course of three weeks.  I'd get a friend to drive me into the city in the morning, I would be put under anesthesia, and four hours later, I was in the recovery room.  The first treatment knocked me for a loop, because they had positioned me in such as way as to make my lower back sore and I was in pain from that for a couple of days.  The subsequent treatments were a piece of cake.  This was so much easier than the three day stays in the hospital that many women deal with.  Anyway, I was done with treatment at the end of April 2007, had a PET/CT scan in July (they wanted to wait till the radiation is out of my system), and the doctor was happy to tell me that there was no evidence of disease.  I get an internal exam every three months as well as a Pap smear, all of which have come back normal.  The doctor said that for patients who have clear PET scan after their treatment for cervical cancer, there is a 90% likelihood that they are cured, so I am hoping for the best.Good luck to you.  You are getting the right treatment and you just have to take good care of yourself, rest when you feel tired and say "no" to friends and family if you don't want visitors.  You're going to get through this. SydsMom Sun, 02 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT  On 3/1/2008 sdavi66572 wrote:Hi,My name is Steve, my wife was just diagnosos with Stage 2B cervical cancer on Feb. 12, 2008. She had a PET, CT, and a MRI scan on the 19th & 20th to see what stage she was at. She started Chemo & radiation on the 26th. Her treatment includes 28 treatments of external radiation 5 days a week for 5 1/2 weeks, Chemo once a week for 6 weeks and 5 treatments of internal radiation.She is having a pretty hard with treatments and it is only been four days.Hi Steve I was diagnosed Feb/07 with stage 11b cc and received 29 ext. 4 int HDR, and 3 chemo boosters.  I was very sick during treatment, then recovered nicely with help from naturalpathic doc for GI problems.  I lost 22 lbs in 8 weeks but that came back.  There are temporary acute effects and chronic long term effects to this tx. course.  I recovered from the temporary except for the extreme menopausal symptoms (HRT don't work for me)  Now I am 9 mos post end of treatment and the long term effects are starting to show up i.e. bowel and bladder.  Just want to alert you to the Lymphedema risk - go to National Lymphedema Network to help you avoid this particular long term and permanent side effect.  I wear compression stockings and feel secure that I have avoided that side effect.  I was previous to treament a vegetarian, extremely healthy active female who worked out 7 - 8 x wk and loved it.  I worked full time and helped in a family business and raised two teens.  I loved my work and my life.  I now work part time in my career, train 2 - 3 x wk at a much reduced level and need medication nightly to sleep through the hot flashes.  It has been a huge adjustment from active living to "living with cancer" and being grateful to be alive. It can be done. Having strong relationships in my partner and friends has made a world of difference for me.  I used to keep the pain and struggle to myself, but I now share it with friends who can handle it with care and with my partner who sustains me.  I trust you are one of these types of partners because you are the one on the website seeking help.  God bless   Susan SusanBC Sun, 02 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT  On 2/26/2008 rita123 wrote:hi there i was recently diagonsed with this cervical cancer i was bleeding heavy during my peroids for 2 months and sometimes in between it got so bad i was flooding i went to er and next day they did a d@c and a biospy and said i had cervical cancer i was never sooooooooo scared in my lifetommorw i start a 25 day treatment  its light doses of kemo  and radation its not to make me sick at all or lose hair  then i have to go to pittsburgh for the implant and stay for 3 days then home for 5 then do that one more timei would love to hear from someone whos had this and is a survivor  i mean with the treatment i am getti n  they told me the surviral rate is 67% is that good for anyone else?  PLEASE GET BACK TO ME AS IM SO SCARED. IM 36 YEARS OLD AND OTHER WISE HEALTHY   ILL LOOK FWD TO SOME COMMENTS ON THISAND PLEASE GET YOR PAP SMEARS IF I WOULD OF I WOULD HAVE KNOWN SOONER I REGRET IT Checking to see how you are doing with your treatments. You and my wife started treatments about the same time the 26th of Feb. My wife has had 9 treatments of external radiation and 2 treatments of chemo. She is very tired, sleeps alot. She also has the shakes real bad. Her doctor told her this is one of the side effects of one of the medications she is on. Next week after chemo and radiation the doctor will check her to see if the tumor has shunk.  sdavi66572 Sat, 08 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT hi there well i start tretements tommorw chemo  light dosesand radiation im so nervous  pet scan came out good no other cancer and they said i mey have light side affects like feelin sick and sore down by the pelvic area i have 25 to do then 2 internal ones to do  im so scared about the treatments thou   i hope hers shrunk and i hope mine does too and both of ours fo away and stay away    does she use her sitz bath,donut to sit one and cream  and dove soap to wash wirh   thats what they told me to do     please write back  thanks so much ill be praying for her as well rita123 Sun, 09 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT Her tumor has shrunk about 30%, she is very happy. Next Friday she will be starting her 5 internal radiations. She is pretty scared about this procedure. It will take about 3 hours to do, then she can go home. Last week, was a better week for her, side affects were not quite as bad as the week before. She is using the dove soap, not using any lotion or donut yet.Did your insurance pick up your PET scan? We are still having problems with our insurance. We are going to appeal this. We are looking for any information to help us out. Let us know if you know anything that would help us. sdavi66572 Sat, 15 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT hi there my access card covered my pet scan   yes so happy to hear hers shrunk   oh my they told me the internal tubes takes like 15 minutes to put in and i would be put to sleep and stay in hosptial for 3 days then home for 5 then one more time. i start 2nd weeek tommorw i have some soreness under the belly button  and some nausea i hate the chemp part. i do that tommorw every monday i get thatwhen do they c heck to see if tumor shrunk? ya that 3 hour thing they said it would take no longer that 15 minutes to put those tubes in the vagina for me  wow mabe mine is different or somethijn    ok write me back  so nice to stay in touch  ps im scared of that too  well gonna be  rita123 Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT  On 3/1/2008 sdavi66572 wrote:Hi,My name is Steve, my wife was just diagnosos with Stage 2B cervical cancer on Feb. 12, 2008. She had a PET, CT, and a MRI scan on the 19th & 20th to see what stage she was at. She started Chemo & radiation on the 26th. Her treatment includes 28 treatments of external radiation 5 days a week for 5 1/2 weeks, Chemo once a week for 6 weeks and 5 treatments of internal radiation.She is having a pretty hard with treatments and it is only been four days.Steve,My name is Pete and my wife (37 years old) is having the exact treatments your wife is having. She just started this week (April 14). Can I ask how your wife is doing? Pete1965 Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT  On 4/18/2008 Pete1965 wrote: On 3/1/2008 sdavi66572 wrote:Hi,My name is Steve, my wife was just diagnosos with Stage 2B cervical cancer on Feb. 12, 2008. She had a PET, CT, and a MRI scan on the 19th & 20th to see what stage she was at. She started Chemo & radiation on the 26th. Her treatment includes 28 treatments of external radiation 5 days a week for 5 1/2 weeks, Chemo once a week for 6 weeks and 5 treatments of internal radiation.She is having a pretty hard with treatments and it is only been four days.Steve,My name is Pete and my wife (37 years old) is having the exact treatments your wife is having. She just started this week (April 14). Can I ask how your wife is doing? She is starting to feel a little better. Her last of her treatments was an internal on Friday 4/11. She had a pretty rough time with her treatments in the latter weeks. She was extermly tired all the way through her treatments. Her first two internals she was put in twilight sedation, not a general anatitic. She remembered a lot of what was going on. I dont want to scare you. The last three she was sedated with a general witched was much, much better. Most people do pretty good with twilight. She had to have a blood transfusion a couple weeks ago because her blood counts were very low. That help out a lot, she got some energy back. She is having a lot of problems with her bladder not working. She does not have any control of it at all. Her Doctor thinks it could be from the radiation, her bladder sits real close to her cervix. This started the 2nd or 3rd week, they thought it was a bladder infection at first. Hopfully in the next couple of weeks it will start working correctly. Where are you going for your treatments?  sdavi66572 Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT  Steve,My name is Pete and my wife (37 years old) is having the exact treatments your wife is having. She just started this week (April 14). Can I ask how your wife is doing? She is starting to feel a little better. Her last of her treatments was an internal on Friday 4/11. She had a pretty rough time with her treatments in the latter weeks. She was extermly tired all the way through her treatments. Her first two internals she was put in twilight sedation, not a general anatitic. She remembered a lot of what was going on. I dont want to scare you. The last three she was sedated with a general witched was much, much better. Most people do pretty good with twilight. She had to have a blood transfusion a couple weeks ago because her blood counts were very low. That help out a lot, she got some energy back. She is having a lot of problems with her bladder not working. She does not have any control of it at all. Her Doctor thinks it could be from the radiation, her bladder sits real close to her cervix. This started the 2nd or 3rd week, they thought it was a bladder infection at first. Hopfully in the next couple of weeks it will start working correctly. Where are you going for your treatments? We are in Toronto, Canada at a hospital named Sunnybrook. I was informed that this hospital is one of the best for cancer patients in North America.  Pete1965 Sat, 19 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Hey Pete, wish you well and keep positive. My wife is 30 and starting radiation and chemo on wed. @ Sunnybrook. This unfortunately is a reoccurrence. She wad a total hysterectomy in Feb. nurseman Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT Hi Everyone,Checking to see how your wife's are doing. I hope everyone is doing well. My wife is doing a little better. She is still very tired, but she is back working. She is having problems with one of her legs swelling up. We go back to her doctor on August 28th for another MRI, CT, PET and PAP all done in one day. sdavi66572 Sun, 06 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT