Vin 3

Hi,

I'm new to this site as well, and have been having problems with VIN III.  I was first diagnosed with this back in January, had minor surgery in February, only to have it return and am due to go in for a wider excision tomorrow.  Needless to say, like all you other gals on this site, I'm frankly DREADING it.  Last time went OK to be honest; not too painful and I was only off work for 2 days.  Last time, it  was a "long" excision, but this time it's a much bigger, wider area.  The gyno wants to get the margins correct this time.  She said that although the pathology report showed no cancer last time, it's not to say that it won't be there this time.  i suspect that I have had this condition for years, but just put it down to thrush and continued to self-medicate.  She told me that if there are any cancer cells present, then they will take out the lymph glands in my groin and that will do the trick.

I feel a bit of a fraud sitting here telling you all how scared I am when I am one of the lucky ones.  The healing process is scaring me a bit, but I keep thinking about how well it went last time - so fingers crossed ladies.

It is very reassuring to read your stories as I had never heard of this until my diagnosis.  Also, I am an engineer and my workmates are all men - you should hear the lies I've been telling them about being off work for the next few days!!!  I only hope I can remember what I've told them - HAHAHAHA!!  I am living in Australia at the moment, but am from Scotland, so being so far from my family and friends is making me feel very sorry for myself as well.

Anyway, this time tomorrow, it will all be over and I will be sitting with an extremely stiff scotch!!

thank you for your stories ladies.

Hi Kath.

Thinking of you for your operation and fingers crossed they find no new signs of cancer!

Even though your new op will be more invasive than before, to give u a glimmer of good news I came outta my partial vulvectomy looking like a battlefield and now 3 months on I have a brand new bajingo!! LOL!

Its amazing how quickly the body does heal its self.

The one thing I will say is if you do self examine keep an open mind after surgery as I totally freaked out after seeing myself........there were stitches everywhere and I couldn't figure out which bit went where??

So keep a open mind that it'll be early days and the way you look after surgery won't be the way you look forever., that and plenty of painkillers, loose fitted clothes and bed rest!!! 

I also found chocolate icecream aided my recovery!

If not its a Tim-Tam in a cuppa tea!! 

My family are from Oz so pretty sure they still do those yummy biccies?? haha.

let me know how you get on

be strong and takecare Kath.

Your far from alone on this one! :)

Hollie xxxxxxxx

Hi there, hope all goes well for you tomorrow.

Dont feel a fraud for feeling scared its only natural.

I did the same initially self treated myself thrush and had numerous vists to GP before finally having a biopsy.It is a shock to be told you have VIN 111.Like you i had never heared of it before diagnosis.

I just wish there was more information and awareness out there for ladies on this.

good luck tomoorow,please ask dont be afraid to ask for advice or support xxx

Hi there..you are no fraud my lovely ..Gosh we are all rather marvellous in my book : ) Best of luck for the op..take it steady ..and dont peek to soon ; ) Do let us all know how you are getting on .It must be difficult being away fro your family AND surroundxed by male colleagues!!: 0   Maybe you should tell them the truth..i think they would be very sympathetic you know!!

Thinking of you ..and semnding big hugs ..Love Mary Rose.xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hi Ladies,

I got up this morning and logged in to find all your kind messages - you have no idea how good that makes me feel!!! 

All seemed to go well yesterday - you all know how it is - a bit nippy down there to say the least.  I have taken your advice and not looked!  I will leave it till I have a stronger stomach - hahahaha.

I have got my stock of whisky and Tim-Tams (yes, we still get them - and in about a hundred varieties!) so will be fine.  I get the results from the pathologist next week, so will see how that goes - whichever way, I, like so many of you out there, will get through it.  In the bigger scheme of things, it's only a "fart in the bath" (Aussie saying which always makes me laugh!!)

I am very, very lucky in that I have a hubby who is very kind and supportive, but like me, very ignorant (and I think more frightened than I am) about this whole thing.

The sun is shining, so I am going to take a stroll and enjoy it and my day off knowing that all you ladies who have never even met me, are all behind me!

you are all stars!  I will keep you posted.

Kath xxx

Hi , i have just joined, i have just been diognosed with vin 3 and i am booked in for surgery on the 16th of aug, i am in shock at the moment and really dont know what to expect. The difficult thing for me is that i have emigrated to Australia 12 months ago so everything feels very strange. Please can anyone tell me what to expect good and bad, thank you xx

Hi Pollywolly : ) Please dont be frightened.You will be shocked ..but it is all easily removed  : )  They simply take away the affected tissue and sew you up : ) You may be rather sore that all deoends on where abouts the tissue is and how large the biopsy will be ..i have had lots of these done and it is all ok ..bit like a patchwork quilt down there ; ) .Theonly bad thing is be wary of infection..and dont peek till you are ready ..i have never looked ..not too pretty there any way ..ha ha ha ha!!

Sorry you feel rather isolated all the way down under[rather fitting!!!]Have you family there with you ?? Any way alwys here if you need to chat .hugs .xxxx

Hi thanks for your reply, i have been reading some of the posts about the op and it sounds pretty awful, im having  a large section  removed on one side and a small section on the other , i asked my doctor when i would be back at work and he said about a week but going off the posts its going to be quite a bit longer : ( Will try and avoid looking coz as you say it aint pretty to begin with hahaha im trying to stay jolly and laugh about it at the moment although i know its no laughing matter but what else can you do??? Think this forum will be my life line once the op is done , i do have my husband and kids here and also my best friend so im not totally alone but think they find it hard to understand how i feeling as i worry more than i should but thats the way i am haha thank you runefinder xx

Hi there..i can say that the surgeons can be a little over zealous on the healing time band!!But evry one is different ,i have had good experiences and bad ,the last one is particularly sore but i had more internally ..the out side ones always healed really well..and in,i  would say, two weeks not one!! Yours sounds really straigtforward even tho to you it is terrifying!! The removal of these cells means it cant turn in to a tumour..that is the best way to think of it : ) I know all about the jolly brave face..but do tell your hubby how you are truly feeling..your fears etc..make him a part of this ,that is my advice to you ,my lovely .Here should you want to chat..Love Mary Rose.xxxx

Hi Polywolly

As a veteran of several local wide excisions I can reassure you that the actualite its not as bad as you fear now. 

One thing that hugely reduces the pain and discomfort is a shee wee which is a little plastic funnel that enables you to pee directly into the loo without flooding the excised area.  Its marketed as a hiking accessory :)    

The hahaha approach was too difficult for me in practice.  Chopin Nocturnes on an iPod worked for me. 

I don't think that anyone who has not been through this type of surgery really understands how hard it is and how stressful and how much the surgery affects your sense of self.  I'm sure that you'll find this forum more helpful than friends/family as most of us have gone though this stuff and survived.  And in the end survival is the most important issue particularly if you have family/friends who need you.

Lv Janet