Cervical cancer

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Hi, so my mum is 46 and was diagnosed with cervical cancer, she had ongoing problems with prolonged periods, pain and bleeding pain during sex so eventually made the trip to the doctors after years, anyway pushed her into having a smear which came back positive hpv16 and she had a few other tests at the same time as the smear which I went to with her and she was petrified but she got through it anyway she won’t tell us the results of the other tests but we definitely know she has cervical cancer. After she found this out she refuses to get treated or even further testing, I’ve tried tricking her into it made the appointments spoke to the doctors who are strongly urging she has surgery? I’ve tried looking into everything and giving her options what if you just have this done or what if you just ask for a full hysterectomy without the tests before hand (because she doesn’t like the thought of being prodded at) But she’s refusing everything because she’s just simply petrified. So my question really is if she’s had this for a long time since she’s had symptoms for a long time how long does she have left? I’ve tried googling but nobody is stupid enough to simply refuse all treatment and testing so I really can’t find any answers. There’s four of us me and my sisters and we all feel like we’ve just hit a road block in life because we really don’t know what’s going to happen. 

  • Hi Electra,

     

    Thank you for contacting us and welcome to our Online Community. My name is Kerry, I’m one of the Cancer information nurse specialists on our Macmillan Cancer Support Line.

     I’m sorry to hear of your mum’s diagnosis and your concerns over her treatment decisions, I can only imagine how difficult this has been for you all.

    It can understandably be very overwhelming and experience a mixture of emotions when a person receives a cancer diagnosis. 

    It may be helpful for mum to speak with her GP or her specialist gynaecology team if she has one regarding her concerns and fears regarding treatment options and worries of being prodded, they may have other treatment options instead.  It can help to write questions down before these appointments.

    Counselling and support are available for mum if it would help to talk things through about how she is feeling, sometimes a person may feel that talking with family and friends is too close and they fear in upsetting or want to protect them from the situation. 

    Making treatment decisions can be difficult, there is no right or wrong answer it is an individual’s choice in making an informed decision that is right for them. It can be difficult for those watching on as you want to support her the best way you can but may not agree with her decision. This can be difficult to accept , it can help to talk about your feelings or reach out to your GP as they can arrange support for you.

    Understandably you have questions about how long mum may have to live as she has experienced symptoms for some time.  It is very difficult to answer as it depends on many factors such as the type, stage and grading of mum’s cancer but further tests may be required to determine this.

    It can be helpful talking to others that are going through similar situations and understand what you are feeling, we have our Family and friend’s online forum and Cervical cancer forums that offer peer support.  Jo’s trust also offers specific support too on cervical cancer.

    If you would like to talk through all this information in more detail it may be helpful to give one of our nurses a call on the support line.

    I hope you all get the support you need and please don’t hesitate to get back in touch if we can help further.

    Take care

     

    Kerry, Cancer Information Nurse Specialist 

    You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email. 

    Ref Kha/HM