Hi everyone,
About a month ago I had my radical hysterectomy and 20 lymph nodes removed here in Italy where I have been living for over twenty years. They removed the tumour from my cervix and found one lymph node which was positive (containing carcinoma cells). Yesterday I had a consultation with the radio therapist and oncologist and they have told me I will need six weeks of radio therapy (everyday Monday to Friday for six weeks) and one chemotherapy once a week for those six weeks, so chemoradiotherapy with Cisplatin, here it's called "Cisplatino"!
As you know, I wasn't told the stage of my cancer before treatment started, it was just classed as early stage as the tumour was small (1.5 cm) but I read yesterday in my write up that due to the lymph node involvement it's considered FIGO stage 111C1.
I don't know why, but seeing the stage written down and it being higher than I expected has made me more worried than before. Indeed, I was having trouble sleeping as my brother sent me some 5 year survival statistics which weren't very encouraging at all.
I guess what I'm trying to say is it's only hitting me now how serious this all is and I'm struggling with feelings of fear, guilt and isolation I suppose.
How on earth did a tiny tumour spread to a lymph node???
Thanks and please excuse my rambling,
Love Lulabell
Hi Lulabell
I’m sorry to hear your update-that must have been such a shock for you. I did find it strange that your cancer wasn’t staged before heading to surgery, as that just wouldn’t happen in the UK. They make very sure here that the cancer is at stage 1 or early stage 2 before they would consider a hysterectomy, and as soon as you are stage 2b or higher surgery is never an option. Unfortunately the size of tumour is not necessarily a reliable indicator of stage-I’ve seen many women with a lower stage than me at diagnosis, but a bigger tumour. And any size of tumour can spread.
So, as you rightly say, you are now at stage 3, but what I would recommend is not to focus on a number, but rather focus on the treatment. Many of us have been through the chemoradiation you will be doing so can help support you with our experiences, and a few ladies were diagnosed originally at stage 3. I’ll tag in Snobird and hope she sees this post as she has recently successfully come through treatment for stage 3.
Also, please don’t worry yourself with survival statistics- I’m not sure why your brother would have thought you would want to read these! They are already out of date by the time they are published and are not taking into account more recent treatment advances. You are an individual, not a statistic. I have never in 4 years read any statistics, because it would absolutely not be useful for my mental health. I know it will be difficult to get past the fact that you’ve read them now, but please try not to give it more thought.
It’s natural to be scared, but you have nothing to feel guilty about-this is not your fault, but what’s done is done and you have to focus now a day at a time on getting through this next stage of the process. We are here to hold your hand and answer any questions that we can to help you. Sending a big hug.
Sarah xx
Hi Lulabell
They are called tattoos here too! They are absolutely tiny-I had one on each hip, and one on my pubic bone. They need something which is not going to come off when you shower, as they rely on these markings when you are on the table for radiotherapy so that the machine targets exactly in the right place for each treatment. They are barely noticeable really, so don’t panic!
Sarah xx
