Post op

Hi Serena75 and welcome to our group

It’s not been long since your surgery, so I’m not surprised you are having some issues in your recovery, but I hope we can help you in the group.

I was surprised with a couple of things in your post-both that you had a hysterectomy for stage 3 cervical cancer and that it was a full hysterectomy rather than a radical, but we do have ladies in the group who have gone through the surgery, just not for stage 3. Hopefully they can share their experiences with you. I’ve not got experience of this surgery being carried out with a stage 3 diagnosis, so I think the ladies in general might be interested to learn how this was made possible for you. The ladies who had this stage in the UK have all gone through radiotherapy and chemotherapy but I know that Lulabell had her diagnosis changed to stage 3 after her pathology results came back following her hysterectomy.

It’s great news that your biopsy results have come back showing no evidence of disease but doctors in my experience will not use the words cancer free as there are never any guarantees as regards microscopic cells being still there and unable to be seen. Your result is however very good, and it’s standard to continue with checks for 5 years to make sure all remains good.

I haven’t got experience of being thrown into menopause as I was already post menopausal at my diagnosis, and even though I had subsequent major surgery and had my womb and everything else removed as part of that, menopause was not something I had to experience again.

Have you been given any advice on dealing with your symptoms by your doctor? I’m assuming you have had some sort of follow up appointment following your operation?  I think I would contact my CNS or even the gp for advice and help if not. They would be able to tell you if HRT is an option, or what other medication you could be prescribed. 

In terms of the aftermath of a surgery like this, it can have a big effect on your mental as well as physical health and you may find it useful to talk through your feelings with a professional. Sometimes you can be referred for counselling through your cancer specialists, and also Macmillan have teamed up with BUPA to offer up to 6 free counselling sessions with a professional who is experienced in dealing with cancer patients. I had this myself and found it very helpful. The support line number is in my signature, and if you wanted to take advantage of this, you can call and arrange for an assessment. It can happen very quickly, and might be a good thing for you to consider. 

You have been through a lot, and you need to take time to recover and take care of yourself. I hope you have family and friends to help you through, and that you find that with time you will recover fully. If you still have physical pain, please seek help with that too as it can wear you down and make everything harder to deal with in general. 

I hope you’ll get some replies from other ladies who have been through surgery and the menopause and please feel free to use the group to seek advice and ask questions-we’ll do our best to support you based on our own experiences, and you don’t need to suffer alone. You are very welcome to be here.

Sarah xx

Hi sarahH21 

I do apologise.  I was crying and so upset and shaky when I wrote the post .it was stage 2 cancer not 3 .must have pressed the 3 by accident .. so sorry about that . 

I have called mcmillan support line and because my biopsy after my op was clear with no evidence of cancer I'm not able to get counselling as they class me as not having cancer .  But I know that I will not get told I'm cancer free till after the 5 years of checkups . So I know its not completely over yet which still concerns me . 

As to the hrt .. yes was prescribed hrt patches when I went for my follow-up appointment with my surgeon.  Its been 2 and a half weeks and not noticed any difference.  I guess persevere with them for a bit longer then call my doctor to see if I need higher dose.  They symptoms are severe . 

Hope that you ladies can give me your experience with things 

Thankyou so much for your reply.   How are you? 

Serena xxx

Hi Serena75,

it is very difficult what you are going through. It just takes time to get used to your new body. I think your symptoms might not be completely due to menopause but also psychological due to treatment. I found some comfort speaking to a psychologist through NHS maybe it might be a good idea to look into it. Looking myself it helped me a lot. Regarding the purely menopause symptoms such as night sweats I started focusing to a more balance diet and tried to do some weekly exercise such as walking a little bit more or socialising more with family members or looking into a hobby. It helped me a lot to get my mind busy without thinking my next doc appointment.  Just be patient and it is going to be ok. I am 2.5 years post treatment and I am feeling much better compared to how I was feeling when I finished treatment. Just take it a day at a time. 

xxx

Hi Serena75 

No need for any apology at all-I’m so sorry you were so upset when you were typing your post. I’m also sorry that you were not able to access the counselling service I had recommended, but hope you will be able to find this elsewhere within the system. 

Maybe you need, as you say, to persevere with the patches, but certainly keep in contact with your doctor as regards your symptoms and how you are feeling in general. 

It’s difficult to come to terms with the fact of the surgery you’ve had, but also the fact that there will be a need for checkups over the next five years. But try to think of that in a positive way, in that you are being well monitored and looked after. If it hadn’t been for regular check ups after my first lot of treatment my cancer recurrence may not have been picked up till much later as I had no symptoms at all that it was back. So for me the checkups were such a good thing and enabled me to have surgery which might have not been possible if it had not been found at that point and had spread further.

I am doing well, thank you for asking, and I’m more than 4 years past my original diagnosis.

Sarah xx

Hi Serena,

As Sarah said I had a radical hysterectomy in September and I also found the recovery period quite horrific to be honest. I couldn't even sit down for long or turn on my side for weeks and weeks. I had to lie down in the car and I was terrified that something was wrong with me as other people seemed to just bounce back. Nothing prepares you very well for major surgery.

On a happier note, I'm feeling much more normal now 4 months on. I've recently finished a six week course of chemoradiotherapy which was hard but just about doable, I had this because they found cancer in one of my lymph nodes during surgery, hence my post op stage 3 diagnosis. My biggest difficulties now are walking for extended periods as my left leg and pelvis still feel fairly strange tight and numb and psychological. I am having trouble even contemplating having intercourse which makes it hard on my relationship etc. Anyway, the important thing is that we are slowly improving and not getting worse and also the fact that your pathology report came back clear is truly excellent news.

I live in Italy, so had my treatment here and as I am 45, they gave me progesterone pills to delay menopause. They have told me to take those until I'm 50. 

Good luck with everything and I hope you start feeling better slowly soon,

Lulabell