I have to go for a Lletz under gen an in two weeks and I'm starting to really worry. I've not even been told what was found and my GP only knows the same info, basically what the hospital letter says
Hogmanay 2022 I had a post-menopause bleed. Smear came back minor changes, it always does and I have an annual one. Put on the emergency (8 week) waiting list for a hysteroscopy but in Glasgow the wait is 52 weeks. Doc said most likely atrophy.
In the meantime had a colposcopy and finally the hysteroscopy in Oct. In Dec got the letter which just said results unsatisfactory and had to have a Lletz under general. No indication of cancer/pre-cancerous and when I rang the hospital the nurse just told me what would happen.
So does this mean I have cancer? I must have something if they are doing it. And has anyone had this and under general? I've never had any kind of medical thing. Late 40s (I had an early menopause) and really fit and healthy so surely I would have other symptoms? Sorry for the freak out x
Hi LMacB and welcome to our group.
I’m sorry to see how worried you are, but honestly not surprised when you’ve been told you need a procedure done, but not the reasons why, especially when it involves a general anaesthetic. What a long wait you had to put up with last year to move things forward-that must have been draining it itself.
Don't apologise for freaking out, but take a deep breath and let’s look at what you know so far. You’ve had a colposcopy and hysteroscopy so your cervix and womb have been closely examined. You haven’t mentioned any biopsies being taken at this points, and a biopsy would be needed to confirm cancer.
When results are unsatisfactory, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It usually just means that the doctor couldn’t get all the information required. When I had a hysteroscopy, it was also unsatisfactory as I was bleeding and my gynaecologist couldn’t see anything. So at this point it looks like your doctor hasn’t got enough information to make a decision on what might be there, but wants to be thorough in checking everything out. I’d take that as a good thing!
Many ladies have a LLETZ treatment under general anaesthetic, sometimes because they choose to go this route because they find the procedure painful, or sometimes there is a larger area the doctor wishes to examine and remove and this is much easier under a general. At the moment, remember they don’t know what is there.
Once the LLETZ is done, the tissue samples will be sent to the lab to be examined and you will have a wait for the results. It could be that precancerous cells are found, in which case they will hopefully have removed them all, or there is a possibility that cancer will be found, and equally possible that the LLETZ treatment removes this. However nothing is a certainty at the moment, and it’s impossible to second guess this. Precancerous cells can be present without any symptoms at all, as can early cancer, so it’s important to have the tissue samples analysed.
It’s a scary place for you to be at this point when you don’t have the information you need, but the procedure won’t take long and you’ll soon be through the anaesthetic without knowing a thing about it.
None of us can say what might be found, but there is plenty of support here if you do get a cancer diagnosis. However, it’s too soon to be thinking of cancer right now, so try not to let your mind run wild, though I appreciate that’s difficult. I’ve always tried to worry only when there’s something to worry about, and concentrate on what I know in the moment. You don’t have cancer until a doctor tells you that you do, and that may well not be the case for you.
I hope you’ll keep in touch and let us know how you get on with everything and if there’s anything else you want to ask, please feel free. Good luck with your procedure and I hope it’s very straightforward for you.
Sarah xx
