3c1 success stories/positive stories

Hi Frenchiefrankenstein 

I hope you’ll be able to find other women who can tell you positive stories, but as I was stage 2b I’ll leave it to other ladies to reply. Sometimes people who’ve been through treatment and moved on don’t post on forums any longer but I hope you’ll hear some positive outcomes. 

Sarah xx

Thank you for responding. I can never seem to find anything good about stage 3 and it’s so frightening :( it’s upsetting that because one lymph node is also involved I rocketed from 2a to 3c1. 

I’m sorry you haven’t found anything good about stage 3-it may just be that people don’t post on forums if they’ve had successful treatment and feel they want to move on with their lives. It’s more likely to see people post when they are looking for further support for recurrence etc. Also when you are narrowing your search to only positive stories about 3c1, that will limit the number of ladies who can respond.

It is difficult when one lymphnode pushes the stage up, but typically the treatment is still with curative intent, so that’s something to hold onto. Try not to focus on a stage number but instead focus on getting through treatment. 

Sarah xx

Hi Frenchiefrankenstein!  I am a Stage 3c1 and I am two years post treatment.  All seems to be going well.  I feel healthy and they can see no sign of recurrence at this time so I'll take that and I hope that it gives you some positive vibes.  There are many of us on here who are Stage 3 "success" stories and I hope some more come forward.  Also there are many ladies on Jo's Cervical Cancer Forum who are stage 3.  To be honest I was dreading my staging so much and had convinced myself that it was as bad and worse as it could be (Stage 4 and spread everywhere), so felt quite relieved to be stage 3.   Bizarre but true!  As far as I understand anything above Stage 1 is not operable and all are treated in the same way.  Like you I had one lymph node involved but my response to treatment was excellent.  The best advice I can give you when everything is out of your control is to concentrate on the things you can control like your diet, exercise, plenty of water and fresh air.  I felt it really gave a sense of empowerment.  Please let us know how you get on and I wish you all the best.  Fear not, it is all do-able and I promise you will feel much better once you have a treatment plan. xxx

Good to see you pop up! So many people never post when they move on from treatment, so I hope you’ve been a good encouragement. 

Sarah xx

Thank you so much for your reply. It’s been a horrible time for me so it’s good to hear you feel well afterwards. Have you had any side effects at all? I’m frightened that I’ll suffer and not be able to look after my children. 

I’ve started cbt for my tomophobia because it’s really crippling me and I just desperately wish they’d give me a start date so that I can get on with it and just power through. I’m trying to eat well (I seem to either be able to eat nothing, or tonnes, no in between) - I was already on a diet/healthy eating kick for over a year before all of this began. I lost 4 stone before I found out my diagnosis. I’m hoping this will help me. 

I just hope that I will get through this ok. Thank you again for replying. 

Hi again Frenchiefrankenstein, I'm so glad you are looking after yourself and I'm sure it will help.  I know it can be hard to eat when your stomach is churning and your nerves are jangling.  I haven't got any major side effects and the worst that happened during treatment was severe diarrhoea about three weeks into the radiation treatment.  It was quickly controlled with the use of some tablets that they prescribed.  I'm sure you will be just fine.  Please keep us updated xxx

Hi Sarah, I hope you're fully recovered now and doing well.  I always have a look see what's happening here just in case I can be of help.  I consider it's the least I can do having been so fortunate myself thus far.  Let's hope we have some rain free days and can get out in the sunshine finally!  xxx

That gives me so much hope. I can deal with that for sure. I just need to get my phobia of medical treatment under control somewhat. I’m really grateful for your replies to me, thank you. 

I’m really glad you feel you have been given some hope by Snobird. I remember when she joined the forum a long time ago and she has done really well. I hope you can have success with your treatment for the tomophobia-that must be really difficult to cope with.

Remember that not everyone has side effects from the treatment-you will be warned about possible side effects when you sign consent for any treatment, but it doesn’t mean you will get any or all of them.

For me, and a lot of women undergoing pelvic radiotherapy, the effects can be on the bladder and/or bowels, so you can get cystitis or diarrhoea. Like Snobird, this started after 3 weeks of treatment. You just need to tell the doctor and you will be given things to help. Neither of those things badly affects your normal life. Treatment can also make you very tired. I found the bladder and bowel effects disappeared a week or two after treatment finished and never came back.

Sarah xx