Recently diagnosed, petrified.

Hi Buster2024 and welcome to our group.

It’s such an awful shock to get a cancer diagnosis, isn’t it? I wasn’t expecting mine either- it’s extremely scary, and I think we can all identify with how you’ll be feeling right now. 

Cervical cancer can be sneaky and hide up in the cervical canal, but the positive thing to take from this is that it’s been found now after the LLETZ treatment, and you can be treated. The doctors are estimating the stage and grade using their experience, but the only way to confirm this will be the CT and MRI, so unfortunately it is possible for this to change. 

The waiting for scans and results is a difficult time, and like many of us I found things easier once my scan results were in and I knew what my treatment plan was going to be. If the stage and grade remains at 1b1, surgery should be possible and normally you’d be able to have a hysterectomy, but if the stage is higher, then surgery might not be possible and the usual treatment would be chemoradiation. I was at stage 2b, so hysterectomy was not an option and I had the chemoradiation instead.

Try to keep focused on what you know for now and try not to let your mind wander to other thoughts, and it will just make you more anxious. I’d stick to trusted resources like Macmilan and Cancer Research UK if you want to find safe and trusted information, and don’t go down any dr Google rabbit holes.

Do you know when you’ll get your scans and results? I hope it’s not long to wait and that you can move quickly to treatment. We have lots of experience in the group from ladies who have had surgery, or chemo, or chemoradiation, so please feel free to ask any questions here and we will do our best to help. 

Give yourself time to accept and process your diagnosis, and we’ll all be here to support you through.

Take care

Sarah xx

Hi Sarah, 

Thank you so much for getting back to me so quickly. I'm being seen very fast for scans and the lead gynecology oncologist in my area which Is good. I have a CT scan today MRI on Sunday and the meeting on Thursday so will know what to expect by then. 

Apparently the specialist that I am seeing on Thursday is very very good and if a hysterectomy is needed which Is what they think at the moment I'll be given a date there and then which Is great. 

I'm just trying to stay positive for my children, and family. We actually had my grandads funeral the day before I was diagnosed, so it's been an awful few months. 

Oh, I’m so sorry you had that sadness in your family and then were hit with your diagnosis-life can feel very difficult at times.

Things are moving quickly though, so you shouldn’t have too long to be waiting and worrying, and it looks like you’ll have a good consultant taking care of you. It’s important to be able to trust those taking care of you-it does make things easier. 

I found that having a positive mindset helped me, but please don’t try and put on a brave face and feel you have to be strong all the time. We are only human, and you’ve had a big shock to come to terms with. It’s ok not to be positive all the time, but I found the trick was not to allow negative thoughts to overwhelm me. Every day when I woke up I repeated the same thing out loud-I will be well-and I focused on that. Your doctors will be treating with curative intent, so there’s a lot of positives to hold on to and you have every reason to expect to get through this and come successfully out the other side! 

Sarah xx

I really need to start doing a little gentle yoga and meditation again as I believe that will help me have a positive mindset. Thank you again for your reply x 

Yes, all these types of self care are really helpful and I found mindfulness really useful to keep myself calmer and in the moment. Stick with us, and let us know how you’re getting on.

Sarah xx

Hi Buster2024,

Just want to say that I went through very similar to you a year ago. Same stage 1b1 diagnosed  after a lletz treatment pathology. Same comment at lletz, nothing sinister seen. It was higher up cervix, Adenocarcinoma. From posts on this forum I see that it can be missed by smear tests

. At least it has been found and it sounds like you will be able to have surgery. It is an awful shock but very treatable. Things are being dealt with quickly from what you say. 

I know what it is like to feel terrified so did not want to scroll past. I wish you All the Best. 

Serena77  x

Hi just wanted to say i know exactly how you are feeling, i had a small post meno bleed in August, had a smear test then called back in to say i had high risk hpv and high grade abnormal cells, had a LLETZ the next dsy, called back 2 weeks later so i knew it wasnt good news x said i had stage 1b1 adenocarcinoma, had mri-all clear so did a 2nd LLETZ and clear margins, referred to oncology and now booked in for a hysterectomy on 6/1. They are seeing you very fast which is great x so far the tests and waiting for results has been the hardest part plus the shock of the diagnosis-i am still processing that so i know exactly how you are feeling x hopefully it will stay at stage 1b1 but even if it doesnt i have read that this is a very treatable cancer so try to stay as positive as you can x i definitely had bad days and spiralled a few times, i think i needed to allow those emotions to release them but then i managed to pick myself up again and remind myself to live in the present moment knowing that i will cope with this with the support of family and friends and i’m sure you will too x this group is very supportive and Sarah H is brilliant! We are here for you and understand what you are going through x

Thank you so much for your reply Serena77. It's so nice to hear success stories. I hope you're beginning to feel better now. I can imagine the surgery recovery is also quite hard going. X

Hi Seffi, I'm so sorry that you have recently been through the same. This journey really is an emotional rollercoaster isn't it, I just want to know exactly what I'm dealing with. Hopefully the next week will pass quickly. 

I hope you're healing well, I can imagine the operation recovery is also hard going x

Thanks x i havent had my surgery yet, booked for 6th Jan so trying to gear  up for it x sounds like they are being very efficient, ru in the UK?