I was diagnosed with stage 1 cervical cancer Sept 2023 after abnormal smear and LLETZ.
I had a 2nd LLETZ Nov 2023 which showed only precancerous cells. This resulted in a full hysterectomy Feb 2024 due to there being no clear margin in both LLETZ.
Menopause has been bearable so far with little to no symptoms.
I had a smear test in Aug (6 months post op) and this showed further abnormalities, with a biopsy being taken Nov. My consultant advised she could see white cells which could be cancer or an infection (i should say I've had high risk positive HPV on all smears recently)
I'm worried that the cancer is coming back just as I feel like life is returning to some sort of normality. Has anyone had this before? Surely a recurrence wouldn't be that quick?
Hi Lorna45 and welcome to our group.
My situation was different in that I didn’t have a hysterectomy as my first treatment-I had chemoradiation as my cancer was too advanced for surgery when I was initially diagnosed.
i‘ve been through a recurrence myself, and mine happened 9 months after my treatment ended. Unfortunately a recurrence can happen at any time, but hopefully this will not be the case for you. As you’ve tested positive for active hpv on your recent smear, the virus may be the cause of what your doctor has seen, but it’s only biopsies will confirm what this is. For me, there were cells which must have been still there but not picked up on my scan after treatment ended, so my cancer grew in the same place again.
I hope you don’t have too long to wait for your results, and that this is nothing of concern for you. Please let us know how you get on and there is support here for you if you need it. Other ladies who have had a hysterectomy will hopefully be along to share their experience if they’ve had anything similar on post surgery smear tests. The good thing is that you are being closely monitored which can pick up any abnormalities early.
Sarah xx
