Hi everyone so as its now been 2 weeks since my surgery thought I would update. So I ended up with a different consultant but he was very nice and professional and I had faith in him, plus he said he would do bikini line incision as original consultant was going to do vertical. The op went well, 4.5 hours, i only remember being in the ante room, having the calming med, an anaesthetic in my spine then I was out so whether I dont remember it or I zonked out before I dont know! Woke up in recovery, didnt need a step down bed and was told ward was full so I was getting a private room-lucky me! Honestly, the first 3 days were awful, they gave me antibiotics which made me feel sick then vomit if I ate anything, they stopped them the next day but it took 2 days to get them out my system, they kept bringing loads of meds which I found hard to take on an empty upset stomach so I refused all but the iron and painkillers. Everyone says they’ll keep on top of your pain and any nausea but I didnt want to take morphine or codeine as I felt sick enough, ate literally nothing for 3 days so had to have iv fluids. I also had low bp and iron was low. By the 4th day nausea wore off and I ate loads. They kept trying to get me up but when I tried I felt hot, head rushes and felt shaky every time plus I had burning stinging pain even just sitting. Most of the staff were fantastic kind and patient but I was very tearful as I thought I should have been doing better. Picked up fairly quickly once I was eating and managed to get home on the Saturday, luckily bladdder worked fine once catheter out. I was told that I was lucky to be in a private room as the gynae ward had an outbreak of norovirus and no-one could visit or leave. My heart went out to the women on that ward. So a week at home and been doing ok but I have def done too much on the days I felt ok and paid for it with more pain and swelling. I had asked for positive hysto stories from another group to help me feel more positive about it but I see now that was a mistake as it meant that when I wasnt doing great I was beating myself up about it as I thought I should be walking up and down the corridor on day 2! On day 5 I was still worrying how I could get home as I could barely sit up but its amazing how you can improve in a day. So I have just rested today and am learning to do much less than I think I can as it just slows recovery. Honestly I wasnt expecting to be in so much pain, have so much swelling or numbness as I have, I thought I had prepared myself as well as I could but we are all different I guess! Just going to focus on rest now and hope things improve over the next few weeks. Sorry its a bit negative but important to be honest I think!
Hi Seffie
So good to hear from you, and thank you for sharing your experience though I’m sorry to hear you’ve had some issues to deal with.
It can be very helpful in advance of surgery to read how others have got on, but it can be a double edged sword sometimes because we can feel that we are maybe not doing as well as others afterwards. But I have learned how unique we are and I no longer compare myself to others. I joined a group of ladies online who were having hysterectomies, but typically for womb cancer, not cervical.
When I had my hysterectomy, even though it didn’t work and I had nothing removed, I had to leave that group as I just couldn’t identify with these women telling me it was a breeze, and I felt inadequate! I was constipated, in a lot of pain, I had 25 staples and a wound infection. I was shuffling about the house in those first days, berating myself for not feeling completely healthy and going for walks all the time! It just wasn’t the same for me, but it was my reality. I just thought I was being weak, but I understand now I wasn’t.
We are all different, and having laparoscopic surgery is very different to open abdominal whether it’s vertical or bikini line. You have had a lot of healing to do inside, and yes, you do need to take things easy as you recover. If you try and push to do more too soon, you’ll know about it! This is a major surgery and you need to allow yourself that time to get over it.
You've not been negative, you’ve been honest and we are here to tell the experience which is ours alone, no-one else’s. I hope things will be on the up now-I certainly think I took a few weeks to recover and it wasn’t all plain sailing. But every day is progress and that’s the important thing to remember.
Sarah xx
Hi Seffie
I’m sorry to see you’ve seen this on the letter before you go for your appointment-it just adds to the stress.
It’s potentially more to deal with as you recover, but with LVSI I would say it’s better to have further treatment to try to reduce the chance of recurrence if it’s recommended for you.
Radiotherapy is the main treatment for cervical cancer, with chemotherapy being a low dose of Cisplatin which is to increase the efficacy of the radiotherapy. I found having chemo was really straightforward, with no nausea or sickness or any side effects I could identify. The radiotherapy was definitely harder for me, but I’m still very glad I did it.
I hope everything will be explained at your appointment tomorrow and you’ll let us know how to get on.
Sarah xx
Yes, it’s a blow to think you may need more treatment, but typically it’s 25 sessions of radiotherapy daily except weekends, so it’s 5 weeks to mop up any cells lurking.
While you’re still struggling with your recovery it will be hard to think about having more treatment, but with adenocarcinoma I’d personally take anything offered and focus on it giving the most positive outcome.
Sarah xx
