Hi all,
im new here so hi to everyone..
im Charlotte, i am 26 and i live in Wales with my partner of 10 years and my beautiful 3 kids, 8,7 & 5.
I am going to start at the very beginning most information will probably be completely irrelevant but I'd prefer to share my whole experience to see if anybody has had similar issues that could help me understand what is going on with me as im literally so sick of feeling ill and waiting for the doctors and appointments is draining and quite frankly i have had enough.
Basically, all my issues started just over a year ago, i started getting pelvic pain and lower back pain, they put it down to a kidney infection and that was that.
3 weeks later I was rushed into A&E with severe pain, felt like labour, tuned out i had a burst ovarian cyst, they said it was large and it caused internal bleeding. i had to have an emergency laparoscopy to stop the bleeding. this was august last year and i feel like everything has gone downhill from there.
A couple of months after this the pelvic pain came back with shooting pain going down my thighs and chronic back pain, they started me on Gabapentin for the pain and it has helped to an extent, but when it comes to my period the pain is severe and can make me bed ridden, my periods are always very heavy to the point where i have to change my pad every half hour otherwise i leak through. i bleed in-between periods and they are very painful, I get cramps opening my bowels and going for a wee i also get frequent Uti's.
I have been going to my doctors for months saying how much pain i have been in and the impact it is having on my mental health along with the effect it is having on my family and my young kids. they referred me to gynaecology; this was over 6 months ago and not heard anything.
They advised me to do some swabs so i did and it came back with i was positive for strep-B, they weren't concerned because normally it isn't a concern unless you are pregnant.
Recently my symptoms have been getting worse, i have been feeling nauseous on and off, very fatigued, bloating, pelvic pain, lower back pain, losing weight without trying. I have been going very lightheaded, to the point i stood up the other day and nearly passed out so i rang the doctor and said i have been extremely heavy on my period for 8 days straight and that i have not been feeing right for weeks and it's getting worse, so he gave me a tablet to stop my bleeding and he said he wanted to do a cervical examination just to see if there is going on instead of waiting for gynaecology to do it.
so, i waited for the bleeding to stop and booked in for a cervical examination with my doctor
I went in on Monday for the cervical examination and the doctor was very gentle and explained what was going to happen, he did it and he sat me down and said that he has found something, he said my cervix was inflamed and had cells on the cervix and said that it looked like a large cervical ectropion but he couldn't be sure as the cells and the redness was covering the whole front of my cervix. He said he couldn't rule out that it could be cervical cancer and that it needs to be urgently looked at and that i needed to see a specialist and i need to have tests.
He said he has urgently referred me to a specialist and that i will be seen in less than 2 weeks.
I suppose i just want answers as this has been a long time coming, i knew there was something wrong as i haven't felt well in months, I'm tired all the time.
I feel like i should be prepared for the worst just in case and find out what are the next steps?
Has anybody been diagnosed with cervical cancer that's had similar experiences to me?
thank you all, in advance!!
Charlotte x
Snap! I’d been having bleeding for about a year on and off and terrible pain at times but hoped it would just go away. My gp was absolutely brilliant when I eventually did go, and took it very seriously. I feel so sorry for all the ladies I read about who are dismissed and told everything’s normal when they know it’s not. I always tell people to be proactive and keep going back if they are not happy. I sometimes wish I had gone much earlier to the doctor, and potentially saved myself from what I had to go through subsequently, but I know there’s no point in thinking like that as I can’t change anything now. But maybe I wouldn’t have had my life changed in the way it has been.
Sarah xx
Hi Ajay100
Personally I would not have found it helpful to have cancer suggested by my gp. At that point I didn’t even know a 2 week referral was for suspected cancer! I had to wait 3 weeks to be seen by gynaecology, then a further week for biopsy results-that would have been 4 weeks of stress I’m glad I didn’t have to experience!
I’ve known many women in the past 4 years who have had cancer suggested, gone on Google and self diagnosed themselves with advanced cancer and spent every day and night crying and in a state of huge anxiety. Some never got a cancer diagnosis at all-there was another reason for their issues. Research without knowledge can be quite dangerous as the internet tends to suggest worst case scenarios, and I didn’t Google anything. To this day I use it sparingly and for specific things.
Some people want to be prepared, but actually nothing can truly prepare you for a cancer diagnosis and someone saying those words to you. I think every doctor and consultant has their own way of doing things, and different people find different approaches helpful. Luckily my doctors’ approach suited me. I needed to go one step at a time, and deal with one lot of information at a time so I could process something before moving onto the next step. But we are all different. I have gained a lot of knowledge over these last few years from my team and speaking to many other women. It’s served me better than Dr Google, that’s for sure!
Sarah xx
