Hi
i was diagnosed in December 2023 with stage 3 cervical cancer
I started my treatment on January 29th
this was 5 weeks of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. 5 sessions of chemo and 25 sessions of radiotherapy
then in March I had brachytherapy and stayed in hospital for 4 days during this treatment
Towards the end of February I started suffer with my bowels and it would be so painful to go to the toilet and the fatigue really hit me after the brachytherapy
by May things seemed to be easing a little toilet wise and I could feel some energy coming back
then in the last week of May I started getting really bad cramps at the bottom of my stomach very similar to period pain cramps. These cramps have not gone away I’m constantly cramping but the level of pain varies in the last two weeks I have been advised that this is a side effect and they have just given me morphine to manage the pain. Even though it helps. The pains are still there and I’m constantly uncomfortable
is this a common side effect? Has anyone else had it ?
it wasn’t on my list of side effects when I had to sign I was ok to start the treatment
I just want to know if I can expect to deal with this for much longer. Because it’s so draining
Hi Stacystace and welcome to our group.
I’m sorry to read you’ve got such level of pain that it requires morphine-that must be really difficult for you.
I didn’t have this cramping as a side effect from treatment personally-I was in a lot of pain before treatment, and even during it with side effects but I did find that things got a lot better once I’d been out of treatment a couple of weeks. This cramping wasn’t on any list of side effects advised to me that could persist post treatment and it’s never been mentioned to me at any point.
You haven’t mentioned where you are in your follow up checks so I wondered if you could maybe let us know where you're up to with that? I had a check up at 6 weeks post treatment, an mri at 3 months out and 3 monthly internal examinations thereafter.
Did you get an examination before being diagnosed with morphine for pain management? I think personally I’d want this to be checked out by your consultant if you haven’t been checked out very recently.
I hope others might come along and share their experiences-a number of ladies have successfully come through treatment for stage 3 so might be able to help. Meanwhile I hope you’ll keep with us updated with how you’re doing,
Sarah xx
I really hope you’ll get clear scans-it’s good they’re doing more for you as they tend to be more accurate than ultrasounds. Is it mri and Ct again or will they do a petscan?
It’s really difficult not to get a definite NED result after the first scans post treatment, but I have seen other ladies who had further scans at 6 months out where they did get a NED result.
I really hope things improve for you-I’ve not got experience of the morphine patches, but did have oramorph after my surgery which was very helpful. However I didn’t need to have this long term, and it’s not something they tend to want you on for too long normally. Better to find out the cause of the pain for you.
Sarah xx
