Hello ladies,
I am 2 years post treatment for stage 3 cervical cancer (radiotherapy chemotherapy and brachytherapy.) I am really struggling as a 39 year old plunged into menopause, people around me just think I'm cured now and thats it but mentally i am struggling a lot, i don't recognise myself anymore & i feel like I'm grieving my old-self. I can’t be the only one to feel like this? At least during treatment i was told what I needed to do where I needed to be but now i just feel completely lost, anxious & sad not to mention completely traumatised.
Im looking for support groups to speak to people who have been through the same, there are none so I have joined this forum x
Ah, I didn’t realise you had a fistula-I’ve not had one but many of my friends have so I know from them that they can be difficult to deal with. As things are getting worse, not better, I really think you should be getting this checked again in case it’s not healing properly-they can be tricky to deal with.
I would definitely speak with your cancer treating team rather than trying to deal with the gp- in my own experience the gp doesn’t have enough experience to deal with post cancer treatment issues-when mine diagnosed me over the phone with a urine infection he was very wrong and I ended up in an ambulance and had 9 days in hospital so I don’t really have faith in them. That hasn’t been my only issue with my gp surgery by any means.
As you are still not long out from treatment, my first port of call would be your CNS who will know if you need to see your consultant. Please don’t continue to suffer like this as fistulas can get worse if left.
Sarah xx
I can understand why you’re so worried but can also appreciate their thinking on the dilators-it’s a very difficult situation for you to be in.
It’s true that there’s a possibility of things closing up in there and the dilators do help keep things open for internal examinations etc. However, the fistula getting worse would be a bigger concern for me at this point.
I hated getting poked and prodded after treatment ended-it felt I’d had enough of that to last a lifetime! However, if I hadn’t had proper check ups after treatment, my recurrence wouldn’t have been spotted as there were no scans for me after my 3 month post treatment mri, and I had no symptoms. So I am very grateful for those checks.
I hope that you will be seen in person at some point-I’m assuming you will be after your scan happens, as phone consultations are not always the best way to know what’s going on.
Sarah xx
