Hi
The 16th of May 2021 will stay with me forever. After experiencing heavy clotting I was diagnosed with cervical cancer that had advanced to my uterus and lymph nodes.
A blur of time whizzed by consumed with scans, meetings and appointments to the 8th of June where my first of 8 induction chemos started, I was absolutely petrified! Week 6 and 7 were cancelled as my white cells weren’t playing the game... the fear was unreal. Week 8 went ahead as planned. I then started 5 weeks of radio and chemo combined.... the treatment was having an effect on my body like I had never known, I remember thinking “as long as it’s having the same effect on the cancer!”
Week 4 of this chemo was my 40th birthday.... what a way to spend it, 8 hours of infusions along with a trip to get my radio! Week 5 was yet again cancelled as I lost full feeling in my hands and feet.
I then got a 2 week break!!! I was lost as in to what should I do with my day/time....it was filled with sleeping, eating, crying and maybe some more crying!
I then went into hospital to get prepped for my first of 2 brachytherapy sessions...(not sure I was prepped mentally!!) Both sessions were exactly the same and the feeling of relief of that part of my journey being over was mixed if I’m honest.
Then the letter arrived.... MRI time! 3rd of December off I went to the hospital with every feeling of anxiety rushing through me.... or so I thought at the time as the levels of anxiety I experienced on Monday 20th for the results was in a league of its own!
The nurse took us through and made pleasant small talk however every part of me just wanted my oncologist to enter the room! The door opened and to my shock it wasn’t him! He is off poorly with Covid I was told, my heart sank! I quickly realised the doctor I was faced with I recognised from being in the ward and remembered he seemed nice.
After apologising for the absence of my doctor and the reasons he then opened the sentence with “I’ll just cut to the chase”
My heart was pounding, my hands were sweating, my eyes were darting around the room as I heard the most amazing words “Your MRI is showing clear, there is no evidence of cancer remaining” I looked at my partner and saw the tears in his eyes, I looked at the nurse and I could see by her eyes she had a reassuring smile under her mask and I just sat there. The rush of emotions was unreal, do I cry, do I thank them, can I stay calm, I needed to tell our son.... everything was running around my mind however I sat and tried to concentrate on what this god of a doctor was saying!
After more info, a brief examination and some banter we left the room.... as I walked through the department to go to the car the tears came, the shock hit me and I just smiled.
Right now I feel like the luckiest person in the world, however I know there are people that are not so lucky. I am eternally grateful to my oncology team, my Mcmillian nurse was an absolute diamond and at times I felt like she was my sister.
The journey is hard, so hard on your body, harder on the mind and heartbreaking for friends and family but it is a journey and the choice, for me, was to ride it!
I have never discussed my experience during treatment as I couldn’t. Now, I want to. For myself, and for other people out there, no matter the stage of it.
If anyone out there needs an ear or wants to ask me anything at all, please do. I’m far from an expert however I’m honest, non judgmental and real.
I’m sending positive vibes to everyone, we are all fighters!
It was an epic fail on my part! I got myself in a right pickle! 
elasticated waists are the way forward!
J
xxx
Well I'm so sorry you had to suffer that but thanks for sparing the rest of us! 
xxx
Every little helps! I hope that when you are there you think back and have a giggle at my misfortune and it makes the day a bit easier 
️
J
xxx
No need to apologise at all, it’s how you feel and it’s how a lot of us have felt at some point I am sure.
I agree, get the treatment started and kick the arse out of it girl! 
My mind felt so much clearer once I knew what it was actually like and how my body was responding. I did have to remind myself, when days were tough, that I was feeling rubbish because of the treatment, which made it easier
Hi Angela
induction chemo is not the same as brachytherapy. At your cancer stage you won’t be getting this-you’ll be on low dose Cisplatin chemo and radiotherapy followed by the brachytherapy, which is the internal radiation.
induction chemo can be offered if you are on the Interlace trial, which I was offered but refused, but also when the cancer is more advanced and has spread. At stage 2b, the cancer has not spread from the cervix, but in Jen’s case it had and was at a more advanced stage.
I’m not sure if the Interlace trial is still going on, since my original diagnosis was so long ago, but I think I probably wasn’t educated enough on it to make an informed decision-and I didn’t want to be in the group assigned by the trial which didn’t actually get the chemo. It’s a very personal decision to make if you are offered a trial, and I just wanted to get on with the standard treatment. This chemo would make you lose your hair.
But induction chemo is not offered at stage 2b unless part of the trial, as the standard treatment is considered sufficient to kill the cancer. So don’t be concerned that it hasn’t been mentioned. xxx
