Why is the waiting so awful 
I found out I have stage 1 just 2 weeks ago, and all I’ve had is my MRI. I’m in a weird space where it doesn’t feel real and yet it is and my brain keeps reminding me of that, however everything is just carrying on as normal except my closest family knows and some close friends at work.
my whole life feels on hold right now, even trying to plan anything for a weekend seems like there’s no point incase I have to change everything, and the worst part about all this waiting is that this year was supposed to be the year me and my SO we’re going to be trying for a baby, and now everywhere I look everyone has the one thing I was finally going to have and now all that is on hold too, it just feels awful not having any plan at all for anything
Hello Catlover25and welcome to the group!
I’m sorry to see that you have been diagnosed, and this is recent for you so there will be a lot for you to get your head around. Waiting is a very difficult part of the process of confirming the stage and deciding on the right treatment plan, and it’s one of the hardest parts of this whole process when you know you have cancer but don’t know what’s going to happen next.
Once you have been told your plan, things become easier to cope with as you can get on with dealing with it. I hope you’ll find the group to be a friendly and supportive environment where you can ask any questions and share your feelings. We will do our best to help support you through.
Sarah xx
I think all of us found the waiting very difficult-everything seems to take ages, but if you are stage 1, they will want to be sure of the exact staging as you may be eligible for a hysterectomy, whereas later stages aren’t.
I personally had several weeks of waiting at various stages of the process-3 weeks to be seen by a gynaecologist, a week for biopsies, then another week for scans and a wait for the results and final decision on treatment. Then a wait for treatment to start. We want things to move more quickly than they do, I think that’s natural. I had about 6 weeks from diagnosis to treatment, but it differs for us all depending on whether surgery is an option.
Try not to stop living your life while you’re waiting, though I know that’s easy to say and not so easy to do!
Sarah xx
Hi again
Later stages of this cancer-stage 2 and above cannot be treated by a hysterectomy, as this is too risky, and would need chemo and radiation. Hysterectomy is normally only possible at stage 1.
Stage 1 cancer treatment would usually depend on which category of stage 1 the cancer is staged at, how early it is, size etc. Very early and tiny stage 1 cancer can sometimes have been fully removed by, for example a LLETZ treatment or biopsy, or in some cases there can be an operation performed called a trachelectomy, which is removal of the cervix, but not all hospitals perform this and it’s not possible in all cases.
Your team will need the scan results to confirm exactly what treatment is most suitable for you, but unfortunately the usual treatment will often be a hysterectomy. Yes, it is a major operation, but the priority will be getting rid of the cancer. A later stage cancer at stage 2 and beyond would result in infertility, because even though you still have a womb, pelvic radiotherapy will destroy the ovaries and result in a surgical menopause.
Given your age, your team will likely look at options such as egg freezing, but they would discuss all this with you in detail once they have more information on your particular cancer. It’s best not to try and second guess what will happen until you have more information.
Sarah xx
I’ve had my consultation and they want to do a radical trachelectomy, but my surgeon is off sick and so I haven’t got a date yet. My mum is freaking out about the timeframe I’m on, I was diagnosed late April and the best they can hope for is late July for my surgery, this seems so long really and a lot of waiting with still massive uncertainty m. The oncology nurse I spoke to upon diagnosis said everything would be quite quick but I really feel a bit let down. 7 weeks since diagnosis and I don’t have a proper plan yet 
Hi Catlover25
It’s good you know that they will be able to do the radical trachelectomy for you, but it’s tough waiting. But waiting a long time for things is not uncommon and shouldn’t change the outcome. The nurse can say it will be quick, but doesn’t really know as everything depends on the availability of staff and urgency of all patients waiting for surgery. Obviously the surgeon being off sick will hold things up, but there won’t be anything you can do about that.
Some ladies wait longer than this for their cancer treatment to start, although I appreciate that you are concerned about your own waiting time. But your own cancer must be a very early stage to allow this type of operation at all and unfortunately there are backlogs in the system post covid and there may be more urgent cases which have to be dealt with as a higher priority.
I had to wait 9 weeks for my own surgery, and my cancer was aggressive and spreading rapidly during those weeks. This will not be the case with your cancer, and as I was having 3 surgeons do my particular operation, I had to wait till they were all available on the same day. Yes, it’s hard waiting, but unfortunately we’ve all had to do that. Hang in there!
Sarah xx
Hi yes the waiting is awfull I've been diagnosed with stage 2b cancer and its not a common type quite aggressive, I finally got my ct scan and tattoos and start my treatment 4th July mine had spread so can't have surgery but having cemo and radiotherapy, I no how you feel not being able to plan and just thinking about it all the time ,I hope you get a date for yours very soon 
Hi Buff
Do you mind me asking which type you have been diagnosed with? Some types are definitely more aggressive than others, but the treatment is broadly the same for all and we have lots of experience in the group of being stage 2b and completing treatment.
Sarah xx
