Hello! I have just completed my first day of chemo/radiotherapy treatment. Diagnosed in April after a routine smear test, no previous issues with any of my smears and no symptoms! So thankful for routine screening! had a radical hysterectomy in June (robotic which made my recovery much quicker). initially I was classed as stage 1b2 following the MRI however after surgery the pathology suggested a larger lesion more like a 1b3 - still confined to my cervix with clear margins and clear lymphs but they suggested chemo/rad treatment as the margin towards my bladder was only 0.3mm. Feeling okay at present but waiting for the side effects to kick in! Decided to join for support ( and lots of good advice from those who have experienced the rollercoaster that is a diagnosis of cancer) hoping everyone is feeling supported and positive despite the situation we are dealing with 
xxx
Hi Milly6149 and welcome to the group!
Quite the whirlwind for you since April it seems! It must have been very disappointing to have to go to chemorads after thinking surgery would be enough, but there are lots of us in the group who have gone through this so we have plenty support and advice for you as you go along.
Personally I found chemo the easier of the treatments although it was a long day, and such a performance being up and down to the loo every 20 minutes. But it’s important to keep your kidneys well flushed. I was never sick or nauseous, but was still given anti sickness pills to take should I need them.
I found radio much harder in terms of coping with the side effects, and was really tired. The effects for me were cumulative, so for the first two weeks I coped fine, and then from week 3 I was pretty exhausted and had bad diarrhoea and cystitis. Not everyone gets these side effects but they are common, and lots of us in the group had similar issues.
Keep your team informed of anything, and don’t suffer in silence! You will get loperamide prescribed if you need it, and creams etc to help with cystitis if you get this. But you might sail through without these things as some ladies do.
It’s a very intense period of treatment but the benefit is that it is over in a matter of weeks and I recovered pretty quickly from my bladder and bowel issues. I wasn’t able to have brachytherapy, but other ladies will have experience of this to share with you when the time comes for that.
I hope you’ll find the group a supportive and encouraging place to seek advice, ask any questions or just offload anything you need to say. Between us we’ve got a wide variety of experience to share and we’ll be happy to help you along the way.
Hoping your treatment continues smoothly and look forward to having you with us.
Sarah xx
