Hi there,
I'm new here just really wanting some advice I have been experiencing some symptoms some of which have come on quite quickly. I have had watery discharge for a while but over the past few weeks I have been experiencing lower back pain and abdominal pain and aching legs at night and some lower rib pain. The past week I've also had a swollen lymphnode in the back of my neck.
I went for a smear test yesterday the gp said that cervix looked normal but there was some discharge present. I am awaiting results but I'm absolutely petrified and not coping and preparing myself for bad news. Everything I'm reading indicates advanced stages which is hugely concerning.
Was just wondering if anyone could offer some support on their symptoms and the outcome in terms of staging. I hope I am not coming across in the wrong light just really hoping for some advice. Hope you are all doing well and wishing you the best.
Hi Jessiejay13 and welcome to our group!
Your panic comes through in your post, but please take a deep breath and try to calm down. The first thing I would recommend is to stop consulting dr Google and the internet to try and diagnose yourself, as this will lead to even more anxiety and will not give you an answer-everything will be worst case scenario there with scary conclusions which will be unlikely to apply to you.
You have symptoms which could apply to any number of gynaecological conditions, and by no means all of them cancer, and a swollen lymphnode in the back of your neck is normally indicative of the body fighting some kind of infection, again usually nothing to do with cancer. I can’t recall in the last 4 years of reading cervical cancer groups ever seeing anyone with a swollen lymphnode in the back of their neck being connected to cervical cancer.
It’s positive that your gp said your cervix looks normal-if you have advanced stages of cervical cancer, your cervix definitely doesn’t look normal! The first stage will be to get your swab results back to see if the discharge is caused by an infection and then go from there in terms of investigating your other symptoms. Your smear test will be testing for the hpv virus, which is the cause of most cervical cancer, and if you are hpv positive, then you would be sent for a colposcopy which is a closer examination of the cervix to check for abnormal cells. These abnormal cells are pre cancerous, not cancer, and the whole point of the smear/screening programme is to identify these at an early stage and treat them if necessary.
It’s honestly not helpful to try to compare yourself to others in terms of symptoms and relating them to a cancer staging as everyone is different, and you are assuming with no evidence as yet that you have cancer. For example I did have watery discharge, on and off post menopausal bleeding and intense pelvic pain, not near the ribs or abdomen. But being post menopausal means my situation would be very different from yours. I’ve seen ladies with fewer symptoms be staged higher than me, and ladies with more symptoms be staged lower, so it’s not an exact science.
I’m not sure if anything can reassure you while you are in such a state of panic, but I’ve lost count of the number of ladies I’ve encountered over the years who have self diagnosed themselves with advanced stage cervical cancer who turned out not to have cancer at all, and there was another reason for their symptoms.
The mind too is a powerful thing-you can imagine all sorts of symptoms, and feel all sorts of aches and pains. Why not prepare yourself for good news? You might have a simple infection for example. I am assuming the gp didn’t suggest you might have cancer?
You are very welcome to be here in the group and we do have a lovely bunch of ladies who can help with advice and support, so do keep posting and let us know how you get on. In the meantime until you know more, try not to worry so much while there’s nothing at the moment to worry about.
Sarah xx
As the community champ for this group, my role as a volunteer is to try and reach out to the ladies who post, and offer reassurance or advice where I can, based on my own experience of having advanced cervical cancer.
I have suffered from anxiety myself, although not health anxiety, and I do understand how debilitating that can be. It becomes very difficult not to panic about everything. Have you ever had help with this? If not, it might be a good idea to mention this to your doctor to see if they can offer any advice. I’ve had medication, and counselling myself and know how much both of these things benefitted me in calming me and helping me see things from a different perspective. I also used mindfulness and the headspace app on my phone to keep me calm while waiting for results.
Both of my parents died from cancer, so I understand that is a factor in your worry, and the thought of cancer is very scary. But there is not necessarily any greater risk in you developing any kind of cancer. I was determined from my own diagnosis to do the best I could with my own treatment and subsequent surgery and focus on the fact that my individual circumstances were different.
I’m still here and doing well more than 4 years after my first diagnosis, and trying to have a positive mindset and not let panic get the better of me has helped I’m sure.
Keep in touch, and try to get some help with your anxiety.
Sarah xx
Smear test results can take weeks to come back unfortunately so you’re likely to have a bit of a wait. We all have a lot of waiting in this whole process of getting answers to symptoms and results of tests.
If you let the worry consume you like this it’s going to be very difficult for you to cope if you do get a cancer diagnosis. You’ve had some symptoms which are troubling you, but like I said before you cannot diagnose yourself-especially not with advanced cervical cancer. I really think you need help with your anxiety..and you can also speak to the nurses at Macmillan (the support number to call is in my signature) -they might be able to give you some reassurance.
There are the techniques I used to keep myself calm and grounded in the moment which you could try? Using the headspace app and finding out about mindfulness techniques, asking your gp for help with your extreme anxiety. It’s difficult to know what else to suggest at this point when you have no diagnosis.
You will have to wait for your smear results first and go from there, but meanwhile you do need to get on with normal life and try to keep from obsessing about this if you are to help yourself. And, if I can gently suggest, we do need to do all we can to help ourselves. I’m sorry that I don’t seem to have been able to provide you with any kind of reassurance today..it’s always my hope to be able to do that. Please take care of yourself, and try to stop letting this take over your every thought.
Sarah xx
Hi Jessiejay13
I’m afraid I can’t give an opinion of the effectiveness of treatment as I’m not a medical professional so it wouldn’t be appropriate.
If you had been diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer I would happily discuss my own treatment and surgery, but again I don’t think it’s appropriate to discuss that with anyone who doesn’t have a cancer diagnosis because it would be likely to fuel your anxiety. I’m 60 and still here though!
Remember, you don’t have cancer until they tell you that you do!
Sarah xx
Hi Jessiejay13
How are you doing today? Are you feeling any better? I hope you’ve been able to get some sleep and are feeling less anxious? Take care.
Sarah xx
Hi there,
Still not sleeping but overall feeling calmer it's out of my control still hoping for the best. Results still aren't in yet so hoping to hear tomorrow 
Thank you so much for your kindness and checking in
It is awful when things are out of our control and we can feel so helpless, but hoping for the best is a good step. Smear results typically do take a long time though, so try not to be too despondent if you don’t hear tomorrow.
Just look after yourself, and maybe even try a natural herbal remedy to help with sleeping or listening to something calming on headphones to help you drift off-I used to listen to sounds of the ocean-sounds of the sea always calmed my mind.
Sarah xx
