Hello, I’m 44 and was diagnosed with cervical cancer 2 weeks before Christmas. Then 2 weeks later I was told they couldn’t do anything for for as it has spread to the gland in my neck. We were devastated but few weeks after that I was offered chemo and told that if it shrinks the tumour they would operate, this just filled us with hope as you can imagine.
I had 1 treatment of chemo and had to wait 3 weeks for my next lot, but just 6 days before I was due I had a stroke which they believe was bought on from one of the chemo drugs I had 
This happened about 4-5 weeks ago and they obviously don’t want to give me chemo just yet. My appointment with the chemo people is the 30th of this month and I have to say I am scared. What has all this time been doing to me, will they say they can’t do any thing? Or will the tumour of grown to big. There is so much going through my head at the moment. My poor family as well.
Sorry I just needed to voice things to people that understand. My Family are great but I don’t like to put my big worries onto them or as full on if know what I mean.
Thank you for reading/listening
Hi Suzie44 and welcome to our group.
I’m really sorry to read all that you have gone through in a short few months. It must be very difficult for you all coping with the uncertainty of your diagnosis and possible treatment options along with all the waiting. How are you managing after your stroke?
Would you like to share what chemo you are on? When you said your stroke might have been caused by one of the chemo drugs, it would seem that you maybe had a ‘chemo cocktail’? Most of the ladies in the group had the standard treatment plan of Cisplatin chemo and radiation, but there will be some ladies who had different chemo treatment for advanced cervical cancer.
When you say that operating might be a possibility after chemo, what kind of operation would that be? I ask because I’m not sure we have anyone in the group who was offered surgery after distant spread, so it might be helpful for us to know what the plan is to try and support you as you go on. I was able to have major surgery when my cancer recurred, although only because the cancer was contained within my pelvis. My surgery would not have been an option if there had been any spread. I am in the UK.
Sorry to be asking all these questions, but it helps us all get a better picture of your situation. If you’d like to, you can add the details of your story to your profile so that you won’t need to repeat yourself, and you can read other ladies’ stories by clicking on their name if they have completed their profile details.
You are very welcome to be with us here, and it can be much easier sometimes to discuss your fears and worries with others who can understand rather than burdening family. I hope you’ll keep posting and let’s see if we can help you.
Take good care
Sarah xx
Hi, thank you its not been the best but there are many of us going through it unfortunatley.
With the stroke i feel i was lucky in away, i am still independent and just have mild weakness on my left side. Were just waiting for an appointment to have my MRI with the dye and see what that shows.
The chemo that i had was Paclitaxel and carboplatin, they all come with the serious side effects but we hope it doesnt happen to us and to be honest we have the chemo with the hope it will help us.
You ask about the surgery but they didn't really say much only that if it shrinks it they may be able to operate and to be fair at this point we were just happy to of been offered help as 2 weeks prior they said there was nothing they could do and now we were given some hope and away of buying me more time with my loved ones. When the waiting is over and more has been said about the path forward i will be more than happy to let you know everything 
I'm happy to try and answer any questions as it may help others but unfortunatley i dont have many answers yet lol.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post, its nice to talk to others.
Susan xx
Hi Susan
Thank you for coming back to us. I do know others in the group have had that chemo combination, but often people unfortunately never come back to let us know how they got on. Cisplatin caused me to have a pulmonary embolism, so even low dose chemo is not without its risks!
I absolutely get that you have been given some more hope-I felt the same when given a surgical option after recurrence, so hang onto that thought to keep you getting through.
I hope you don’t have long to wait for the mri-it’s always an anxious time getting scans and results, and I hope it will give enough information for a plan going forward for you.
Hang in there, and keep talking here if it helps you, as we can understand. This is hard.
Sarah xx
