Cervical cancer suspicions but no diagnosis yet

Oh that’s good news that things are moving on!  It can be difficult to eat from both a physical point of view, with your symptoms, and emotional when you are under such stress just now.

Little and often was the way that helped me-I still can’t eat much at one sitting so it’s become a way of life now. But it’s fine and suits my circumstances. Just try and keep up by eating things that really appeal to you, and treat yourself if you want to-you have enough going on without worrying about food, but you need to try to keep your strength up. 

Sarah xx

Yes it can, I have definitely had a lesser appetite in the last few months but put it down to medication but now I'm wondering if it is whatever is going on, I am trying to eat little and often, I get nausea on and off so that makes it more difficult but I try and eat foods that don't trigger the nausea. I have been drinking lucozade to try and boost my energy a bit too. Over the last 9/10 months I say I have gone from 9.5 stone to 8.2 without trying, again not something I had thought of up until now xx 

I didn’t have your symptoms prior to my own diagnosis, but it must be very difficult for you. I never lost much weight until I had my last surgery and couldn’t eat much for several weeks. I still occasionally take medication for nausea as I have another medical issue unconnected with my cancer now. It just never ends! 

Sarah xx

Didn't you? This is what's worrying me if it's advanced and I've had it years without knowing! Aw bless you! It does never end! Did the cancer cause it or something separate? Xx

I have gallstones and one blocked my bile duct a few months ago, so that ended up in a 9 day hospital stay. I had nausea for some time before the blockage happened but underwent a procedure to have the blockage removed. By then my nausea and vomiting had got very bad but I have good anti nausea pills now. Just waiting for another gastro appointment next week to see if I need my gall bladder removed, but it’s all completely unconnected with my cancer. 

I don’t recall losing any weight prior to my cancer diagnosis, or indeed throughout my first line treatment of chemoradiation. Only after surgery much later when I physically couldn’t eat.  Before I was diagnosed I had no nausea, swelling or fatigue and I haven’t seen others in the group report these symptoms either since I’ve been here. Usually it’s pain and bleeding that prompts ladies to be investigated. Fatigue is more often as a result of treatment.

Try not to think of having advanced cancer without a diagnosis. I’ve seen so many ladies come through the group thinking the worst who turn out not to get any cancer diagnosis at all after thinking they had this. It’s impossible to know what’s wrong at the moment of course, but try not to worry unnecessarily about something that hasn’t happened.

Sarah xx

Aw bless you you really have been through it! 

yeah it's weird there can be a wide range of symptoms, I know bleeding is the most common one, I have seen that extended abdomen is another but then it could also be a sign of something else too! My bloods are back at the doctors already so got to wait for the doctor to review them now. 

mri is next Tuesday so that'll say a lot too hopefully so I can get it sorted! Xx

Good the mri is booked in now for you. That can tell a lot about the pelvic area. Bloods are not a definitive answer (I never had abnormal bloods despite having cancer) but they can show other things. So it’s all about building up a picture to get the right diagnosis. I didn’t have a swollen abdomen either, and have to say I haven’t seen others report that here when talking about symptoms. 

Has anyone actually mentioned the possibility of cervical cancer to you yet or given you any indication of what the symptoms might be? 

Sarah xx

Yeah definitely! Oh really? I guess bloods won't give me an answer then! Yeah the mri will help! Well the doctors have said it could be that but they need to work out if it could be something else. I have had bleeding, pain during and after sex and now the swollen pelvis. 

Yeah that is strange! Maybe it isn't cervical then, don't know if everyone gets different symptoms but strange you've never heard of the same symptoms as me! Xx

One thing they did say is it could be ovarian, but when he checked my ovaries he couldn't see any masses but wanted me to have the mri and blood test just to rule it out completely x

Ah, so it might be cervical cancer but of course they can’t know yet.

Bloods would not tell you that you had cervical cancer to my knowledge, but can indicate other cancers if certain tumour markers are tested for. It depends what testing is done. I had my diagnosis quickly because I had a visible tumour so the blood tests were kind of irrelevant really for me though I did have them! 

Ladies do report different symptoms, and I can only go by what mine were, but of course I was post menopausal so a whole different ball game! Some symptoms do get echoed by lots of ladies though but just because I’ve not seen them reported here in the group doesn’t mean that others won’t have experienced them but just not discussed them here. 

It’s speculation at the moment of course as to what’s going on, but I hope you’ll not have long to wait for the mri results and that they’ll be able to give you some answers at last. 

Sarah xx