Cervical cancer suspicions but no diagnosis yet

Hi Charlotte

I’m not sure-I’ve not had blood tests done by my gp so not sure what their process is. I have mine requested by either my oncologist or my gastro consultant and get copied into the letter they send to my gp with the results. So I bypass the gp altogether.

Who requested the blood tests? Was it the gp or gynae consultant? 

Sarah xx

It was the gynae consultant, just find it weird that they've released the normal ones but not the others, I hope to god that nothing has shown up on the ca125 xx

Ok..well try not to overthink at the moment. It’s still not a diagnosis yet, and it’s a waste of “worry time” speculating. We all hope everything will be normal, naturally, but I’ve learned to accept we can’t change it if they aren’t. They may want to repeat the tests at some point as all sorts of things could cause a higher than normal CA125, if that’s indeed the case.

Sarah xx

Thankyou! I'm going to try and have a sleep to take my mind off it! Oh really? I didn't know that xx 

Since it is an indicator of some sort of inflammation in the pelvis and can fluctuate, it’s often repeated.

I had very abnormal blood test results a while ago, seriously out of whack, but because my consultant didn’t express huge concern, I put them to the back of my mind and I’ll see what he says at my next appointment. Nothing I can do about them at the moment until I know more!

Sleep is good-all the stress will be exhausting you.

Sarah xx

Ah right okay! 

did you? When is your next appointment?

I manage to sleep for an hour until I got woken up by the postman lol! 

the doctors are annoying me today! They still have received the rest of the results. They said to me on the phone, if there is anything abnormal, then the doctor would've rang, but she also said the doctor hasn't looked at the results, the nurses reviewed the other ones but not the doctor, so confusing me as they're saying I would've heard, but the doctor hasn't also reviewed them and there is a back lot at the moment with reviewing blood tests. So going to try and get an appointment with a doctor tomorrow in person to go through them there and then, not all this stupid waiting around xx

I have an appointment with a gastro surgeon next week, nothing to do with my cancer. But the problem which had me in hospital in February has meant frequent blood tests to test my liver function in particular. Every test is very abnormal.

Some of my enzyme results are 4 times higher than they should be, but I’ll just wait to see what happens-nothing I can do about it. There’s clearly an issue but I feel fine, so I don’t think about it. 

You’ll discover there is a LOT of waiting for results and more tests-nothing happens instantly no matter how much we think it should and even when you have cancer you have to wait. Maybe you can get an appointment at the doctor to discuss the results, but in my experience, the best people to interpret blood results are the specialists like gynae etc who have requested the tests. 

You may not think so, but things have moved very quickly for you so far. I’ve waited sometimes weeks for results of scans etc, and that was in pre covid times, and even after I’d been diagnosed with cancer. I know you are impatient to know what’s happening, but all of this takes time.  

Sarah xx

Aw bless you! Let me know how it goes! It's good you're staying positive though!

oh really? So you aren't saying it is cancer but even though I haven't had results quickly, it doesn't mean it isn't anything? I get what you're saying! Yeah I guess so far everything has gone fast so just need to be patient now! They only received bloods yesterday so I need to give them a chance! Oh really? Reckon it's worth calling the gynae clinic who requested them and see if they have had the results? Xx

I just think you maybe need to manage your expectations about the waiting, and let the consultants do their job. You do need to give them time to review the tests, and even if you are told the results now you still need to have your mri. 

Typically, all results are needed to give a decision on what’s wrong in my experience and I’ve been dealing with all of this for the best part of 5 years. It’s up to you whether you phone, but admin staff shouldn’t give out results, it should be the consultant and the results are only just in so they may still not have been reviewed, 

The time it takes to get results really doesn’t have any bearing nowadays on what they might be. I had to wait once for 6 weeks for a scan result which was actually a good one. With my various consultants/surgeons I’ve always had to have face to face appointments, some good, some bad. I don’t get results in a phone call. 

Sarah xx

Yeah I definitely need to manage my expectations better, I am used to quick results pre covid and I know things aren't like that anymore so I'll try and lay off chasing them now and just see if they contact me. Spoke to gynae clinic just now who requested the bloods and she said it's usually about 3 weeks as they're a rapid clinic, they have so many people to work through but she said he will be in contact either way and he is looking out for my results. 

so if it is cancer or isn't, I've just got to expect a wait for everything, even if my bloods are normal, do you think I should still go for the mri? As I'm new to all this, I didn't know what wait times etc are like but I'm glad I've got to speak to you who has been through it all and know what the process is like xx