Egg retrieval

Hi Stacystace and welcome to our group.

I’m sorry to read you’ve had this diagnosis, and at a difficult time of the year too. The treatment plan you are to have is fairly standard and lots of ladies in the group have been through it, so will hopefully be able to help with any questions from their own experiences. I had stage 2b and also went through chemoradiation in 2018. 

It’s been a while since we’ve had any posts about egg retrieval in the group, and often people unfortunately don’t come back with an update, so we don’t find out how things have gone. I don’t have any personal experience as I was post menopausal at diagnosis so didn’t have this to consider.

I understand that it will delay treatment starting, so it’s a very personal decision to make about going ahead. The best people to help are your team, but you could also either call the Macmillan support line (number in my signature) or post your question to one of the nurses. This is the link if you’d like to do that-

Ask A Nurse

This must be a very difficult time for you, and you say you are still waiting on some scans? I had a Ct scan and mri before my treatment plan was made-have you had either of these yet?

Sarah xx

Hi 

I have two MRIs and a CT scan on the treatment planning day in a week

but I have a phone call with a nurse this week where I will ask all these questions about the egg retrieval 

I will give the number in your signature a go

thanks

Thanks Stacystace 

Ah, it’s the treatment planning scans. From my experience of the planning CT scan I needed an empty bowel, so that’s something to bear in mind. I was sent back from the hospital without the scan being done because they said my bowel was too full, but nobody had warned me in advance this was required! 

I had to go home with suppositories and come back another day which was a real hassle as my hospital is so far away. Treatment takes some time from original diagnosis to starting while they finalise all these things, but hopefully your nurse will be able to confirm how much longer you would need to wait if you do egg retrieval.

Some ladies may not notice your post as the title is “egg retrieval” and they think it won’t apply to them, so I’ll have a look through for some of our stage 3c ladies and tag them in so you can connect with others at the same stage with the same kind of treatment schedule.

Sarah xx

 FJS Aquabambi Snobird Lulabell 

Hi Ladies

I’m tagging you to see if you can come along and share any experience with Stacystace who has recently received a Stage 3c diagnosis. Just in case you haven’t seen her original post. Thanks for any support you can offer!

Sarah xx

Hi SarahH21  How are you? Thanks for the tag x

Hi Stacystace  Firstly, I’m sorry to read of your diagnosis, how are you doing? 

I can’t offer any advice on egg retrieval unfortunately, it would never have been an option for me as I have a rare type of cervical cancer called small cell neuroendocrine, which is really aggressive and meant treatment had to start urgently. But as with anything, I would discuss in detail with your team and make whatever decision is right for you, with the info you have. 

I’m also 35 and am stage 3C1 - diagnosed only a month ahead of you in November so appreciate how daunting it can feel right now. It definitely helps to get started with treatment. 

My treatment plan is slightly different due to the type I have, so I’ve started with 6x cycles of chemotherapy 3 days a week, every 3 weeks. Next week is cycle 3 so I’ll be half way through this part then :-)

After chemo I will be having the same treatment as you, which is the regular treatment plan for stage 3 - 5 weeks of daily radiotherapy combined with weekly chemo followed by Brachytherapy.

Hoping you get on ok, we’re all here for one another so do reach out if you ever need anything 

Jen x

I am also Stage 3C1 diagnosed in October and have just finished x6 once weekly chemo and about to start Chemo/Radiation for 5 weeks and then Brachy so similar treatment plan. Can't comment on the egg retrieval issue but hope you are presented with some options around this. Happy to share experiences so far around any other part of the experience - so far treatment has been a lot better than I thought and hoping the next round also goes smoothly.

Its a lot to take in and the information coming at you can sometimes feel overwhelming. I've been working reduced hours during this phase of treatment but will be off for the next round. Managing all the appointments has just about been a full time job on its own and I can't wait to be on the other side of all this.

Stay strong and let people help you would be my best advice so far. 

Thanks for coming into the thread Jen. I’m fine thanks, and hope you’re coping with the chemo! 

Sarah xx

Coping well thanks Sarah :-) few days of fatigue & mouth ulcers at beginning of each cycle, but not too bad - so far so good! X

Hi

thanks for all the kind words

it is really daunting. I spoke with someone about how the egg retrieval works and it would delay my treatment by two months. As I would need to take hormones to mature my eggs before they take them 

I think I’m just going to get my treatment started and if I want to have kids in the near future I guess there’s other options 

my work have been really helpful and I won’t have to work at all throughout the treatment. I just need to figure out how long after the treatment finishes will I feel better. I can work from home. So I will probably just work from home as soon as I’m done with it all. 

I hope everyone is ok

Since being told. I tend to find as soon as I wake up I feel really sad 

but I think it’s because I have nothing distracting me 

Hey Sarah, sorry just seen this, was away overnight.  Hope you enjoyed your Christmas.  Hi Stacystace and I too am sorry that you have had this diagnosis.  I was a much older patient with stage 3C1 so egg retrieval never came into it!   I can tell you though that the treatment is very do-able and has very good results.  I am almost two years post treatment and, fingers crossed, so far so good.  If you have any issues with side effects from the treatment, the medical team will be able to help you tweak your medication so that it is much more manageable.  I would just like you to know that if you need to ask any questions or rant during treatment we are here for you.  The Chemo days can be quite long, between 6 - 8 hours but I found them quite relaxing.  I hope you get some answers on your questions re the egg retrieval.  Bye for now xxx