Surgery delayed

Hi Sugarplum and welcome to our group.

That’s a real blow to have your surgery postponed-it’s hard when you are psyched up to have it done and then there’s a delay, and I understand the worry it brings to us when this happens. 

It’s natural to fear cancer growing and spreading-I think we’ve all felt like that as we’ve waited for things to be done-but this is rarely the case, and your surgeon would not put you at risk of this happening. It seems like a long time to wait, but in reality it should make no difference. I’ve waited weeks for treatment, and then weeks for surgery and it didn’t impact on my own outcome. It doesn’t make the waiting any easier, but while waiting I just tried to keep as busy and distracted as I could. Binging box sets, doing craft activities, anything to keep my mind off it.

I also used some apps on my phone to keep me calmer and focused-anything related to Mindfulness and staying in the moment was very useful, and calming apps of things like the sound of rain or the sea to help me sleep when that was difficult. These things all helped, and you also have your family round you to keep you busy. 

If you think it would help to have a chat on the phone with one of the Macmillan nurses, the number is in my signature and they are lovely and very helpful. It may reassure you that the delay is something that can unfortunately happen, but should not be detrimental to you. 

I hope you’ll keep posting and let us know how you get on, and that some of the other ladies who’ve had a hysterectomy will come along and say hello. 

Sarah xx

Hi Sugarplum

I was diagnosed with 1b1 early November 2022 and had my radical hysterectomy delayed because of another medical issue which had to be resolved before surgery. Like you I worried about the delay as it is very hard on your emotional and psychological well-being.

I had my surgery cancelled 2 days pre-op  and had to wait another month and understand what you are going through.My surgeon assured me that the wait would not compromise my recovery as the cancer would not spread in that time frame. Post surgery she confirmed that the tumour had not changed since diagnosis and there was no risk with the delay although nothing anyone says can make the wait easier. The most important thing is to learn to accept that it is normal to feel the way you do and to be anxious and a bit crazy.  You can go from 0 to 90 and back again in the blink of an eye but it's all part of the ride so go with it and remember that it will get easier once treatment commences.

The surgery in itself was no where as bad as I imagined but I did suffer so much post surgery with  agonising wind and wish I had been more proactive in getting help to deal with it. Peppermint oil capsules really did feel like a lifesaver when I got them. The staff are used to the way our bodies can react so my advice would be to let them know of any issues rather than suffer in silence. We all react differently but seek the nurses help and advice quickly to minimise discomfort.

Good luck with surgery and feel free to air any concerns as you go along your journey. More than a few people here will understand how you are feeling at any given time and it's nice to know that at some point we have all felt as you do now and understand that it takes time to get your head round it and find the strength to deal with it.

Mas xx

Thank you for your replies. I’ve had a rough, dark few days but trying to keep busy and hoping these next few weeks pass quickly. Feel like life is on hold until I get this surgery out the way.  Thank you for the advice. Hope you’re feeling well 

You will be up and down but don't be hard on yourself. Try to stay positive and allow yourself bad times. It's the nature of the diagnosis and it takes a while to get your head around  it all. I think that Sarah in here saved my sanity when I first came to the forum!

I think that a cancer diagnosis changes you forever and not necessarily in a bad way.  If you are like me by the time you go for surgery it will just be a relief to be getting it done and not nearly as scarey as you are thinking now.

It feels like you will be in this mindset forever but once you are back on your feet it will all  hopefully seem like a bad dream that happened to someone else! Just remember how lucky you are to be diagnosed at stage 1  and that there are very high chances that  you will soon be fine xx