Hi Everyone,
my name is Mel I am 37. I guess i am currently in thr waiting period- i have had smear which came back high grade hpv- and then had a failed colscopy meaning it was so painful she couldnt see my cervix- she told me she thought it was 90%cancer- then biopsy came back with abnormal cells no normal cells with suspicion of cancer- then mri and again came back as they see something but needs to go to a more cancer mdt- inwill be honest its very annoying waiting and having others discuss things without me being there.
I guess i should say i also started this because im not in a relationship- havent been sexually active for over 12years so this is a shock. I did my smears because i wanted to have a child via ivf but because of this this has been dashed.
one of the things i wanted to ask is since i had that nurse say 2 weeks ago she thinks its cancer i am so tired all the time and every niggle i think oh has it spread is this normal?
thanks for listening
mel
Hi Mcdb and welcome to our group.
Can I start by just saying that you haven’t had a cancer diagnosis yet, so it’s too early to be thinking about a cancer spreading. However, I know it’s how our minds can go, and it’s completely understandable to be worried. The mind is a powerful thing!
It can feel difficult not being involved in discussions but patients are never involved in mdt meetings-only the professionals who are the decision makers. The nurse thinking it is cancer isn’t a definitive diagnosis-usually that can only come from any biopsies and follow up with scans.
It must have been particularly difficult to find out there is an issue when you haven’t been sexually active and have had smear tests but unfortunately this is the nature of hpv-it can come and go and cause cell damage when it’s active. Even without being sexually active, the virus is still in your system.
Do you know when the mdt meeting is? Hopefully you won’t have too long to wait before you find out more and particularly what might happen with your ivf.
It’s natural for stress and anxiety to make us feel tired, as the diagnostic process is exhausting with all the waiting, but it doesn’t necessarily mean anything other than that-try to relax if you can and sleep if you need to. I think most of us have worried about cancer spreading very quickly, but in reality that is not usually the case. It’s just that we are prone to jumping to worst case scenario very quickly in our heads.
I hope you find out more soon, and please feel free to stick with, ask any questions as you think of them, and we’ll do our best to help support you through.
Sarah xx
A really useful thing to do is to write down any questions as you think of them and bring that to your next appointment. It can be so easy to forget to ask things when you’re there.
It’s also good to take someone in with you-I didn’t do that, and on reflection it would have helped as I got a cancer diagnosis on my own and my mind went blank! It’s amazing how much you can miss when you’re stressed and being given a lot of information.
Sarah xx
