Hello

Hi DonnasCancerousDonut and welcome to our group.

That’s some username! It’s positive news that your scans are clear and the tumour is confined in your cervix. It’s also positive news that you can have surgery, although I appreciate that it’s never nice to have any cancer diagnosis. 

Lots of the ladies in the group have had similar results and staging and have had this surgery, so they’ll hopefully come along to share their experiences with you. My treatment and surgeries were very different, but I’m sure others can help with support.

All the best for next week-take it easy when you first get discharged, with no heavy lifting or trying to do too much, and resting when you need to. Do you know if you are scheduled to have your op as open abdominal surgery or keyhole? That can make a difference to the recovery time. 

Sarah xx

Hi Donna,

My name’s Louise and I had the same surgery as you in February 2025. My surgery was open abdominal - is yours open or keyhole? If you click on my username, there’s information about my diagnosis, surgery and recovery in my profile. Is there anything specific you want to know? I’m happy to share my experience.

In terms of general tips and what to expect, here are some things that stand out for me:

• I found having a couple of grab sticks really useful (one upstairs and one downstairs) so that I didn’t need help every time I dropped something - I didn’t realise how often I drop things until it became difficult to bend down to pick them up!
• I had bowel issues (constipation, trapped wind, discomfort) after surgery and I found peppermint tea and polo mints helped (along with the medication I was prescribed and sent home with from the hospital).
• One of the nurses at the hospital gave me this tip: to make it easier to get the compression stockings on, put a plastic bag over your foot (I used the cheap sandwich bags on a roll from the supermarket) then put the stocking on then pull the plastic bag out of the hole at the bottom of the stocking - this worked really well for me.
• District Nurses are amazing. The hospital gave me the phone number for my local District Nurses when I was discharged in case I needed anything. The team covers long hours seven days a week so very helpful at weekends/evenings with anything that’s not an emergency for calling the hospital helpline, but that won’t wait until the GP surgery is open or anything that needs a home visit (e.g. they helped me with a leaking catheter bag connection which needed to be replaced). 

I found that my recovery was slow and I’ve seen other people in the group have shared that they were ready/able to return to driving, being up and about, work, ‘normal’ life quicker than I was. Everyone’s experience is different. So I would say to listen to your body and do what you feel ready for when you feel ready for it.

Sending you best wishes for your surgery next week. 

Louise x