Hi new on here. I’m feeling a little apprehensive. I had breast cancer 8 years ago. Stage 2 , lumpectomy, radiotherapy and tamoxifen which I stopped taking in Feb of this year. I had a slight bleed last August and went for a scan. My womb lining was slightly thickened but no further action was required. Then I had a period 3 weeks ago. Quite heavy and terrible tummy ache. First proper period in 3/4 years. I had an ultra-scan, my womb was 13 mm thick and I had a high ca125 reading. This has now come down but is still slightly raised. They think I have a polyp. I’m having a biopsy on weds. On Sunday I started another period. Heavier than before. Been 3 weeks since my last one. Anyone experienced anything similar? Anyone know how long biopsy results take?
Hi Dudie11
Welcome to the Womb group.
I am sorry to hear of your previous breast cancer and that now you are having some bleeding.
You have done the right thing in getting checked out.
One thing to mention is that tamoxifen can cause thickening of the womb lining which can lead to bleeding.
Coming off tamoxifen, I would imagine it would take a while for any hormones to settle.
With the CA125 being raised it would be normal for them to want to have a closer look, but a raised level can be caused by different reasons- and cancer is only one of them. Infection etc can cause it to be raised. It is used as a useful marker in particular in ovarian cancer diagnosis but they do tend to check it where there are endometrial symptoms.
A polyp could indeed cause bleeding.
The only way to know for sure is the biopsy and this would be the next routine step. What they are trying to do is to rule out the potentially most serious cause of post menopausal bleeding before going on to treat any other causes. I will pop a link that may help.
Biopsy for womb cancer | Macmillan Cancer Support
I had my biopsy in March 2022. I was advised to take paracetamol before hand and that helped. Mine was done in outpatients by a nurse specialist. My results took around a week to come back. I would advise having someone take you and collect you as I felt quite light headed after. Also take some pads- I used Always night time ones- you do tend to bleed afterwards and the hospital pads are very basic and not particularly absorbent. I felt a bit washed out for 24 hours afterwards so it is good to rest up a bit. Bleeding stopped within 24 hours.
Hope it goes ok on Wednesday and please do let us know how you get on.
In the meantime if there is anything you want to ask, please do so.
Jane
