Seen oncologist today to talk about Radiotherapy or Brachytherapy as a belt and braces option. I can either opt to not have either or choose the radiotherapy or Brachytherapy. After talking it over I've opted to have the latter. This will involve 2 night hospital stay. Go in on a Tuesday and be prepped. Wednesday on my back for 24 hours while the brachytherapy is given over a 24 hour period. There will then be no further treatment. Never heard of this before. Has anyone had this? If so then how was your experience? I will be at Weston Park. Sheffield. Am now wavering between going ahead and opting to not have anything and take my chances.
Sue.
Hi SueB4
I had cervical cancer and was treated at Weston Park. I was scheduled to have this particular type of brachytherapy and I would have been admitted on Tuesday and out on Thursday.
I was devastated not to be able to have it due to having a pulmonary embolism the night before admission and not being able to have a general anaesthetic.
My cancer recurred 9 months later, and I wonder if things might have been different if I had been able to have the brachytherapy. I had chemo and 32 radiotherapy, and in cervical cancer, brachytherapy is an extremely important final blast to the cancer.
The type of brachytherapy carried out at Weston Park may be because that is what they are equipped to do there. Not all hospitals can offer different types of this treatment.
Having had my cancer recur quickly, and seen what I had to go through, I personally would have taken any treatment offered to give me a better chance of it not coming back. My recurrence was devastating and life changing for me.
It’s a very personal choice to decide to go ahead or not with a particular treatment, but I am sad I didn’t have the opportunity to have all the treatment I should have had. Certainly with cervical cancer, recurrent cancer is much harder to treat than the original diagnosis.
Sarah xx
I’m glad you’ve come to your decision and hope everything goes well. I would have had to have the general anaesthetic just for the insertion of the rods which are used in cervical cancer brachytherapy where there is a tumour to target. I begged them to let me go through with it after the embolism but the risk was too great.
I am glad to still be here, when my chances were not good, thank you. But I needed a total pelvic exenteration which removed my womb and the rest of my reproductive system, bladder, vagina and rectum and sundry other bits!
My recurrence only measured 11mm when it was found, but treatment was ultra radical with curative intent, so I live now with 2 stomas and am a different person to the person I was before all of this, with a very different life. But I keep going!
Sarah xx
Hi Sue
It is hard to make decisions about follow up treatment.
The type of brachytherapy that they are recommending for you is one that is more commonly used in cervical cancer. There are different types of brachytherapy and women who have had womb cancer are more likely to be offered the type where an applicator is used for a few minutes and done as an outpatient. There seems to be on average 3 sessions (although this can vary) The other type is where the rods are popped in ( under anaesthetic) and then the treatment is given more slowly over the 24 hour period. So the treatment has the same aim but given in a different way.
I see it has been suggested to ask on the cervical cancer forum and that is a good idea as ladies on there will be able to tell you about their own experiences.
I know when I was offered follow up treatment, I was tempted not to have it and it was scary when they told me what was involved. Looking back the treatments I had (chemo and external radiotherapy) were not easy at times but once I had made the decision to do them and got under way they were not as bad as I had feared. I still have some side effects from both treatments but I am still glad I went ahead and I know that I have done everything possible to prevent a recurrence. I was told that although a recurrence may be treatable, it was preferable to throw everything at the cancer to blast away any tiny cells that remained while they were at such a small size, undetectable on a scan, rather than wait for them to potentially travel through my lymphatic/blood systems and potentially set up in a new place.
It has to be your decision and it may be worth writing down on a piece of paper a list of questions and to go through them one by one with your CNS or doctor. I did this before my radiotherapy and I was glad I did.
So I would be thinking something like.....
1) What are the chances of recurrence, with or without the brachytherapy and or external radiotherapy
2) Is there a medical reason why they have offered the inpatient brachytherapy as opposed the the outpatient version. (If it is the way that it is being given that is concerning you most) If this is the type normally offered at your hospital, could you be treated at another hospital.
3) Does whether or not you have the external radiotherapy affect which type of brachytherapy is offered.
4) It is normal to only be offered radiotherapy in the same area once- if you have the treatment and have a recurrence what alternative treatment could you be offered.
Perhaps give the Support Line a call and talk things through. They may have other ideas of what you could ask.
I can understand your worries and it is a hard decision to make.
Jane
This link will take you to the cervical cancer group to previous posts on brachytherapy. It may be worth having a look to see if any ladies have been offered the same type as you, to see how they managed.
This link will take you to brachytherapy posts in the womb group
