I had a hysterectomy at the beginning of November 2024 after being diagnosed with stage 3 womb cancer . I have physically recovered really well and am nearly back to some sort of normality - whatever that is when you have been diagnosed with cancer. Is it normal at 76 to have mood swings after a hysterectomy? I have noticed that I have been getting rather emotional and tearful at silly things and am even wondering if at my age it is actually worth continuing with further treatment. I had a telephone consultation with the oncologist just before Xmas and she said that the cancer was of a type that is of higher risk of spreading and it is planned that I have 5 weeks of radiotherapy with chemo as well in the last couple of weeks and have an appointment next week to have the various pre-treatments tests.
Hi Jessie78
I am glad to hear that you are recovering well from the surgery.
I wonder whether the mood swings could be down to the shock of having diagnosis and all the natural worry combined with the actual surgery. I know for me the anaesthetic and the shock at how quickly things moved did have an impact. There may well be well be some hormonal aspects as well. To be told that you need further treatment can also be scary and it would not be surprising that this is causing you to be emotional. I know that I was quite emotional and tearful for some time.
I think with any treatment decisions then it is best to talk them through with your consultant so you have all the facts. I know when I was told I needed further treatment (unexpectedly) I was unsure about going ahead. The thing with grade 3/ higher grade cancers is that they can behave aggressively and can have a higher chance of recurrence. For me the chemo and radiotherapy I had was to mop up any stray cells that may remain, whilst they were still too small to be picked up on a scan. It was hard to make the decision as I was early stage and my cancer was thought to be contained. Mine was stage 1b.
Chemo was not easy but it was doable. I had 4 cycles of carboplatin and paclitaxel over 21 day cycles. So it was one day in hospital and then the following 20 days at home, then repeated. After that I had 25 sessions of external beam radiotherapy.
I am glad that I went ahead with the treatments as it was giving me the best possible chance at avoiding the cancer returning. Apart from some lingering side effects I remain well at over 2 years post treatment. I remember my consultant telling me that with the higher grade cancers that it is easier for them to mop up any stray cells post surgery rather than wait for them to potentially become active and move through the body and potentially set up elsewhere at a later time. If that happened then it would be harder to treat.
Perhaps make up a list of questions you want to ask and take them with you. Find out all you can about your own specific results and how they can affect the chances of it causing problems. And then make the decision that you feel is best for you.
If the is anything you want to ask about the actual treatments, then please do so.
In the meantime if talking it through would help, then please do give the Support Line a call.
Jane
