Watery discharge after hysterectomy

When I did go to the doctor with the spotting and bleed etc, she didn't put me on the 2 week pathway straight away, she said she was sure it was hormonal and I waited 3 weeks for the first scan.  I was 61 and didn't even know about the 2 week thing until I saw it all on here when I joined just before radiotherapy started.  It was only when I had the scan and they found the lining was thicker that they speeded things up.  There should definitely be more awareness of this type of cancer.

How can spotting and bleeding in a 61 year old woman be hormonal? 

I don't know what's going on in some doctors noggins. The NICE guidelines as can be seen in this Macmillan site states it is an Urgent Referral for bleeding in an over 55 year olds. End of. There is just no excuse for a gp not to know these things. They are playing Russian roulette with peoples lives. It makes me so angry.

Bless you Poppysmum, I hope you are going OK 

Lots of love 

Alison xxx 

Hi LaraLou

Awareness is absolutely crucial at any age. I've made sure my daughters are aware of the symptoms and stressed to them the importance of going to the doctor immediately if they have any concerns.

In relation to your comments about whether people werevdiagnosed before or after the menopause, I was diagnosed  post menopause, just before my 56th birthday. . I had a history of very heavy, irregular periods which were attributed to large fibroids. The bleeding was so heavy I wore tampons and pads together and carried spare clothes everywhere. I never, ever wore whit jeans "just in case." I had several hysteroscopy procedures over the years , a d&c, various hormone injections (which didn't help) and a mirena coil which ejected itself after a few weeks. The consultant I had then suggested a hysterectomy but I was very reluctant to have one because of the time I'd need off work. He assured me that the fibroids would probably shrink as I went into menopause but said I could see him about a hysterectomy at any point. I remember asking him if iwas taking any unnecessary risks or if anything could turn nasty and he said he didn't think so but to return if things got worse or if I had any new symptoms.  By this  stage my periods were getting lighter so I wasn't unduly worried and was glad when they finally stopped. Fast forward two years without bleeding (during which I bought and wore some white jeans!) and I noticed a slight, pinkish discharge, so slight and so faint and intermittent  I almost convinced myself it wasn't there. Over a couple of weeks it turned to spotting (thank goodness for panty liners) and that's when I went to the doctors. She said it was possibly caused by a polyp, that 90% of polyps are benign and not to worry. She said she'd refer me under the two week pathway because of my age (almost 56 on diagnosis) but never once mentioned the possibility of cancer. Two hysteroscopy examinations later, one by a new consultant after I suffered complications, I was told I had cancer.  It was a massive shock, not helped by the fact he then told me it was an aggressive type.

Should I have had a hysterectomy when it was first offered years ago? Who knows? I chose to trust the consultant's opinion. What happened subsequently doesn't make him wrong - doctors can't see into the future and neither can we.  As my friend says, I could have still ended up with cancer, but somewhere else. It's something I have made a conscious decision not to worry and fret about because worrying won't change what happened.

If the opportunity arises we should all be willing to talk about the symptoms with our friends and relatives. It's not easy to talk about such personal things but if it helps someone then it's worth the embarrassment.x

Although  I told the receptionist at the GP surgery about the bleeding ( I was 76!) I could not get an urgent appointment to see a doctor and was advised to see a nurse "who could do everything a doctor can" .   She, in spite of seeing the blood in my pants and my insistence that there was no blood in my urine and I had none of the pain associated with urinary infection, was determined to write a prescription for a "wee" infection.  Finally I convinced her that there had to be more to the problem and she called in the doctor who at once said she HAD to refer me as it could be cancer. Obviously the doctors knew about the 2 week rule but the information had not been filtered down to any other staff!  Had I taken the prescription and waited to see if it helped there would have been another wait. 

Gbear makes a good point that many ladies on here are pre menopausal. I've also noticed that not many are over 70!! Or, as someone pointed out to me, is that because they can't use a tablet or computer?

Thanks Alison, I must say with the knowledge that I now have I am very surprised that my GP said what she did, maybe just trying to reassure me but I knew deep down it wasn't hormonal so wasn't at all shocked when I got the news.  I am doing OK, just over a year now since surgery and then went on to have radiotherapy and brachytherapy for LVSI so just getting through each 3 months until the next check up - all OK so far thank goodness!

Hugs, Lesley xx

Poppy I totally agree with Alison, how can a post menopause woman be hormonal, surely it should have rang alarm  bells , I’m just glad you got seen to in the end bless you, I can understand Alison’s anger it makes me cross as well, they fob us off when no one knows if there is a problem or not, very Russian roulette Alison , totally agree and it needs to change xx

Poppy I totally agree with Alison, how can a post menopause woman be hormonal, surely it should have rang alarm  bells , I’m just glad you got seen to in the end bless you, I can understand Alison’s anger it makes me cross as well, they fob us off when no one knows if there is a problem or not, very Russian roulette Alison , totally agree and it needs to change xx

I would also add the dangerous stage of perimenopause....I suffered from irregular and increasingly heavy periods for several years as well as the watery discharge others have mentioned. Having been previously diagnosed with fibroids and given my age, 53 when it al! started, my doctor several times dismissed the heavy periods as the start of perimenopause. It was only when the bleeding got so bad i phoned the surgery in a panic and was advised to call an ambulance who took me to a and e that the diagnosis process was started. I saw the on call gynae who asked my surgery to refer me for a scan, but even then the surgery didn't refer as urgent so I waited from mid November until mid January for the initial scan. Once the technician saw the scan she immediately referred me to the consultant and from them on things moved quickly to my hysterectomy in march. Sorry for the long winded post, but I think it is all too easy to mistake cancer symptoms for peri-menopausal  symptoms and all premenopausal women need to be aware of the dangers of failure to diagnose during the transitional phase into menopause.

I cannot stress how important this site is for me. 

Hearing about all of the experiences  are helping me to want to talk about this. 

I know the minute I started the conversation in the waiting room yesterday (hysteroscopy) we all supported each other with humour, positivity and smiles - never underestimate what a smile can do  

one of the ladies who was waiting for polyp removal was sent home due to a risk to her health due to an allergy - tests hadn’t been arranged before today! 

She was so upset - the build up to a procedure takes it toll then when it’s just cancelled like that it can leave you feeling weird. I’m sure because we had chatted together before we were able to give her a hug encouraged her to sit back down with us and talk through what had happened  without this she would have just got dressed and left! 

Thank you all for sharing your stories they are really helpful - I’m at the beginning of my journey and feeling hopeful but knowing you are here is so wonderful!