Serous USC

You are echoing my thoughts.  I have a notepad handy to jot down concerns questions,  I have a phone contact for my surgeon, I am not ready to have a conversation with her yet, as I will probably only get one shot before I meet with the treating oncologist and I want to make sure I have my ducks in a row.  To rub salt into the wound I live in Bundaberg in   Sunny Queensland, internationally known as having the best climate to live in.  Nice and sunny today, hope you can see the sun today.  My mum was born in the Rhonda Valley in Wales so am familiar with Britian and its inclement weather.

The diagnosis when it came through, what can I say, you went through the same thing as me.  I think today is the first day I feel I might be able to get through the day almost normally, so I guess that's progress.  Still very emotional and teary, just training my mind to stay on track and push those thoughts away.  Love Ella.

Thank you NannyAnny.  Onwards and upwards.  Ella.

Hello Ella (HeadOffice) 

A belated welcome from me too. It's good to hear you are through your surgery and starting to feel like you want/need to get out. Waking the dogs sounds wonderful, but please pace yourself and perhaps let your husband hold the dogs just in case they pull unexpectedly.

 I'm so sorry to read you've had a serous diagnosis, Its a nasty shock, isn't it? I'm another serous lady here and I can identify with your fears and worries.

I was diagnosed June 16 with aggressive, high grade cancer. I wasn't told it was the serous tyoe at the appointment, just that I had an aggressive cancer. I discovered that reading the labels on the forms whilst I waited for blood tests after being to,d the news. Up to that point no one had mentioned cancer as a possible cause for my symptoms and naively I hadn't cottoned on even when I was put on the two week fast track for a hysteroscopy.  The gynae-oncologist was confident that surgery would be all I needed as the ct and MRI scans didn't reveal any concerns. He removed my womb, ovaries, Fallopian tubes, cervix, omentum and 23 lymphnodes for sampling. He was as shocked as I was when the post hysterectomy histology revealed that the cancer had been contained in a polyp and hadn't spread into the womb or elsewhere but it had somehow jumped into a single, pesky pelvic lymphnode. Drat! Cue diagnosis of stage 3c1 and adjuvant chemo (6 cycles of carboplatin/paclitaxol) and 25 sessions of external radiotherapy. The surgeon told me that the pathologist said I was unlucky, but I co spider myself fortunate that the surgeon removed the lymphnodes and it was found. He did tell me that some surgeons remove lymphnodes for sampling as standard (he does) but many don't and that there's a lot of debate as to whether it should be standard procedure or not.   I had my surgery in July 16 and finished radiotherapy in March 17, so around 8 months treatment in total. 

it certainly is a scary time. I remember worrying about whether I'd see my eldest daughter get married (she'd just announced her engagement) and I'm delighted to report we had the most beautiful wedding day last spring. The best advice I was given at the time came from my CNS who suggested that I just concentrate on each day, focussing first on recovery from surgery (which was much better than I anticipated), then on getting through chemo and so on. She encouraged me to do the things I enjoy and yes, I had to pace myself quite a lot, but it did help. The emotional impact of diagnosis and treatment often takes longer to deal with than the emotional side.  We decided from the off to be as positive as we could and generally friends and family followed our lead, although to be honest there were some dark days when inside I felt anything but positive. . My faith has been an enormous source of strength and prayer and knitting, together with support from my family and close friends have got me through some difficult days.  The good days now generally outnumber the bad. There are lots of great stories on the forum that will hopefully encourage and inspire you. Things may seem dark now but many of us here can testify that there is life after cancer, life to be lived to the full. 

For now, be kind to yoursel, just as you would be to your best friend if she were in your place. Sending you a gentle hug and lots of good wishes for your recovery x