Lymph nodes

Hello nightingale19,

Good to hear that your operation is all set up at your treatment hospital. Sounds like its got a good standard of treatment which is always very reassuring for anyone. It would of been better if your other hospital had told you your results, however it sounds like a plan of action all drawn up. I didn't have any lymph nodes removed but I discovered recently when I had landed myself back in hospital that I have high risk thrombosis signs present., it seems to me that whether nodes are removed or not that everyone is different. You will be given lovely stockings like you would wear for flying and in some cases blood thinning injections that you may have while there and also some to take home with you. Again not everyone does and then it can be different lengths of time, I had them for a week and honestly I struggled giving myself injections it was rather pathetic really. I don't know how you feel about them but some have managed to get the district nurse or there local GP surgery nurse to do then for them, they did give me good instructions I was just a bit taken a back how difficult I found doing it. 

With regards to your ECG its amazing and a bit scary that you can have a heart attack and not know about it. ECG's tend to be very good and its possibility the stress may have caused the heart to have a bit of a wobble. The good thing is that they are fully aware of the situation and can reassure you. I had my surgery as I put it half and half, it was planned to be fully keyhole but due to my bulky womb they did a small incision in my bellybutton down to remove the womb and ovaries etc and of course the two smaller incisions either side for the instruments, its amazing nowadays what can be done but I did sign for open surgery if needed, I think this maybe standard to cover all bases.

Hopefully it is as they say low stage although the serous type but removing the nodes around they can find if there is any spread to them or not. After surgery and when the finial histology results come in then they will decide what extra treatment may or may not be needed.

Sending you gentle hugs and fingers crossed for 13th November I hope all goes well, we will all be thinking of you.

Hi Nightingale,

That all sounds quite positive. I was stage 1A and grade 2. I had all the lymph nodes removed round my womb, and I wasn't a serous person. So far so good 2 years later!! I must admit I felt happier knowing they had checked them all - all clear. My left ankle swells slightly in the evenings, but is down by morning. No-one seems very concerned about it! And at 75, I guess I'll have to have something not quite right!!

They also discovered that my thyroid was growing down the back of my throat (goitre), but after I went to see about that the throat people were not worried!! It really is like an MOT!!! Not a bad idea, really.

As for your heart attack. My husband had one and we all thought it was some kind of bug he got!!! Apparently its very common, not always chest clutching and gasping!!! He was just put on statins and aspirin for it.

All the best xxx

Thanks for the response.  No one mentioned blood thinning injections. I cannot imagine injecting myself as I have a phobia about needles and there is no way I would trust my OH to do it. Was there a particular reason why you had them? . 

Hello nightingale19 I’m a serous lady and had 23 lymphnodes removed for sampling during my hysterectomy. My gynae-oncologist said he did this routinely. He did say some doctors disputed whether this is beneficial but he strongly believes it is. In my case the pathologist found microscopic cancer cells in just one pesky lymphnode. Otherwise the cancer was contained in a polyp and hadn’t spread to the uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes, cervix  or omentum. I am forever grateful to him because if he hadn’t taken the sample I’d have been given the all clear when in fact I’d still have had cancer cells remaining in my body which, as he said, would cause problems later. My final stage was 3c1 (high grade, aggressive serous endometrial adenocarcinona). I needed chemo and radiotherapy, which also add to the risk of lymphoedema. I’m 2yrs 7months out from treatment and have some slight pelvic swelling which they’re monitoring because of lymphoedema but they don’t yet feel needs treatment. I walk regularly (2-4?miles most days) and I try to keep my weight stable. 

im very sorry to hear you’ve had a heart attack in the past without realising it., My paramedic daughter says it’s more common than you’d think. 

Sending you lots of good wishes and hoping all goes well for you next week x

Hi nightingale19, when I had my operation I believed that the blood thinning injections were the norm after an operation like the stockings to prevent DVT deep vien thrombosis. However since then I have found it depends on the individual, some didn't have them at all. But worth you being aware of the possibility as it seems to depend also on treatment hospital policy. Its good you have someone to do them for you at least you could look away if you need to have them. 

I had to give myself the anti-coagulant injection at 6pm the evening before my surgery, and daily for one week following my laparoscopic hysterectomy.  I was pretty nervous about doing it beforehand (I did know what they were like because I'd been given them by the nurses every day I was in hospital after my heart surgery last year).  My husband offered to do it for me, but actually I found I preferred to be the one in control of pushing the needle in rather than being "stabbed" in the stomach by someone else.  The needle is pretty short and it really does not hurt very much at all.  They are, of course, to prevent blood clots forming so there is a good reason to have them.  I am slim and active too, but I still needed them, although I was able to discard the surgical stockings when I left hospital the day after my surgery.

PS  I take a very low dose aspirin every day following my heart valve repair, but still needed to have the anti coagulant injections.  I was advised by the anaesthesiologist at my pre-op consultation to stop taking the aspirin 3 days prior to surgery.

I also had to sign a consent form acknowledging that open surgery might be necessary, in case the operation could not be done laparoscopically.  I think that's pretty standard practice as the surgeons have to cover what might crop up unexpectedly - my cardiac surgeon last year explained to me that whilst he would try to repair my own heart valve, in spite of the tests done before the operation it was never possible for them to be 100% certain of what they would find when they went in, so I had to consent to the valve being replaced should that have proved necessary (it wasn't).

No one has said anything to me about anti coagulant injections on the eve of the operation. I had a long Q & A with the pre admissions staff nurse today and the only instructions I got were to fast for 6 hours beforehand and turn up at 00.700am on the day.

The consultant did say that removing the lymph nodes around the uterus was because it was a serous tumour. I. don't know if it would also be done for type 1 adenocarcinomas. It was the CNS who said that if the removed nodes were clear, no radiation treatment would be needed.

I have found a reference which says that because people's hearts are not all in exactly the same place, placing the electrodes has to be just right or it can give a false positive reading and this is not uncommon and generates a "possible myocardial Iinfarction" message. The technician was a young girl who told me she was a student on a placement. 

I wasn't told either nightingale19, about the anti coagulation injections at my pre op I was just given after and instructed to take them for a week and I was given a sharps box that I could return at my three week post op review. I was given a glucose powder drink to have before my op as part of the fast recovery problem that some hospitals have. I was home the next evening so only one night in hospital and I felt great, but probably due to the morphine oh the drugs were good. I was determined to walk from the ward to the car everyone thought I was crazy, they had a good point although I did it I was so exhausted my legs were wobbly and i t was like I had just been doing some long distance run. So best advice for post op is rest as much as possible and be kind to yourself. As for the possible false reading of the ECG hopefully it was but better safe then sorry, so they will keep an extra eye on you I am sure. In the recovery room you will most likely be connected to a catheter so that you can rest up straight after your op and there maybe a drip with morphine etc too. I had a self medication one which I was shown how to use, they are set to stop you taking too much.  I think I was there for 7am too if I remember right, bright and early. You will be checked for your stockings size, blood pressure etc and see the surgeon and anesthetics who will go though checks like what's going to happen etc. Its a lot to take in but I found it very reassuring and I was very anxious too, totally understandable but they were fantastic with me and I hope that they can be as good to you too.

I was given an anti-coagulant pre-op. When I came home the following day, I self-administered them for about a week. My thought was that they were a prophylaxis against any blood clots forming.

Fortunately, I had laparoscopic surgery, so was home the following day. I felt a bit tender and not as alert mentally until the next day. It was nothing as I had imagined. I was just bored in the hospital and had minimal pain meds. Really, it wasn't a nightmare experience in terms of pain or weakness.

Wishing you the very best of luck!

love and hug,

Jan xx