Symptoms and diagnosis?

Hi cserrano,

Sorry you find yourself here. You don't say how old you are. I'm guessing you are not menopausal, as that made me have all sorts of funny periods/not periods. (I refused to go on HRT)

My daughter had an ovarian cyst in her 20's which gave her lots of pain until they found out what the problem was!! I think your problem could be anything. I know from having 2 miscarriages that hormone imbalances can cause weird periods, too.

I did not have any thickening of the lining, and the consultant thought my slight bleed was drying of the vagina. That is - until he took a biopsy, and cancer was found. I'll add here I was well past menopause, so knew a bleed spelled trouble.  I feel quite sorry for younger women when the diagnosis is not so straightforward. My ultrasound only picked up a fibroid which I knew nothing about. Apparently they shrink after the menopause. They used the MRI , and CT scans to plan my hysterectomy. I had keyhole surgery, which was quite fantastic.

I think you should keep pressing for answers.  Good luck xxxx

Thank you so much for replying. Was your fibroid cancerous? Did your cancer show on the MRI?

Oh and I am 39 years old. 

Hi,

The consultant said the fibroid 'Was of little consequence.' They really were not worried by it at all. I think they are more concerned if you have polyps. My other daughter had a polyp in her bowel and was told they like to remove them because they can   turn cancerous. She had it removed and has had no more trouble since. I remember my neighbour had fibroids removed before her menopause.

I'm not sure if my cancer showed up on the MRI scan. It was caught very early and he only gave me a biopsy because he could see a lot of fluid. I must admit I wasn't aware of more discharge than usual, and the older you get the more you tend to blame age for everything!!! I was 72 at the time. 

I really hope you have nothing to worry about.  If you do have to have a hysterectomy I can honestly say with keyhole surgery I was very very surprised at how little pain I had, and how easy it was. I was last in hospital for an operation for tonsils out at 20 years old, and can still remember the pain, and nurses making me eat dry fish!! (I hid it in my dressing gown pocket in the end!!) Things have improved so much these days.   xxxxx  

Hi cserrano16 and welcome to the forum although I'm sorry that you find yourself here. We are a friendly bunch with ladies young and more mature with many different experiences. No question is too silly or personal because one of us will have had the same worries and nagging doubts so p!ease ask anything. When i was in my younger years I too bad slotting half way between cycle with cramping pain , mainly on the left hand side. It used to make me double up on occasions. I was sent for various tests and barium xrays by the gynaecologist and to cut a long story short as nothing was conclusive I was told that it was all down to the ovary releasing the egg which caused the pain and the rise in hormone causing the spotting. I used it to my advantage as I always knew when I was ovulating and could plan my pregnancies accordingly. . Last year I was diagnosed with womb cancer six years after going through the .enopause, stage 1a, grade 2. My main symptoms were an annoying watery discharge when I hadn't had any discharge for years. It was sometimes a very pale pink when I wiped as if I had caught myself . This happened two of three times then eventually I had a full blown period which I knew wasn't normal six years after I had stopped. I was sent for an MRI scan after two failed biopsies and hysteroscopy and the radiologist saw the cancer as I was telephoned the next day by my cancer nurse and asked to come into the hospital to see the consultant where they gave the me the diagnosis. I was told I needed a full hysterectomy which I had on 3rd May last year. Mine was laparoscopic and open surgery as the womb was too bulky to remove vaginally. Please try not to worry too much because as nannyanny said it could be a multitude of things and not everything leads to cancer, not even a thickened endometrial lining. The waiting is the worst. Keep us all posted as to your progress and remember you can chat to us whenever you like. We are not always about cancer..we have many talented ladies who knit,paint and craft and we have a laugh here as well...not always room and gloom . Take care. Love and gentle hugs. Lamb.xx

Thank you for replying. I’m glad to hear you are doing well. Every test has come back negative so far and MRI did not show anything significant so I’m hoping that’s good news. I will still be getting an endometrial biopsy but not for a month or so as the Dr wants to wait. Why did the biopsies and hysteroscopy fail? Biopsies tested negative or  not enough tissue? 

Hi cserrano. No it's my plumbing! I have a retroverted uterus and the last couple of times they've done a smear they've had difficulty locating my cervix and the pain involved made me yelp. After the last attempt I was mortified as the nurse was digging for over half an hour having donned one of those head torches which I call mining lights and having a pillow and two costs shoved under my backside to prop me up! When it came to having the hysteroscopy I warned the consultant about the palaver I had encountered on previous occasions and when he said no problem I was reassured that this was superman! Even so he couldn't find it, the nurses couldn't find it, I was tipped up until I was almost upside down and they still couldn't locate it, they got a sample of some sort which was neurotic tissue but eventually they did it another day under general anaesthetic. The results came back, they said there had been a problem in that they had got a biopsy of sorts but this too turned out to be neurotic tissue and they needed to do a third hysteroscopy. I was so disappointed I almost but the roof , the words incompetent people came to mind so I said why didn't they just take it all away as it had done its job. As I am a high risk patient they weren't too sure and this is when they sent me for the MRI scan and said they would make a decision from there. It was fortunate I had a brilliant radiologist because they had messed around so much trying to get a biopsy the tumour was pretty smashed up but she still recognised it from the remaining pieces as cancer and where it was still attached to the womb. I also had a fibroid but this wasn't cancerous. The discharge coming down by this time was pretty nasty, a strange colour and I had also had a second bleed but they thankfully called and said they were going the surgery route after all. To say it was a relief would be an understatement but my initial thought was hurrah, no more smear tests not on no, I've got cancer. That sort of came later on. Anyway, a story for another day. Hope you have a lovely day today. God bless love lamb.xx