Had appendicitis and CT scan also showed abnormality on ovary. Vaginal ultrasound shows thickened endometrium. Colposcopy biopsy came back normal but Consultant wanted it further investigated due to amount of tissue so hysteroscopy done. Cancer stage 2 diagnosed. Hysterectomy booked for next week. In the meantime sent for MRI and chest X-Ray. 2cm polyp in sigmoid area of colon shows up! Referred to colorectal but hysterectomy going ahead. I dont understand why a colonoscopy isn't going to be done first so I get results of that and delay my hysterectomy by a few days so all results are within next 4 weeks.rather than having to wait 7 weeks before I can have the colonoscopy after the hysterectomy then another 3 weeks for results of biopsy. So basically a 10 week wait to find out! Waiting and not knowing is the hardest part of all this. Having only come out of a 2 year depression 3 months before all this my mental health is declining back to that dark place.
Hi Stiffi
I am sorry to hear of your diagnosis of endometrial cancer. I know it is never great to have something like appendicitis but in a way I suppose it is that that led to the CT which spotted the ovary abnormality and triggered the testing. I wonder how long it may have been before there were symptoms with the endometrial thickness. It is good that it has been caught at a time where it is showing as stage 2 and therefore provisionally contained.
I can understand your thinking about the polyp and wanting the colonoscopy first however although that makes sense to us patients, to the hospital it is a completely different consultant/department. With the hysterectomy it is better to get it done as soon as possible while the cancer is still at an early age. I don't know whether your colorectal referral has been done on an urgent or routine route- I would hope urgent- however it could be at least a couple of weeks before an appointment could be sorted. The gynae surgery schedule is also pretty tight and you don't want to miss your spot and have it further delayed.
I understand that the waiting is hard- I found it really difficult. There seems to be a variation in how long people wait for pathology results to come back. My biopsy results only took around a week but my post op ones took around 3 1/2 weeks.
I suppose that in a way they are prioritising medically that you need the hysterectomy to remove that cancer and that is most important as they have caught it early. If there is anything that needs to be done regarding the polyp- sometimes these can be removed during a colonoscopy - then it may also be that they would not want to do the bowel and hysterectomy at the same time as this could potentially be a more major op. Bowel polyps, from my own understanding also do not necessarily mean that there is a cancer there- more that they need to rule it out?
My feeling would be to contact your GP about your depression as you are feeling that your mental health is declining- I know mine did when I had my diagnosis- and it's not surprising. The only other thing I would perhaps enquire about is whether you could have a FIT screening test as this may give a little reassurance while you are waiting for the full investigation.
You have a lot to deal with at the moment so please do continue to reach out on here when you need to. We also have the Support Line available from 8 am to 8pm daily, if you feel talking things through would help.
Jane
