Hello, my journey so far

Hi Maria. Your story sounds very similar to mine (except I’m 10 years older than you) Well done for going to the GP so quickly. It sounds like you’ve caught this very early! I found the 2 week pathway to be very efficient - sometimes it was a bit overwhelming to have so many tests so quickly. My uterine thickness was 22mm and I had a small polyp that was removed during the hysteroscopy. I found the hysteroscopy procedure fine- just a bit undignified! However I hated the MRI scan which I really wasn’t expecting. The technician stayed by my side patting my shoulder for 50 minutes!  I was diagnosed with early endometrial cancer, was put on progesterone tablets and had a hysterectomy 3 weeks later. This was all done laparoscopically. I had one night in hospital and was discharged the next day. I had minimal pain. In fact the day after my operation while I was waiting to be discharged, I negotiated a sale on my mother’s house!  I live on my own and was a bit worried about getting upstairs, but I was absolutely fine. My daughter stayed with me for a couple of nights. I used her pregnancy pillow in bed which was really comfy. 
My cancer was confirmed as 1A and they got it all out with the surgery. I didn’t need any further treatment. The waiting for results was one of the worst parts and many ladies on here say the same. It sounds like you’ve got a lovely partner to support you. Once you know what your treatment is going to be you’ll feel so much better! I learnt to take one step at a time and to put my trust in all the wonderful professionals I saw…. they really do know what they’re doing.

I am now fully recovered and so thankful to the NHS for their fantastic response.

Good Luck- keep us posted on here if you can. 

Hi Maria, I reckon you’ll get the results of the scans really quickly. There will be a multi disciplinary team (MDT) meeting very soon - I would guess next week - when they look at the scan results and come up with a probable staging and treatment plan. The biopsy usually gives them the grading, I believe, and it is great news that it’s likely to be low grade. That means that it’s more likely to be localised. 

This has all happened to me in the last few weeks and, like you, have had a Mirena coil fitted, which I was told would start treating the cancer straight away. I’m now waiting for the operation date. The waiting is definitely what drives us mad and has almost certainly been worse because of Christmas. My poor partner! 

Ah thanks for the response, great to hear you are fully recovered - what a great NHS we have.. will 100% keep you posted, I am hoping for a similar path to the one you had, I am hopeful and have everything crossed. Onwards and upwards xx here is to a great 2025 

Hi thanks for the response, hopefully you will get your date soon and wish you all the best for the year ahead. I did make a phone call to get the mri brought forward as I had been told it could be sooner and the sitting by the phone was driving me mad.. once I know the outcome of this I can deal with waiting for the op itself.. it is guessing what I am dealing with that is driving me mad, on a side note  I do have an all girls trip to Poland booked for early Feb if the op is after this date I may have a decision to make, if before no decision will be  required.. 

Like you I have a holiday booked in Feb. I also have kids and work to juggle! But I reckon, with Xmas out of the way, wheels might start turning. Good luck! 

Operation is priority but if I can fit in I will.. no kids to see to but I do have work,I am self employed contractor, work have been really good they said they will work around me and what is best for me, support comes from places x 

Think you should contact them next week to get clarity around next steps. They should be able to tell you when the MDT meeting will take place when they’ll decide the treatment. In the meantime remember what the consultant told me - the Mirena coil is already treating this (or maybe more realistically controlling it). Apparently during Covid, when they couldn’t operate, this was the only treatment they were giving. Thank goodness it’s not then. 

Hi Maria,

Welcome to the Womb group.

I am sorry to hear of your diagnosis of endometrial cancer. I can remember what a worrying time it was. If you click on my name my profile will come up- but my diagnosis and treatment was in 2022.

It is good that you have got the scan out of the way. 

From this they can work out a provisional stage to go along with the provisional grade from the biopsy. 

The next step will be for them to interpret the scan and then all the results will go to an MDT meeting. In my hospital they are held on a Thursday am so if the results did not come back one week, then they would be discussed the following week. After that I would expect you to be called in for an appointment to discuss treatment. 

Most ladies are offered a hysterectomy as first line of treatment and this can sometimes need to be followed up with some more treatment. It is normally the post op pathology that determines whether any further treatment is required. My surgery was done via key hole, was straight forward and I had little pain afterwards. I stayed in hospital for 1 night. 

Low grade is positive as it means that they believe the cancer is not of an aggressive nature and more likely to be one that is slow growing. 

The waiting is hard and most ladies on here will remember that. Do post on here and ask any questions you have. We also have the Support Line if you feel like talking things through would help.

Hopefully you should know more in the next 2-3 weeks as to what happens next. I found that once all my test results had come back, things moved quite quickly. In the meantime we are here if you need us.

Jane

With regard to the MRI scan operatives not saying anything, I think the people who do both MRI scans and CT scans aren't qualified to interpret the results, just to confirm that the  scans have been done successfully. The result will go to the consultants to be discussed at the MDT meeting.