Womb cancer treatment

Hi Jessie78, welcome.  Reading your message was so similar to my experience, you are about a month ahead of me.  I had a hysterectomy on 7 December after a biopsy discovered precancerous cells and mri showed a suspected stage 1A cancer, and I was told the surgery would be curative, so a bit of a rubbish Xmas but totally worth it. Then had a call last week to say cancer was more than they had thought (don’t really understand how that happens after all the scans),  and I have stage 2 adenocarcinoma of endometrium with lymphovascular invasion.

So far I’ve been told I will need 5 weeks of daily external radiotherapy followed by brachytherapy.  I’m 53.  It’s a bit of a bombshell is t it?!   I suppose the fact that treatment starts so quickly is a bonus, I have my planning CT appointment on Tuesday and just want to get on with it now.  I don’t know about you but I tried so hard to recover from the hysterectomy and did everything I was told thinking I was ok, that this feels like a huge knock back and I’m still so tired from the surgery I don’t know if I’ve got the energy to get through the next bit.  Also putting on a brave face to everyone to stop them worrying is exhausting!!  Anyway, we can do this one way or another, just wanted to say hello and let you know you’re not on your own.  I have had some great tips on here from people who are going / been through treatment, so if you’ve got any concerns I’m sure someone will have a suggestion to help.  Good luck with your treatment. Xx

Hi

I had a hysterectomy on 29th July 2024 which took 12 weeks to heal (infection & diabetes complicated it), of course this delayed my radiotherapy treatment.  I had 25 radiotherapy treatments & 2 brachytherapies, finishing at the end of November. 

I saw my oncologist on 6th January who shocked me with the news that I also need chemotherapy, this started on 15th January, no side affects yet .  I had a PICC line fitted the day before.   

I'm 59, mostly staying positive and doing everything I'm told to do.

Good luck Jessie78 and I hope the headache has settled down.

Hi Jessie78

you are just a little ahead of me, so it was good to read how you are doing, and hoping you are still doing well and glad of the weekend.

I have CT planning early next week, I am then due to start the 25 days radio with the two lots of chemo, followed by the further 4 lots of chemo. There seems a few of us starting/about to start this treatment.  When I had appt with oncologist the further chemo just seemed a bit too much to me, so I asked for us not to discuss at this stage and focus on the radio/chemo first.  Saying that the next day I thought it would always be in the back of my mind if I didn’t do it, I should have done. Not easy decision, but at the moment I don’t need to make that decision, and that sort of gives me back a little control over things, at a time when most things I can’t control..

wishing you well with your treatment x

Hi ️

I was diagnosed in April 2024 stage 1

Total hysterectomy in July 

Upgraded to Stage 3 in August 

Recovered well from op 

September I began my 25 radiotherapy treatments  ..   23 external 2 Bracktherapy..

November I began my Chemotherapy treatments 

I have just completed 3 out 4  of my chemotherapy cycles.. 

Last one is on the 29th January .. .

The unknown is very scary try and take one day at a time..

Stay off Google ..  use this forum and your CNS 

Side affects are very daunting but are also very doable..

I did loose all my hair from day 14 of the first cycle..I was well prepared for this mentally and physically .. but it still came as a bit of a shock .

Stay strong Stay positive you will get there x 

I wish you well on your  journey ️️

Thank you to all you lovely ladies for you comments - it is oddly reassuring to know that there are other people going through the same or very similar treatment although obviously everyone is going to be different in some way. 

I still have 4 weeks of daily radiotherapy with chemo on third week and 2 brachytherapy sessions in last week then who knows what will come next?  I have decided that the only way I am going to cope is just to take it one day at a time and put a line through my calendar after each day of treatment.  I also think that my wavering about actually starting treatment was that I had recovered well from my hysterectomy and was feeling better than I had for months so the thought of actually agreeing  to make myself feel ill again with the side effect seemed very wrong and in a way self destructive.  I suppose it's only human nature and self survival to try and protect your body but at least after talking to the doctors and nurses I know that I have the option of stopping treatment if I want to which means it puts me in more control of my destiny.

I still don't have too many problems at the moment  which is encouraging me to continue with treatment next week. I have slight nausea (more or less controlled by tablets) but I am really tired today and don't really want to eat or drink but I only really fancy milky things like smoothies, hot milk with honey, bananas and popcorn!

I wish everyone a smooth journey through your treatment and just take it one day at a time.

Jessie78

Hi Jessie78, we’re all different and it’s only a little thing, but what I did with my radiotherapy schedule was put it in my diary starting not at 1 but at 25, then 24, 23, and so on - seeing the number going down all the time was a positive thing for me. Regarding eating/drinking, it’s important to maintain your calories during treatment, as your body uses up more in order to make new healthy cells, so just go for it! I had Quavers and a banana immediately after treatment each day, and then ice cream and/or chocolate most evenings after I got home. Ice cream was what was recommended at my first treatment review! 

I feel for you, I really do. It's all so uncertain isn't it? I was diagnosed with slow growing, early stage EC some months back and they did offer surgery but I looked at other treatments too. Odd that I was also offered 5 weeks of radiotherapy followed by brachytherapy too, yet even after your surgery you still have to go through this. It seems sometimes that they aren't even sure what's going on down there until you have the surgery. I can understand your disappointment but good wishes with the next stage.

Well Saturday wasn't too bad - bit of nausea and aching back but that's probably from sitting around more that normal.  Saturday night I was up 7 or 8 times to wee so was absolutely exhausted on Sunday - I was expecting to be tired but this was off the scale.  I managed to take the dog out for her walk in the morning but she only had 20 minutes instead of 30-35 minutes and at one point I didn't know if I was going to make it back indoors!  I forced myself to have something to eat and drink and after a nap (about 1 hour) I had enough energy to walk to kitchen to make a cup of tea but it was a struggle  I managed to take the dog out again in the evening but again it was a real effort and I had to have a nap again a bit later.   I had a slightly better night's sleep on Sunday (only 6-7 times up to wee) and felt very slightly better during the day.  As I was having slight palpitations and getting a bit breathless after moving around I rang the helpline and got some reassurance that this was totally normal and probably made worse by lack of food and sleep but they would keep an eye on it.  I went in for my radiotherapy later and talked to the doctor who organised blood tests just to check on my levels to make sure everything was as they expected.  I also had a long lecture on eating and drinking and it was really weird to be told that basically I could eat anything I fancied just to get the calories in me.  She asked if I had any cakes or ice cream in the house and I said I had ice cream but that would mean walking across the yard to get it and that seemed a long way at the moment!  Anyway I managed to eat a bag of Doritos and a bacon and egg roll for my tea and am now contemplating having some chocolate but it seems very alien to eat food that I would either not have eaten or only eaten very occasionally as a treat.

Jxx

Yep keeping up the calories during radio is really important as your body will need the energy to make new healthy cells! I was advised ice cream and chocolate for the evenings!