vuvar cancer patient

I recently had a vulvectomy and groin disection an the left side on march 8 2005. I was recently told that the biopsys showed that it has not spread. I am getting a lot of drainage an average of 450 CC's per day and will have to leave the drain in at least a month. I am scared about what will happen when the drain is removed and my body has to absorb all this fluid. I would like to hear from others who have gone thru this and the outcome. I am also concerned about the recurrance rate. I have not had as much pain as I expected, and have been pretty active.I do not think I am going to look that bad after the swelling goes down. the important thing is to be positive and live a healthy lifestyle. For you younger woman, I am 49, my husband does not care what I look like and any man worth anything will not judge you by this . your life is what is important

Comments

  • AuthorUnknown
    AuthorUnknown Member Posts: 1,537 Member
    Hello,

    You may want to consider contacting others who have posted on this board with a similar surgery. You can do this through the internal CSN email system by clicking on the envelope icon next to their original messages. You can also search the personal web pages to see if there are others who have had a similar surgery. You do this by clicking on "Personal Web Pages" on the left hand side of the screen and entering search words similar to the experience you are looking for. You can then contact the individuals through the CSN email.

    I wish you well on the recovery from your surgery,

    Dana
    CSN Dana
  • dcarl
    dcarl Member Posts: 41
    Hi, My name is Diane and I've had the same surgery except on the right side. I had the drain in and it accidentally came out as I was in the shower. The drainage did continue I kept using towels to absorb the fluid. Sounds really gross but you have to do what you need to do. It kept draining for another week or two. It was a pain but it eventually stopped. If you keep the drain in you should be fine. You should have already processed a lot of fluid and it will eventually slow down. I have had several recurrances of VIN III and have had the spots either lasered off or excised. Nothing too severe. I'm just keeping on top of things and following my doctor's orders.
    I'm so glad you have such a positive attitude toward this. A lot of women think nothing worse could possibly happen. I'm 42 and my husband has been great also. He's a registered nurse so he can sort of sympathize with what I've had to go through. I've been battling with this for 4 years now. It does get old after a while, but you can't dwell on the negative.
    If you feel like talking, just hit the reply button associated with this message. I try to check the message boards regularly but with summer coming - finally!! - I could be on less often, but I will respond!

    Take care
    Daine