New Member

luckyandblest
luckyandblest Member Posts: 11
edited March 2014 in Uterine/Endometrial Cancer #1
Hi. I have joined this forum for my wife. I think she will join in the discussion eventually but now it is just me. My wife, Cathy, was diagnosed with Uterine cancer the week after thanksgiving. We initially went to our internist a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving and he sent her directly to a gynecologist. A biopsy and PAP smear both came back positive. Her cancer was papillary serous carcinoma, grade 3. He sent us directly to a gynecologic oncologist and he scheduled the surgery for Janyary 6. She had a radical hysterectomy on January 6, 2010. They remover her uterous, cervix, fallopian tubes, ovaries, sampled the pelvic lymphs and the aorta lymphs, and removed the omentum. The cancer had penetrated her uterous and was in 2 of 7 pelvic lymph nodes. There was no cancer found anywhere else. She has a Stage 3C UPSC.

Yesterday was her post surgery doctor visit with the gynecologic oncologist. She is healing nicely and will begin chemotherapy the first week in March, six treatments every three weeks. I asked the doctor about her prognosis and he told us that the latest data indicates women with stage 3 uterine cancer have a 65% to 75% five year survival rate. He also told us not to pay too much attention to statistics because the only thing that really matters is how she does with the chemptherapy. He said that he intends to be very aggressive with his treatments and told us to keep our good attitude. We feel pretty good about things. She is not in any pain and is beginning to feel good again.

We are in Birmingham, Alabama. We are very fortunate that the only gynecologic oncologist group in north or central Alabama is the group we were referred to. They are at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Everyone tells us we have the best doctors available.

Reading some of the postings on this forum has given me an idea of what is coming. Thanks for the comments.

Comments

  • A1pena
    A1pena Member Posts: 92
    #2
    Hi There!
    It sounds like your wife and my mom are on about the same schedule. She had her abdominal hysterectomy on the 1st of February and will be starting chemo soon. She was diagnosed with Uterine Serous Carcinoma- likely a stage 3 but we wont know exactly how much it spread until the 24th of Feb. I am very interested to hear what kind of treatments/treatment schedule your wife ends up getting- maybe we can compare notes? My mom's gyno/onco is at the UCSF Medical Center and we have a ton of faith in her team as well. I think it helps ease the mind a bit when you trust the medical team around your loved one.

    The ladies on this site are an amazing source of inspiration and knowledge. I am sure you will be hearing from them soon. You will be in my thoughts!

    Kind Regards,

    Amanda
  • norma2
    norma2 Member Posts: 479
    #3
    Welcome!
    I think your positive attitude is great!! Thanks for sharing your information. I was diagnosed in Oct with Stage 2 IIIC. Mine had gone to one lymph node. I take one day at a time. I feel great and am almost finished chemo. I am lucky and have had few side effects with the chemo. I am being treated at M.D.Anderson in Houston and my doc told me the same thing about statistics. I hope a speedy and complete recovery for your wife. Glad you joined the group. Norma
  • d.lee
    d.lee Member Posts: 31
    #4
    welcome
    hi, i am new too. i was diag. with uterine cancer a year ago . i am a stage four the cancer was really bad it had metastasized i had a total hysterectomy they took out a large tumor that had attached it self to my bowel but during the surgery they found it had not attached it was just pushing on my bowel, but i did have some bowel problems. anyway the dr. explained to me that i was a stage four because the cancer cells were all over in my abdominal which they can not get with surgery or radiation. i may not be explaining every thing right but thats the just of it. i was kind of in shock when he was explaining . anyway im going for my 8th treatment this month and my numbers are really going down fast and im keeping my hopes up and praying. my dr. wont give me any statistics are time are anything just concentrate on getting well so thats what im doing, fight and look forward. im praying for your wife i know what shes going through god bless
  • luckyandblest
    luckyandblest Member Posts: 11
    #5
    A1pena said:

    Hi There!
    It sounds like your wife and my mom are on about the same schedule. She had her abdominal hysterectomy on the 1st of February and will be starting chemo soon. She was diagnosed with Uterine Serous Carcinoma- likely a stage 3 but we wont know exactly how much it spread until the 24th of Feb. I am very interested to hear what kind of treatments/treatment schedule your wife ends up getting- maybe we can compare notes? My mom's gyno/onco is at the UCSF Medical Center and we have a ton of faith in her team as well. I think it helps ease the mind a bit when you trust the medical team around your loved one.

    The ladies on this site are an amazing source of inspiration and knowledge. I am sure you will be hearing from them soon. You will be in my thoughts!

    Kind Regards,

    Amanda

    Thanks For The Reply
    Amanda....I would really like to compare notes and information. It looks like this forum is really good for those kind of exchanges. The ladies that are fighting this are remarkable and inspirational. Cathy's chemo will begin the first week in March. She is scheduled for six treatments, one every three weeks. I will post how things are going.

    Thanks,
    Marvin
  • luckyandblest
    luckyandblest Member Posts: 11
    #6
    d.lee said:

    welcome
    hi, i am new too. i was diag. with uterine cancer a year ago . i am a stage four the cancer was really bad it had metastasized i had a total hysterectomy they took out a large tumor that had attached it self to my bowel but during the surgery they found it had not attached it was just pushing on my bowel, but i did have some bowel problems. anyway the dr. explained to me that i was a stage four because the cancer cells were all over in my abdominal which they can not get with surgery or radiation. i may not be explaining every thing right but thats the just of it. i was kind of in shock when he was explaining . anyway im going for my 8th treatment this month and my numbers are really going down fast and im keeping my hopes up and praying. my dr. wont give me any statistics are time are anything just concentrate on getting well so thats what im doing, fight and look forward. im praying for your wife i know what shes going through god bless

    Norma2 and d.lee.....Thanks
    Norma2 and d.lee.....Thanks for the response and all the prayers and good thoughts. We pray everyday for all the people that are fighting cancer. Cathy and I always face things together. I am more of a digger and want to know everything that is going on where Cathy is more of a "tell me what I need to know" type of person. We have been married 41 years and are praying to make it to 50 years.

    Marvin
  • d.lee
    d.lee Member Posts: 31
    #7
    luckyandblest said:

    Norma2 and d.lee.....Thanks
    Norma2 and d.lee.....Thanks for the response and all the prayers and good thoughts. We pray everyday for all the people that are fighting cancer. Cathy and I always face things together. I am more of a digger and want to know everything that is going on where Cathy is more of a "tell me what I need to know" type of person. We have been married 41 years and are praying to make it to 50 years.

    Marvin

    your so welcome
    hello i also wanted to tell you that i have lots of family in birmingham ala. my father is from there he past away christmas before last. im in california ive been married for 23 years and my husband was by my side all the way so i know your wife feels very much supported and thats a good feeling. by the way ,im also a need to know person. take care and both of you are in my prayers and feel free to ask me anything i just hope i can help.
  • thank you
    thank you Member Posts: 77
    #8
    luckyandblest said:

    Norma2 and d.lee.....Thanks
    Norma2 and d.lee.....Thanks for the response and all the prayers and good thoughts. We pray everyday for all the people that are fighting cancer. Cathy and I always face things together. I am more of a digger and want to know everything that is going on where Cathy is more of a "tell me what I need to know" type of person. We have been married 41 years and are praying to make it to 50 years.

    Marvin

    You will make it to 50 years
    She is so blessed having you!!!
    I am on this site for my mom. Stage 3C grade 1-2 endometrial adenocarcinoma. This June (in just 4 months) we are reaching a 2 year survival after diagnosis.
    It is not an easy trip, but together you can do it. My mom also is like your wife, actually she does not want to know anything, repeatedly told me: If I have bad news please do not tell me.
    I will do anything that makes her happy, I am sure you do the same for your wife. Take care of both of you!!
    Chrysoula
  • luckyandblest
    luckyandblest Member Posts: 11
    #9
    d.lee said:

    your so welcome
    hello i also wanted to tell you that i have lots of family in birmingham ala. my father is from there he past away christmas before last. im in california ive been married for 23 years and my husband was by my side all the way so i know your wife feels very much supported and thats a good feeling. by the way ,im also a need to know person. take care and both of you are in my prayers and feel free to ask me anything i just hope i can help.

    Testing
    d.lee,
    Our doctor does not seem to put much credence in CA125 numbers. He told us that that marker was mainly for ovarian cancer. He mentioned CAT scans and PET scans after treatments are finished and probably on a regular basis after that along with regular blood work. I should have asked him what they were looking for and how they would know if they found it but you just can't remember everything.

    What part of Birmingham does your family live in. We are in an area called Forest Park. Fortunately for us, we are about 15 minutes from where Cathy's doctor's office is and where she has to go for treatments.

    Marvin
  • d.lee
    d.lee Member Posts: 31
    #10
    luckyandblest said:

    Testing
    d.lee,
    Our doctor does not seem to put much credence in CA125 numbers. He told us that that marker was mainly for ovarian cancer. He mentioned CAT scans and PET scans after treatments are finished and probably on a regular basis after that along with regular blood work. I should have asked him what they were looking for and how they would know if they found it but you just can't remember everything.

    What part of Birmingham does your family live in. We are in an area called Forest Park. Fortunately for us, we are about 15 minutes from where Cathy's doctor's office is and where she has to go for treatments.

    Marvin

    testing
    luckyandblest, my dr. tells me my numbers every time i come in after chemo. but he has not said anything about a scan yet . he also said that when your numbers go down to normal that does not mean all the cancer is gone . which is confusing because i thought that is what we were going by. i guess thats when he will do a scan. i have blood taken before and after chemo and when i go in to see him he gives me my numbers which are going down pretty good.

    what i do to remember all the questions i have for the dr. is when i think of something i want to ask i write them down for my next appt that might help because there is so much stuff.


    i dont know what part of birmingham my family exeactly lives is but i will ask next time i speak to one of them i wish i lived closer to my dr. i have a 45 min drive but i deal with it because it took me a while to find this good dr. so its worth it .

    d.lee
  • deanna14
    deanna14 Member Posts: 732
    #11
    hello marvin...
    and welcome. sorry that you and your wife are going through this. you have come to a great place. there are lots of support and knowledgable ladies here.
    i was diagnosed in sept. 2008 with UPSC Stage IIIC with mets to 1 of 25 lymph nodes. i had 25 external radiation treatments and finished with 3 high dose internal brachy radiation treatments from october to december of 2008. i completed 8, 21 day cycles of taxol and carboplatin (chemo) from jan. to june 2009. it is not fun, but is definately "doable." Especially with the positive attitude that you have. I am 40 years old and looking forward to at least another 40 healthy years!
    encourage your wife to come here. there is lots of great info in the posts here. if you have specific questions, it works well to use the search feature. there are discussion topics that are very long, but worth reading. they take a long time to load, but will eventually open. we originally started here with a handful of us under the gynecologic (other than uterine) heading. one of our original member (linda), asked for a uterine cancer heading and moved all of our conversations over. anyway... seems we could write a book!
    again, welcome and may God bless you and your wife!
  • Northwoodsgirl
    Northwoodsgirl Member Posts: 571
    #12
    New Member
    Thank you for joining this board. I am sorry to hear that your wife has cancer. I was also diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the uterus Stage 2B in May of 2009 and had surgery, chemo and radiation over the past 7 months as so many of us have had to fight our cancers. There is no evidence of disease now and see my oncologist/gynecologist surgeon every 3 months for the next two years or so. You are at a good hospital for cancer treatment. This site will be a wonderful place to ask questions and get real answers based on our individual experience and internet research. Keeping you and your wife in my prayers!
    Lori

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