vein trapped by uterus and ovary plus peripheral neuropathy after radiotherapy

Nargis87

my mother had cervical cancer 2 years ago and got chemo and radiotherapy in kazakhstan where she lives. the tumor was not metastasing, so a surgery could be done, however, it was decided against it. the tumor went away 'completely' as the doctors said, my mom was recovering after the treatment, until a year ago her right leg began to swell. by December 2009 the swelling was massive, and the doctors said the lymphostasis was a consequence of the radiotherapy. there was also a lot of fibroid tissue in her pelvic. in April 2010 she went to see a gynecologist and a surgeon, and they said that her uterus and ovary got stuck together, trapping the internal iliac vein. they also said she has got uterine cancer, multiple metastases in the lymph nodes, however, they did not do any tests except an ultrasound scan and palpation and concluded she has cancer only by the fact that her uterus and lymph nodes appear bigger than normal. they refused to treat her at all though, for reasons that i cannot really understand.
she also has got neuropathy symptoms, that made her house-bound. i am not completely sure whether the neuropathy is caused by nerve damage after radiotherapy or by the fact that normal circulation in the pelvic is obstructed. she is taking gabapentin, however, it does not seem to ease the symptoms.
i am wondering if anyone knows whether stage IV cancer can be diagnosed so confidently relying only on ultrasound scan results. the other thing is that some other doctor looked at my mom's blood tests (biochem test) and said that everything was normal. so basically she did not see anything abnormal, which one would expect to see in a patient with metastases in lymph nodes.
i will also highly appreciate if anyone who came across something similar, could tell me whether a surgery is possible to release the vein.
i know my post might not be very clear, but im myself very much confused about everything and dont really know what to do, where to seek help.
thank you in anticipation.

beckyracn

Nargis,
Things don't sound
Nargis,
Things don't sound quite right with what's going on with your mom. An ultrasound may pick up unusual growths, but a CT or preferably a PET scan is needed to confirm what the docs are saying and the extent of mets. Is she able to get a second opinion? I don't understand the refusal to treat either. Even if it is a stage IV, treatments can be offered, depending on the mets. It is possible that the adhesions in her pelvic/abd have 'stuck her uterus and ovary together', trapping the internal iliac vein. This could also be a factor with her lowere extremity lymphodema and neuropathy. The chemo med she took is also known to cause neuropathy. Sometimes the symptoms don't show up until months after treatments have ended. I wish you luck sorty through this mess. I would recommend she gets a second opinion.