Vaginal Cancer -squamous cell carcinoma

Sue12

Bittersweetly said:

I had brachy
I have (or had, not sure at this point) advanced stage (IVb) vaginal adenocarcinoma, and I had a very positive experience of brachytherapy with Dr. Subir Nag in Santa Clara, California.
I experienced NO side effects from the brachy, it was done with spinal/local sedation, whereas the external beam radiation side effects were hell!
And, less than 2 months since my last brachy, my tumor, which was fairly large and invading my bladder, is gone.
I'm sorry I won't be able to get back online until around May 1 - I hope to reply in more depth then...
Good luck to you!
B

external radio
Thank you for your message. I too had virtually no side-effects from the brachy in the end - what a relief that was. Unfortunately a new lymph node popped up in my groin so the cancer was obviously still active. They decided to start a full 6 weeks of radiotherapy plus cisplatin (chemo). I have finished the cisplatin now but still have another 3 weeks of radio. As you said, the side-effects are hell! I am really struggling to get out of bed. I am so tired all the time, I hope it will get better. Diarrhoea is terrible too, esp i have a colostomy. They also said there is a risk of lymphoedema which is the worst, itterrifies me! How are you now? I hope the radio effects passed. Best wishes, Sue

MYarn

doneil said:

Hi Lyn
That is young for the diagnosis and sorry you have to go through this! I am 43 and have stage 3 vaginal cancer the treatment to date has been 7 bracytherapy, which was done in a hospital admission over 4 days and then this was followed by 5 chemotherapys once a week and 27 radiations, I have done the bracytherapy (barbaric and truamatic far worse than I imagined it to be) and I have had 3 Chemo with 2 more to go the chemo has not been much of a problem so far, but the radiation still has 11 to go and I am badly burned in one groin the skin has opened up, the vagina is swollen and burned but the worst part is the anus is burned and feels like I am pooping glass, and with all the treatments I am pooping more than one should?

I would be intersted to know where you are at and what treatments occurred for you!

Donna

Ask about doing hyperbaric

Ask about doing hyperbaric chamber for healing wounds from radiation.

A friend is a mess with vaginal radiation burns and hoping this will work.

Have another friend that says this helped to heal her.

Brigitte33

vaginal cancer stage one squamous cell carcinoma

Hi Lynn

I have just been diagnosed with vaginal cancer stage one and given the exactly the same treatment recommendation as "sunflash" i am trying to get in contact with anyone who survived to ask them about their experiences. I live in Australia Canberra and there are no support groups here...they say its a rare cancer...or there are no survivors?  Anyone survived vaginal cancer stage one and has been treated with extrnal & internal radiotherapt and weekly chemo cisplatin?

Sunflash how are you today? 

I am particularly worried about cisplatin and radiation causing secondary cancers..

Brigitte33

MYarn said:

Ask about doing hyperbaric

Ask about doing hyperbaric chamber for healing wounds from radiation.

A friend is a mess with vaginal radiation burns and hoping this will work.

Have another friend that says this helped to heal her.

Has hyperbaric been helpful

Has hyperbaric been helpful to your friend? How many sessions util it healed?

Brigitte33

sunflash said:

lyn,
I'm also sorry to hear
lyn,
I'm also sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I, too, had vaginal cancer 4 1/2 years ago. Your doctor is right when he told you it was very rare. I was 54 when it was discovered, (stage 2). You're very young to have this, but I'm finding out that cancer knows no boundaries. I just wanted to let you know that this can be treated very successfully. I received external radiation along with weekly cisplatin. I also received internal radiation (brachytherapy) I know it's scary, but there is now no trace of the cancer left. There was also no lasting side effects from either the chemo or radiation.
I'll add you to my prayers for a complete recovery.

Hi Sunflash i am just

Hi Sunflash i am just wondering how are you going thesedays? Any side effects from radio and chemo? I have just been diagnosed with vaginal cancer stage one squamous cell carcinoma. It hasnt spread anywhere. They are recommending the exact same treatment as you had: external and internal radio and weekly chemo with cisplatin. It looks like norhing has changed in the last six years in vaginal cancer treatment. How are you today? I am worried about the side effects..secondary cancers. Would be good to know how are you doing?

2changes

Hi all I was diagnosed July

Hi all I was diagnosed July 28 2014 with stage 2 vaginal cancer by November 5 2014 it spread to a lymph node it then bacame stage 4. I was  47. I've been on treatment 3 times(on treatment now) my doctor calls it "very rare aggressive cancer" I call it aggravating. 

2changes

Brigitte33 said:

vaginal cancer stage one squamous cell carcinoma

Hi Lynn

I have just been diagnosed with vaginal cancer stage one and given the exactly the same treatment recommendation as "sunflash" i am trying to get in contact with anyone who survived to ask them about their experiences. I live in Australia Canberra and there are no support groups here...they say its a rare cancer...or there are no survivors?  Anyone survived vaginal cancer stage one and has been treated with extrnal & internal radiotherapt and weekly chemo cisplatin?

Sunflash how are you today? 

I am particularly worried about cisplatin and radiation causing secondary cancers..

hello
How are you how are the treatments going I also had cisplatin and internal radiation and external radiation it was tough hang in there

Brigitte33

2changes said:

Hi all I was diagnosed July

Hi all I was diagnosed July 28 2014 with stage 2 vaginal cancer by November 5 2014 it spread to a lymph node it then bacame stage 4. I was  47. I've been on treatment 3 times(on treatment now) my doctor calls it "very rare aggressive cancer" I call it aggravating. 

I have just been released

I have just been released from hospital. Have been vomitting with 39,8 and constant headaches. I thought i had meningites. It was just a virus and today i am really well and back to work. They skipped chemo this week to give my body a chance to recover. I got a mid ear infection. Otherwise radiation is awesome!!! Have no side effects yet (this is the end of my second week). Next week i expect to be tough...back to chemo and radiation. How are you going? Did you have any brach? My dr says it doesnt require sedation as its not painful. I trust him as i really have no side effects (yet). How are you?

Sheren

Hi.  I am new to this. My

Hi.  I am new to this. My mother recently was diagnosed with vaginal melanoma.  Is anyone still here?  I would love to hear how you all are doing.

 

Thanks.

babe12

Sheren said:

Hi.  I am new to this. My

Hi.  I am new to this. My mother recently was diagnosed with vaginal melanoma.  Is anyone still here?  I would love to hear how you all are doing.

 

Thanks.

Hi Sheren

Hi Sheren! I’m sorry to hear about your mom. I had stage 4a squamous cell vaginal cancer. I was so in Sept 2011, did chemo, radiation & a salvage surger. I’ve been all clear since. Each day I worry a bit less about recurrence. My thoughts & prayers are with you & your mom.