Sorry, I'm lurking from UPSC board

debrajo

My daughter-in-law was diagnosed over a year ago with stage 4 "pre-cancer" of the cervix. Per her insurance (and dr.) they did a freeze treatment, four months later it is back, so they do another freeze treatment that her dr. said wouldn't work. Sure enough, it's back now and they want to wait and see. For what!! She has a very strong family history of this problem. I don't want her to wait one minute! I have UPSC and it is scary! Aren't they waiting too long??? Please advise. Debrajo

ccfighter

Hi,
Please don't apologize
Hi,
Please don't apologize for lurking, I'm over reading the uterine cancer boards all the time. How old is your daughter in law? Has she had children? She is lucky to be monitored closely as the precancerous changes were present which gives her a heads up on continuing treatment and preventative measures. The thing about cervical cancer is that it is viral induced by HPV (almost all of them) and the virus can also cause anal, vaginal, vulva, tonsilsr cancers ( probably more). So, when the infection leads to cellular changes they need to be taken care of. Most women can be cured by the the cryosurgery (freezing) but some have persistent issues. If she is worried about it and is young and still wants children, she could wait and hurry to get pregnant or have only her cervix removed and could still conceive and carry her own child to be delivered via c-section. This has high risk of miscarriage but is still possible. If I hadn't ever developed cancer and was walking in her shoes, I would probably opt to wait and see. But, since I had 8 straight years of normal paps and pelvic exams and was then diagnosed withstage 2 endocervical adenosquamous carcinoma ( high grade) with mete to pelvic lymph nodes, I would want any abnormal cells out of me. Then again, I am speaking from a place of carbo/taxol, cisplatin and external and internal radiation, and wish I could hit a rewind button to have had this taken carre of long before it got to this point. I think that usually, people in your daughter in laws situation fair well, though there are the occasional rare examples of women who stayed on top of everything and still end up with advanced cancer. This post probably wasn't especially helpful to you, and I am sorry for that. But I am sure you know all too well how tricky and unpredictable cancer is. I hope you are doing well in your fight. Take care.

debrajo

ccfighter said:

Hi,
Please don't apologize
Hi,
Please don't apologize for lurking, I'm over reading the uterine cancer boards all the time. How old is your daughter in law? Has she had children? She is lucky to be monitored closely as the precancerous changes were present which gives her a heads up on continuing treatment and preventative measures. The thing about cervical cancer is that it is viral induced by HPV (almost all of them) and the virus can also cause anal, vaginal, vulva, tonsilsr cancers ( probably more). So, when the infection leads to cellular changes they need to be taken care of. Most women can be cured by the the cryosurgery (freezing) but some have persistent issues. If she is worried about it and is young and still wants children, she could wait and hurry to get pregnant or have only her cervix removed and could still conceive and carry her own child to be delivered via c-section. This has high risk of miscarriage but is still possible. If I hadn't ever developed cancer and was walking in her shoes, I would probably opt to wait and see. But, since I had 8 straight years of normal paps and pelvic exams and was then diagnosed withstage 2 endocervical adenosquamous carcinoma ( high grade) with mete to pelvic lymph nodes, I would want any abnormal cells out of me. Then again, I am speaking from a place of carbo/taxol, cisplatin and external and internal radiation, and wish I could hit a rewind button to have had this taken carre of long before it got to this point. I think that usually, people in your daughter in laws situation fair well, though there are the occasional rare examples of women who stayed on top of everything and still end up with advanced cancer. This post probably wasn't especially helpful to you, and I am sorry for that. But I am sure you know all too well how tricky and unpredictable cancer is. I hope you are doing well in your fight. Take care.

Daughter-in-law
Sounds like you have been through the cancer mill also! I had a host of problems before I found out I had UPSC, so if the cancer doesn't kill me it will have saved my life(long story). My daughter of the heart will be 38 in June and has three of my nine (and counting!) grandchildren, so she is finished with all of that. I think her family had some genetic problems with cervical cancer since her sister had a complete hysterectomy at 23, her grandmother, her two aunts, several cousins, and possibly her mother(she died in a car wreck at 34)had it. She wants a complete hysterectomy, dr. is dithering around about healthy organs being removed. If the dr.s had of done a hysterdectomy on me when I first started having trouble, I would't have UPSC! I'm just afraid they are waiting too long. There is a place in time when pre cancer turns into real cancer. I don't want my grands without their mother! Thank you for replying. Do you think surgery will be the next step are do they just keep freezing? Thanks again! Best, Debrajo

ccfighter

debrajo said:

Daughter-in-law
Sounds like you have been through the cancer mill also! I had a host of problems before I found out I had UPSC, so if the cancer doesn't kill me it will have saved my life(long story). My daughter of the heart will be 38 in June and has three of my nine (and counting!) grandchildren, so she is finished with all of that. I think her family had some genetic problems with cervical cancer since her sister had a complete hysterectomy at 23, her grandmother, her two aunts, several cousins, and possibly her mother(she died in a car wreck at 34)had it. She wants a complete hysterectomy, dr. is dithering around about healthy organs being removed. If the dr.s had of done a hysterdectomy on me when I first started having trouble, I would't have UPSC! I'm just afraid they are waiting too long. There is a place in time when pre cancer turns into real cancer. I don't want my grands without their mother! Thank you for replying. Do you think surgery will be the next step are do they just keep freezing? Thanks again! Best, Debrajo

Your comment on the period
Your comment on the period of time from precancerous to cancer hits the nail on the head. That is where things get scary. There are other procedures than freezing that they can do to be curative, such as a leep where they removed some of the cervical tissue, but not all of it, so you still have an intact cervix. A lot of woman use this as a second step when precancerous cells are persistent. I wish the best for your daughter in law and hope everything works out in her favor.

debrajo

ccfighter said:

Your comment on the period
Your comment on the period of time from precancerous to cancer hits the nail on the head. That is where things get scary. There are other procedures than freezing that they can do to be curative, such as a leep where they removed some of the cervical tissue, but not all of it, so you still have an intact cervix. A lot of woman use this as a second step when precancerous cells are persistent. I wish the best for your daughter in law and hope everything works out in her favor.

daughter
Thanks for the info. I have never heard of a leep. I think she is tired of being scared to death every four months and I say DAMN the insurance! I think they will GET persuaded this time to do a complete hysterectomy(she's had other problems, also). She will be the glue that holds my family together if I go so I want her around a long time! Thank you so much for replying ccfighter, God Bless, keep fighting! Best Debrajo