Internal scarring from radiation?

jgoodasgold

Hi, my name is Jennette. I was diagnosed with stage IV cervical cancer in Feb. of '08 and completed chemo and radiation around June of '08. I've been cancer free since then (Praise to God!) but found out a couple years after treatment that I had hydonephrosis from tissue thickening or scarring (there not sure if the radiation caused it but didn't make it any better). My ureters were pinched off and they put in stents to keep them open (to allow urine to flow down to bladder) which have to be changed out every 3 months. The "pinching off" of the ureters for so long undiagnosed has now caused kidney damage. So I guess my question to anyone out there is has anyone else gone through chemo/radiation and had stents placed before radiation or had any of the issues I've explained? Just wondering if I'm the only one out there that has experienced this. Thanks for the input!

Kaleena

HDR - but no stents

Hi Jennette:

I did not have any stents.  However, I did not get pelvic radiation either due to the advice of my onc/radiologist.   He told me that the risks outweighed the benefits because of my severe scarring.    I did however get 3 HDR brachytherapy radiation treatments.    I was told that they do not fully know the long term effects of radiation.    However, he did advise me against the pelvic radiation because he felt that the scarring would block my intestines and other parts which would be a greater risk to me.

Although it has been almost 7 years since my radiation treatment, I have recently felt that something is going on with my intestines, etc.    I have been keeping a watch on it but at this point nothing is showing on CT scans.

My best to you,

Kathy