advice needed

Welcome llwright!

You've come to the right place for support although at this point I would not jump to the conclusion that it is cancer or that you will need us on an ongoing basis!

We have all gone through the fear and anxiety that the symptoms we are experiencing could be cancer. Obviously those of us that are members on this board have found that to be true. But if you read through our posts there is a wide variety of symptoms each of us have experienced, and once diagnosed our stages and grades and types of cancer can differ greatly.

Try to keep busy and remain as calm as possible. It sounds like your doctor has you headed in the right direction with the upcoming tests. Some of us have had to fight to even get that far so try to focus on the positive.

I had a very early cancer in the uterine lining, but will never forget going thru those feelings while waiting for the test results.

I wish you well. Come back and let us know how you make out.

Kathy

2013-07-19

Just keep focusing on your name? Llright? ' You'll be alright'!

the Warriorettes on this site are so giving of their hard earned experience and knowledge. Keep an open mind, and decide for yourself!

My two cents, is go to a Gyno-oncologist for a second opinion after your MRI. If you have competent Gyno or GP, he/she sounds on the ball, they will support second opinions.

Also get your own copies of all scans,disks and hard copy reports. I have been using my Smartphone to record doctor meetings without telling. naughty I know, but it even beats a friend or husband with stenographic skills, when home I use an app to convert speech to text, and bingo email it to myself and print it out for my file.

at the beginning of any journey you are a novice and research the maps and guide books, but you are in charge of making educated decisions and your Docs are in charge of educating and serving you!

one of the first things one loses as a patient, and an adult, is the idea that someone has all the answers for you, sorry you are your own travel agent, buckle up and you'll be ready for the ride!

good luck.

one step At a time, and walk or swim or ride, or all three, for 20 minutes a day, eat normally healthy foods and portions of what you like, and don't let all the advice, including mine, drown out your inner voice.

sara

llwright said:

thanks guys

thank you for your kindness. my name is linda. im 48 and haven't started menopause. or i may have because i attributed all these issues ive been having for the last 2 years to it. i swear i have the patience of an elephant. been through cancer with my father, mother and my daughter when she was a child, and i was a rock for them through it all. but damn, how come im acting like such a baby now. i understand that i dont really know what im dealing with yet. and when i went for results yesterday i stayed optimistic hoping that he would tell me that the lining of my uterus was thick because it was just before my period and that it was a cyst on my liver. ive been reading up as much as i can just so i dont freak out if it is the outcome and also ive read other things that it could be not as serious. sorry if im babbling....im trying to keep positive. thank you friends

Boy! you have had a real lot on your plate!

it's your turn here to rant and rave, cry and babble.

dont know geographically where you are, but I am melting on the East Coast right now, and I'm from the Middle East!

Sara

llwright said:

im in ontario canada. we are

im in ontario canada. we are melting here also. heat wave the past 4 days but suppose to cool off a little tomorrow. 

I am also in Ontario. My advice is learn everything you can and become very vocal. ypi will probably have to push for tests and scans if your experience is anything like mine. I am being treated at Sunnybrook.

dont assume itis cancer - which is extremely easy for me to say!

private message me if u want to compare notes

janh

llwright said:

hey

jeepers, dont know if its my nerves but for the last 3 days i ve been having sharp stabbing pains in my lower abdomen and my lower back is aching like crazy  not sure if i should call my doc or just wait it out till i get my next appointment.

I vote to call the doctor. I think you should listen to your body,if it turns out to be nothing that's great. 

I had stage IVB uterine cancer with no lymph node involvement three years ago.  My cancer spread to both ovaries, the omentum, and the small intestine without being in the lymph nodes.  My CT scan has consistently shown an abnormality on my liver, but it hasn't changed at all, so they think it's a benign liver cyst.  My cancer was UPSC, which is very aggressive, but I have not had a reoccurrence after surgery and chemo.  I don't want to scare you, but the surgery was much worse than I'd expected, and I was in the hospital 6 days (my gallbladder (full of gallstones) and appendix were also removed) and I had to have a couple of units of blood. My bowels wouldn't work after surgery, but I suspect that was because of the liquid diet and then the inedible food at the hospital I had after it.  I'd been told I was going to have day surgery because of a polyp, but it turned into much more.  My surgeon didn't look at my CT scan results until the day of the surgery!  Anyways, although the going was tough, I'm still here with no evidence of disease.  I'd heard all kinds of bad stuff about chemo, but that wasn't bad at all.  It made me short of breath and I lost my appetite for a little while, but I took meds before my chemo and didn't have any nausea or vomiting.

I read someone else's posting on here awhile back which said that this cancer spreads laterally across the abdomen.  This seems to fit with what happened to me.

I had a 15% chance of survival with my late stage cancer, so I'm one of the lucky ones.  I commented about my stage IV cancer to my doctor recently, and he told me he's had plenty of people with stage IV cancer who have survived it.  My doctor is in Albany, NY, which is probably not one of the places you would expect to find such a high success rate.  I'm fortunate I was referred to his practice. 

Good luck with whatever path you have to take.  I hope it's nothing serious.  But if it is, you can see from my story that there are successes with treatment.

Hi!

Isn't all this testing just nerve-wracking?

I have had to have frequent colonoscopies since my 1st one about 3 years ago. They found a large and small polyp then and they were pre-cancerous. I had to have a 2nd one in 2 years.

I had that right before my uterine cancer diagnosis and had 5 small new precancerous polyps. So they want me in every 3 months for colonoscopies until I am clear. I missed the 1st 3 month one because of my hysterectomy this past January so I just had it in June. This time 2 small pre-cancerous polyps!

I go back for another follow-up colonoscopy in September which will coincide with my 3 month uterine cancer check-ups.

My brother was diagnosed with anal cancer this past March so I will bite the bullet and keep having these tests done.

It just feels like you 'live' from test to test/check-up to check-up....what alot of the ladies call the 'new norma' after a diagnosis.

I hope you tests turn out well.

Continue to keep us posted!

Kathy