I am so glad Nellasing was able to respond as one of the warriors with this particular type.  

Grade 3 is an agressive type and I think pretty much all of us with Grade 3 (regardless of Stage) have had a minimum of chemo (usually Carbo and Taxol) and may also have external and brachytherapy radiation.  Most of have gone to gynecologic oncologists as they have taken additional training for cancer of the female reproduction areas and are real specialists.

Some of the women have mentioned a Facebook page for uterine cancer but I don't FB.  This page has a wonderful group of women - and if your friend has questions she would be welcomed with open arms.  As a friend - you are welcome as well to come and ask questions too. 

You gave me your sage wisdom when my husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2013.  He continues to do well, as do I, a survivor of both breast and endometrial cancer since 2010.  Grade III endometrial cancer is a high grade and is indeed taken very seriously (mine was Grade 1, the "good kind").  There is much wisdom amongst this group of women, most of whom have Grade III cancers.  They will be very helpful.  Please encourage your friend to join as there are some pretty smart wise women here.  I hope she does well.

Suzanne

Yes, there are a couple types of radiation both internal and external and some variation on how those are done also. If you look at the thread ladies going through radiation you will read a lot of info.

hopeful and optimistic said:

Thanks for the information

What are the side effects from sugery; if there are mets, can surgery be avoided by having radiation and hormone and/or chemo?

Also if known, what are the side effects from radiation? Are there different types of radiation that are available?

Thanks

 

As you may be realizing, there is a lot of ground to cover in the learning process after getting a diagnosis for this cancer. It can be overwhelming and pretty scary when you start reading. I would caution you to focus your attention on each step as you go because there will be a lot of information that you will read that can be frightening if you try to cover all of the "what ifs" before you have actual facts to narrow what you research.

Zero in on preparing for the first step at this point so you can prepare for what kind of questions your friend will want to ask her gynecologic oncologist (I'm presuming that you've already done research on who to go to in your area). That first step is going to most likely be some type of hysterectomy, so you'd want to understand the different ways it's done and why in case that would raise any questions before proceeding. The impact on hospitalization and recovery for DaVinci (robot) surgery is a lot different than for abdominal hysterectomy. 

Until she gets the actual pathology report back after her surgery, there's really no way to know what her treatment plan is going to be, so it would only be frustrating to query the oncologist about that at this point because he couldn't give any answers that wouldn't be subject to change after the pathology report is finalized.

You realize that chemo and radiation are possibilities, though, so go ahead and read through the threads here to get some helpful tips on dealing with what seem to be almost universally experienced side effects: fatigue, constipation, hair loss, neuropathy, and poor appetite. I wish I had known about cold therapy to prevent neuropathy and hair loss prior to chemo, so definetely look into that, so she can be prepared if need be. 

There's a good thread that really helped me a lot when I was facing radiation called "Still terrified" (node 305795) where a lot of ladies helped me while I wrestled with that decision. Chemo is a systemic treatment, whereas radiation is local, so a lot of us question whether or not we really need to put ourselves through that and the risks it creates for later on down the road when theoretically there's really no cancer there for them to aim at. Please remember, though, that right now is probably a bit premature to be worrying about this, because there's a good chance that it might not be part of your friend's treatment plan. Save looking into it for when/if you know it is.

I hope this helps. Remember, you don't have to learn it all now, we'll be here to help you both with anything that comes up as things progress.

MAbound said:

One Step at a Time

As you may be realizing, there is a lot of ground to cover in the learning process after getting a diagnosis for this cancer. It can be overwhelming and pretty scary when you start reading. I would caution you to focus your attention on each step as you go because there will be a lot of information that you will read that can be frightening if you try to cover all of the "what ifs" before you have actual facts to narrow what you research.

Zero in on preparing for the first step at this point so you can prepare for what kind of questions your friend will want to ask her gynecologic oncologist (I'm presuming that you've already done research on who to go to in your area). That first step is going to most likely be some type of hysterectomy, so you'd want to understand the different ways it's done and why in case that would raise any questions before proceeding. The impact on hospitalization and recovery for DaVinci (robot) surgery is a lot different than for abdominal hysterectomy. 

Until she gets the actual pathology report back after her surgery, there's really no way to know what her treatment plan is going to be, so it would only be frustrating to query the oncologist about that at this point because he couldn't give any answers that wouldn't be subject to change after the pathology report is finalized.

You realize that chemo and radiation are possibilities, though, so go ahead and read through the threads here to get some helpful tips on dealing with what seem to be almost universally experienced side effects: fatigue, constipation, hair loss, neuropathy, and poor appetite. I wish I had known about cold therapy to prevent neuropathy and hair loss prior to chemo, so definetely look into that, so she can be prepared if need be. 

There's a good thread that really helped me a lot when I was facing radiation called "Still terrified" (node 305795) where a lot of ladies helped me while I wrestled with that decision. Chemo is a systemic treatment, whereas radiation is local, so a lot of us question whether or not we really need to put ourselves through that and the risks it creates for later on down the road when theoretically there's really no cancer there for them to aim at. Please remember, though, that right now is probably a bit premature to be worrying about this, because there's a good chance that it might not be part of your friend's treatment plan. Save looking into it for when/if you know it is.

I hope this helps. Remember, you don't have to learn it all now, we'll be here to help you both with anything that comes up as things progress.

 

 

YOU are amazing

I was hoping you'd reply- you are just so full of wisdom and you express it so well!  I'm so relieved to have all you amazing "sisters" to do this journey with!  Blessings and (((HUGS)))