Endometrium Biopsy

Mary325
Mary325 Member Posts: 5
in Uterine/Endometrial Cancer #1

Hi Ladies

I just found this forum last night. I appreciate all of your thoughtful answers. Here is my situation- maybe you can give me your opinions.

I am 41 years old. I am not menopausal. Actually, my periods are very regular overall. However, in December, my period became super heavy with giant clots ( size of your hand) and the periods have not ended since. I had a one week break where things seemed to stop, but only to start up again. So this has now been going on two months.

My doctor did blood tests and found that my hormones are normal however i am now anemic from the blood loss. After ruling out hormonal issues, my doctor recommended a pelvic ultrasound.

during the ultrasound they found 2 smallish fibroids and a small ovarian cyst- but what the doctor and radiologist were most concerned with was the endometrium thickness. Doctor told me it was 22mm thick .

Needless to say, doctor is sending me pronto to the gynecologist for a biopsy.

I'm a little worried about the thickened endometrium. i had a huge fibroid in 2007 that caused similar bleeding issues ( it was surgically removed) but the fibroids they found are pretty small so not sure they would cause all this bleeding, and for it to just start in December out of the blue.

What are your thoughts? Would the fibroids be related to the endometrium? Is the biopsy to look for cancer cells specifically or is there another reason they do this? I appreciate all of your thoughts! thank you!

Comments

  • jan9wils
    jan9wils Member Posts: 209 Member
    #2
    I think the biopsy is to look

    I think the biopsy is to look for cancer. Keep in mind that many, many biopsies come back negative for cancer. If it is not cancer then treatments that don't include a hysterectomy can be considered. Please let us know what your results are. I am praying for you to be cancer-free.

    Jan

  • Kathy G.
    Kathy G. Member Posts: 245 Member
    #3
    Hi Mary!

    Hi Mary!

     

    Welcome to the forum! I am not the best one for providing info as I only had stage 1/grade 1 cancer successfully treated by hysterectomy only.

     

    Other ladies on the board are far more knowledgeable and no doubt will be along shortly.

     

    I can just share my experience...

     

    In my early 40s I began having very heavy periods with clotting. Had to change pads every hour. Gyno did testing and determined I was in perimenopause. He gave me short term meds to lighten my periods...which worked for a couple years.

     

    Fast forward to my mid 40s and the heavy, heavy periods and clotting retuned so gyno did ultrasound which revealed a thickened endometrium.  

    However he did not feel it necessary to run any further tests.

     

    My periods began to go back to normal over the next few years and then I would skip months. I was told I was entering menopause based on my hormone levels. By 52 I stopped having my period completely.

     

    However, I began to have frequent UTIs and my urologist could not find a cause and referred me to my gyno to see if my symptoms were related to vaginal issues. I had light bleeding before seeing the gyno I thought was related to my 'UTI.'

     

    Then I passed a huge clot while urinating!

     

    The gyno decided to run tests again which included a biopsy in his office. It was painful, but he got his sample which showed I had cancer.

     

    This was in 2012...

     

    When I found this board I learned a few things I wished I knew beforehand. These ladies pointed out a D & C was a much better detection method for cancer as office biopsies do not always get enough tissue to make an accurate diagnosis. Plus, many of us cannot tolerate an office biopsy.

     

    I have also learned a thickened endometrium is a pretty good warning something is going on so it's a good idea to get screened for the possibility of cancer.

     

    Last I will say IF it is cancer hopefully it was caught early like mine. And even if it is further along many ladies have been here five plus years living full lives. Cancer is no longer a death sentence...it is more like a chronic disease.

     

    So welcome and come back to check in for more responses as well as to let us know how you're doing.

     

    Kathy

  • oldbeauty
    oldbeauty Member Posts: 379 Member
    edited February 2021 #4
    Curious...

    Welcome, Mary.  Did they do pathology on the fibroid in 2007?  As a 15-year survivor of Stage IC Grade 2 endometriod adenocarcinoma who has been treated 5 times, I echo Kathy above.  Be serious about following through and certain that a biopsy rules out cancer.  If it's equivocal, I'd ask to be referred to a gynecological oncologist for a D&C to be certain.  Best wishes, Oldbeauty

  • Mary325
    Mary325 Member Posts: 5
    edited February 2021 #5
    jan9wils said:

    I think the biopsy is to look

    I think the biopsy is to look for cancer. Keep in mind that many, many biopsies come back negative for cancer. If it is not cancer then treatments that don't include a hysterectomy can be considered. Please let us know what your results are. I am praying for you to be cancer-free.

    Jan

    Thank you for your response.

    Thank you for your response. I have my fingers And toes crossed. 

  • Mary325
    Mary325 Member Posts: 5
    #6
    Kathy G. said:

    Hi Mary!

    Hi Mary!

     

    Welcome to the forum! I am not the best one for providing info as I only had stage 1/grade 1 cancer successfully treated by hysterectomy only.

     

    Other ladies on the board are far more knowledgeable and no doubt will be along shortly.

     

    I can just share my experience...

     

    In my early 40s I began having very heavy periods with clotting. Had to change pads every hour. Gyno did testing and determined I was in perimenopause. He gave me short term meds to lighten my periods...which worked for a couple years.

     

    Fast forward to my mid 40s and the heavy, heavy periods and clotting retuned so gyno did ultrasound which revealed a thickened endometrium.  

    However he did not feel it necessary to run any further tests.

     

    My periods began to go back to normal over the next few years and then I would skip months. I was told I was entering menopause based on my hormone levels. By 52 I stopped having my period completely.

     

    However, I began to have frequent UTIs and my urologist could not find a cause and referred me to my gyno to see if my symptoms were related to vaginal issues. I had light bleeding before seeing the gyno I thought was related to my 'UTI.'

     

    Then I passed a huge clot while urinating!

     

    The gyno decided to run tests again which included a biopsy in his office. It was painful, but he got his sample which showed I had cancer.

     

    This was in 2012...

     

    When I found this board I learned a few things I wished I knew beforehand. These ladies pointed out a D & C was a much better detection method for cancer as office biopsies do not always get enough tissue to make an accurate diagnosis. Plus, many of us cannot tolerate an office biopsy.

     

    I have also learned a thickened endometrium is a pretty good warning something is going on so it's a good idea to get screened for the possibility of cancer.

     

    Last I will say IF it is cancer hopefully it was caught early like mine. And even if it is further along many ladies have been here five plus years living full lives. Cancer is no longer a death sentence...it is more like a chronic disease.

     

    So welcome and come back to check in for more responses as well as to let us know how you're doing.

     

    Kathy

    Kathy- thank you for sharing

    Kathy- thank you for sharing your experience. I go in Monday and will keep these things you mentioned in mind. I did not realize the difference between and in office biopsy and a D and C.  Very good information. Thank you 

  • Mary325
    Mary325 Member Posts: 5
    edited February 2021 #7
    oldbeauty said:

    Curious...

    Welcome, Mary.  Did they do pathology on the fibroid in 2007?  As a 15-year survivor of Stage IC Grade 2 endometriod adenocarcinoma who has been treated 5 times, I echo Kathy above.  Be serious about following through and certain that a biopsy rules out cancer.  If it's equivocal, I'd ask to be referred to a gynecological oncologist for a D&C to be certain.  Best wishes, Oldbeauty

    Thank you for responding. I

    Thank you for responding. I will be speaking with the doctor on Monday. They did do pathology on the previous fibroid and it was ok in 2007.  i will be making sure they completely rule out cancer. Thank you again for your response. 

  • cmb
    cmb Member Posts: 1,001 Member
    #8
    Welcome!

    Mary,

    I didn't find this site until after I completed treatment, so I'm glad you found your way here now. As others have noted and your previous experience shows, most incidents of vaginal bleeding, especially in younger women are not cancer. I hope you find this to be true in your current case.

    You can read about my experience with vaginal bleeding – one with a benign cause and one later caused by cancer https://csn.cancer.org/node/322953

    You'll see that I was unable to tolerate the endometrial biopsy process and so had a D&C both times. Other women here didn't have same issue with the procedure, but as Kathy noted, sometimes the biopsy can miss the spot where cancer is, whereas the D&C is more definitive.

    I hope reading some of the posts here have given you some questions to ask your doctor on Monday so that you can be comfortable with the approach that is recommended. Please come back with any further questions or comments and let us know your next steps.

    By the way, you can click on a member's profile picture or username in the blue box to read more about that member's cancer journey. Not everyone fills in this information, but many do.

  • Mary325
    Mary325 Member Posts: 5
    edited March 2021 #9
    cmb said:

    Welcome!

    Mary,

    I didn't find this site until after I completed treatment, so I'm glad you found your way here now. As others have noted and your previous experience shows, most incidents of vaginal bleeding, especially in younger women are not cancer. I hope you find this to be true in your current case.

    You can read about my experience with vaginal bleeding – one with a benign cause and one later caused by cancer https://csn.cancer.org/node/322953

    You'll see that I was unable to tolerate the endometrial biopsy process and so had a D&C both times. Other women here didn't have same issue with the procedure, but as Kathy noted, sometimes the biopsy can miss the spot where cancer is, whereas the D&C is more definitive.

    I hope reading some of the posts here have given you some questions to ask your doctor on Monday so that you can be comfortable with the approach that is recommended. Please come back with any further questions or comments and let us know your next steps.

    By the way, you can click on a member's profile picture or username in the blue box to read more about that member's cancer journey. Not everyone fills in this information, but many do.

    Thank you! I had my in office

    Thank you! I had my in office biopsy today  It was super painful but I tolerated it ok. Now the waiting begins. I was supposed to have it last Monday, but with bleeding the doc postponed it till today. Thank you for sharing your experiences. I appreciated reading it! 

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