New here, stage 1a upsc

Thank you, Denise & kpor! It went just fine! My nurse said, “You’re glowing!” And when ONC came in …How are you?….I said, “You’ve NEVER heard me say this before, I’m great!!”

❤️❤️❤️ to All,

A

Kristina:

I can see why you are so concerned. Like NoTime indicated, you have to be your own advocate. Your mother knows her body. If she thinks something is changing then she should bring it up to her doctors. My cancer didn’t act like textbook. Everyone is different and everyone’s cancer is a different story. With me, I knew I was getting a recurrence because of a certain pain I was getting. At first it was mild and slowly through the weeks it kept getting more frequent. I complained and they did testing. Your mother has you which you are already proactive in her health and that it terrific. It can be stressful on you though. Please take care of yourself too! This site is good to vent when you feel overwhelmed.

My best to you mom and (((hugs))) for you.

Kathy

My mother has recurrence of endometrial cancer and we’ve been waiting for chemo to start for weeks now. Can I ask what timelines were from biopsy to chemo initiation? We’re all so frustrated and scared of the delays causing irreparable harm.

My mother is also losing hope and deteriorating more and more each day while we can’t get anyone at the hospital to call us back it seems. They just keep saying they sent a message to the clinical trial coordinator but I’ve heard that for the whole week.

May I ask, how is the external/brachy radiation therapy? I just had my first chemo session so far.

thanks

Thank you so much for your response

The decision to have radiation or not after surgery and chemo is a tough one for most of us. In some cases, doctors advise holding off on radiation in case the cancer recurs later since prior radiation in one area can prevent it from being used again in the same area to treat a recurrence.

But in other cases, including my own, doctors recommend having radiation after chemo to minimize the likelihood of cancer recurring in the pelvic and/or vaginal area. They did disclose, however, that radiation does not necessarily extend survivorship.

My post-chemo CT-scan didn’t show any visible signs of cancer, but I did have a later stage, aggressive form of uterine cancer. I finally decided to go ahead with the recommended 25 sessions of external radiation. I have not recurred since treatment ended five years ago. Whether this is due to the radiation or the chemo I had or both, I’ll never know.

A lot also depends upon the stage and type of cancer a woman has. There are women here who did not have radiation after chemo. But the NCCN guidelines do suggest that even a women with stage 1A, Grade 1 or 2 cancer, lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI) and older than 60 consider vaginal brachytherapy. Vaginal brachytherapy is also preferred for Grade 3 cancers, but treatment could also include external radiation if patient has LVSI or is older than age 70.

As I’ve reviewed the NCCN Guidelines over the years, I’ve seen that they now recommend using radiation more often for early stage cancers than they did in the past.