Very Scared

littled
littled Member Posts: 4
edited March 2014 in Gynecological Cancers (other than ovarian and uterine) #1
Hi. I haven't been diagnosed with cancer but am very frightened that I may have endometrial cancer. I'm only 24 but still very worried. I have been getting my period every 14 to 16 days and it's extremely heavy. I had a pelvic and vaginal ultrasound done and it showed everything to be normal except for my endometrium which was thickened 1.72 cm My doctor told me not to worry about it and that I'm too young but I just have a bad feeling. I should be having an endometrial biopsy sometime soon I hope. Do these sound like symptoms of endometrial cancer?

Comments

  • relayronni
    relayronni Member Posts: 3
    #2
    Okay, you emailed me.. and I just read this... if your doctor said don't worry, fire him and find another... email me at my regular addy k? A thickened uterine lining is endometrial hyperplasia and its a precancerous condition.. it might not be cancer yet but you can be treated NOW and prevent it from becoming cancer... email me okay? Ronni
  • idontthinkso
    idontthinkso Member Posts: 3
    #3
    I would defintely get another opinion. I DID have endometrial cancer & it is very important that it is caught and treated early (if that is what it is....) You just need to know for sure. Let me know, okay.?
    Best , nancy
  • groundeffect
    groundeffect Member Posts: 639 Member
    #4
    I recently spoke to a 19 year old woman who had a precancerous condition such as SusanHolly talks about; don't delay having a biopsy!
  • littled
    littled Member Posts: 4
    #5
    groundeffect said:

    I recently spoke to a 19 year old woman who had a precancerous condition such as SusanHolly talks about; don't delay having a biopsy!

    did this woman have endometrial hyperplasia? how did they find this out?
  • groundeffect
    groundeffect Member Posts: 639 Member
    #6
    littled said:

    did this woman have endometrial hyperplasia? how did they find this out?

    I don't remember exactly what her diagnosis was, just that it was uterine and "pre-cancerous" but she said her doctor said it was that it was probably caused by a sexually transmitted disease that she had been treated for.

    The biopsy I had was done in an office with no anesthesia-not too difficult a process, and not the d&c that I feared.
  • angel96
    angel96 Member Posts: 18
    #7
    There is a pre- cancerous condition called endometrial hyperplasia, which has different stages. Usaually treatment is hormone therapy and or D&C. I had endometrial biopsy because of thicking of lining of uterus and heavy bleeding and had endometrial heperplasia with cancer cells.There is treatment for endometrial hyperplasia. D&C and/or hormone therapy.Please seek a second opinion if this Dr. does nothing to find out what the thicking of the lining of your uterus is. But remember, endometrial hyperplasia is not cancer, it is a pre-cancerous condition which left untreated, can turn out to be cancerous. Hope this may of help you. Take care.
  • littled
    littled Member Posts: 4
    #8
    angel96 said:

    There is a pre- cancerous condition called endometrial hyperplasia, which has different stages. Usaually treatment is hormone therapy and or D&C. I had endometrial biopsy because of thicking of lining of uterus and heavy bleeding and had endometrial heperplasia with cancer cells.There is treatment for endometrial hyperplasia. D&C and/or hormone therapy.Please seek a second opinion if this Dr. does nothing to find out what the thicking of the lining of your uterus is. But remember, endometrial hyperplasia is not cancer, it is a pre-cancerous condition which left untreated, can turn out to be cancerous. Hope this may of help you. Take care.

    How old were you and what were your symptoms?
  • angel96
    angel96 Member Posts: 18
    #9
    littled said:

    How old were you and what were your symptoms?

    I was 44 yrs. old when i was diagnosed with endometrial cancer. Had endometrial hyperplasia earlier. My symptoms were severe bleeding and passing large clots. Endometrial hyperplasia is a pre-cancerous condition, which left untreated can turn into endometrial cancer. Please see your doctor or find one that will give you a diagnoses or treatment of why you have a thicking of the lining of your uterus. Early detection and treatment is best for all! Hope this may help. Take care.
  • groundeffect
    groundeffect Member Posts: 639 Member
    #10
    angel96 said:

    I was 44 yrs. old when i was diagnosed with endometrial cancer. Had endometrial hyperplasia earlier. My symptoms were severe bleeding and passing large clots. Endometrial hyperplasia is a pre-cancerous condition, which left untreated can turn into endometrial cancer. Please see your doctor or find one that will give you a diagnoses or treatment of why you have a thicking of the lining of your uterus. Early detection and treatment is best for all! Hope this may help. Take care.

    Gynecolgic cancers don't observe any age limits, so please don't base any decisions on "not being old enough" to have anything. My doctors kept commenting on how young I was to have the cancers I had, and I was 48 when diagnosed. In the support group I go to there are women who were in their 20s who were dx with cancer.

    Some of Fran Drescher's doctors told her she was too young to have uterine cancer, and she was 40. She went to a lot of doctors before she got one to do a serious evaluation of her.

    Gilda Radner went to a number of them before getting her diagnosis, too, and it was very unfortunate for her.

    I would like any doctor dealing with a woman to take "too young" out of their vocabulary when researching a woman's problems. I feel very fortunate that my ob/gyn was as diligent as she was to find out the cause of my problems; time is of the essence if you do have cancer.
  • littled
    littled Member Posts: 4
    #11
    groundeffect said:

    Gynecolgic cancers don't observe any age limits, so please don't base any decisions on "not being old enough" to have anything. My doctors kept commenting on how young I was to have the cancers I had, and I was 48 when diagnosed. In the support group I go to there are women who were in their 20s who were dx with cancer.

    Some of Fran Drescher's doctors told her she was too young to have uterine cancer, and she was 40. She went to a lot of doctors before she got one to do a serious evaluation of her.

    Gilda Radner went to a number of them before getting her diagnosis, too, and it was very unfortunate for her.

    I would like any doctor dealing with a woman to take "too young" out of their vocabulary when researching a woman's problems. I feel very fortunate that my ob/gyn was as diligent as she was to find out the cause of my problems; time is of the essence if you do have cancer.

    I am having a biopsy done next week. I have talked to 5 or 6 different doctors that have all said it's probably hormone related because of my age. And furthermore, I really don't have any risk factors except for that I started my period around the age of 11. I'm only 24, thin, and have 2 kids already. So hopefully it is just my hormones. And I'm also still breastfeeding. I know endometrial cancer can happen at a young age but it is rare and when it does happen at a young age they usually have some risk factors also.
  • groundeffect
    groundeffect Member Posts: 639 Member
    #12
    littled said:

    I am having a biopsy done next week. I have talked to 5 or 6 different doctors that have all said it's probably hormone related because of my age. And furthermore, I really don't have any risk factors except for that I started my period around the age of 11. I'm only 24, thin, and have 2 kids already. So hopefully it is just my hormones. And I'm also still breastfeeding. I know endometrial cancer can happen at a young age but it is rare and when it does happen at a young age they usually have some risk factors also.

    Well, you have three of the "preventive" things going-being thin (maybe the best thing), breast feeding, and having children!

    I'm glad you're having a biopsy; please let us know the outcome!
  • Judy1957
    Judy1957 Member Posts: 5
    #13
    angel96 said:

    I was 44 yrs. old when i was diagnosed with endometrial cancer. Had endometrial hyperplasia earlier. My symptoms were severe bleeding and passing large clots. Endometrial hyperplasia is a pre-cancerous condition, which left untreated can turn into endometrial cancer. Please see your doctor or find one that will give you a diagnoses or treatment of why you have a thicking of the lining of your uterus. Early detection and treatment is best for all! Hope this may help. Take care.

    Hi, I wanted to clarify something that took me a while to figure out about endometrial hyperplasia. There are 4 grades of it -- simple hyperplasia, simple hyperplasia with atypia, complex hyperplasia, and complex hyerplasia with atypia. Simple versus complex means how much the lining is overgrown and what the structure is like. 'With atypia' means that the cells have started to change from normal endometrial cells -- one can only believe that they are on their way to becoming cancer cells, but then I'm not a molecular biologist. Only the last one (complex with atypia) is considered pre-cancerous and is treated with a hysterectomy (some times treated with hormones if you are young and still want your uterus for kids). The others are usually treated with hormones to get your estrogen/progesterone balance back. I had the 4th type at age 46 -- no kids, no family history. During the operation they discovered that I already had endometrial cancer (stage 2) and I also had ovarian cancer (stage 1). I was very lucky to get the right tests and have the right doctors interpret the results -- it saved my life! Take care and get those tests done!! (My symptoms were fairly constant low grade bleeding over several months.)
  • windycitygirl
    windycitygirl Member Posts: 7
    #14
    Hi Littled,
    There is a blood test that you can have done to check for cancer cell activity. It's called A.M.A.S. Test (Anti Malignin Antibody Serum) I had uterine cancer and now I have this test done to make sure that there is no more cancer activity. This test can detect cancer 1-18 months before any tumor is found. Hope this helps.
  • SandyDeas
    SandyDeas Member Posts: 1
    #15
    Judy1957 said:

    Hi, I wanted to clarify something that took me a while to figure out about endometrial hyperplasia. There are 4 grades of it -- simple hyperplasia, simple hyperplasia with atypia, complex hyperplasia, and complex hyerplasia with atypia. Simple versus complex means how much the lining is overgrown and what the structure is like. 'With atypia' means that the cells have started to change from normal endometrial cells -- one can only believe that they are on their way to becoming cancer cells, but then I'm not a molecular biologist. Only the last one (complex with atypia) is considered pre-cancerous and is treated with a hysterectomy (some times treated with hormones if you are young and still want your uterus for kids). The others are usually treated with hormones to get your estrogen/progesterone balance back. I had the 4th type at age 46 -- no kids, no family history. During the operation they discovered that I already had endometrial cancer (stage 2) and I also had ovarian cancer (stage 1). I was very lucky to get the right tests and have the right doctors interpret the results -- it saved my life! Take care and get those tests done!! (My symptoms were fairly constant low grade bleeding over several months.)

    I read your message and had a question for you. I have just been told I have simple hyperplasia. My doctor was going to do a pelvic ultrasound, now she is not because she knows the reason I'm bleeding abnormally. My question is why did this develop? If it can be caused by anovulation then can an ovary problem be behind it? Should I insist on the ultrasound?
  • LisaG48
    LisaG48 Member Posts: 1
    #16
    endometrial hyperplasia VERY SCARED

    Hello my name is Lisa and I am 48 years old.  I was menapausal for 2 years and suddenly I started cramping and bleeding.  They did a biopsy and I believe it was A-Typical.  They said I had endometrial hyperplasia and put me on a hormone treatment.  I found all this out only 2 days before I transfer for my job in China.  While on the hormone treatment here (China)  It increased my blood flow, made me feel sick and I started to have  numbness and chest pains.  I stopped taking the hormones and have been off them for about a week maybe longer.  The bleeding stopped but pops up here and there sometimes heavy sometimes light.  I have either constipation or diareah.  My health insure should kick in...in July but I am worried about waiting too long.  The said if the hormone treatment didn't work I would most likely have to have a hysterectamy.  The last 5 days I have been very tired, have had a loss of appitiete, feel like I am going to faint, have lost a nice amount of weight...I also have nausea, and headaches.  I want to know if there are any cancer surviors of this and I am on my way to possibly being very sick and need to turn around and go back to the states.  I could also try to find help here as they have American Hospitals but I am not sure how good they are here.  I am living in Beining.   Any advise is gladly welcomed.  You can also email me directly ati lisaanngaffneyusa and it is a gmail account.

     

    Thanks,

    Lisa

  • ccfighter
    ccfighter Member Posts: 476 Member
    #17
    LisaG48 said:

    endometrial hyperplasia VERY SCARED

    Hello my name is Lisa and I am 48 years old.  I was menapausal for 2 years and suddenly I started cramping and bleeding.  They did a biopsy and I believe it was A-Typical.  They said I had endometrial hyperplasia and put me on a hormone treatment.  I found all this out only 2 days before I transfer for my job in China.  While on the hormone treatment here (China)  It increased my blood flow, made me feel sick and I started to have  numbness and chest pains.  I stopped taking the hormones and have been off them for about a week maybe longer.  The bleeding stopped but pops up here and there sometimes heavy sometimes light.  I have either constipation or diareah.  My health insure should kick in...in July but I am worried about waiting too long.  The said if the hormone treatment didn't work I would most likely have to have a hysterectamy.  The last 5 days I have been very tired, have had a loss of appitiete, feel like I am going to faint, have lost a nice amount of weight...I also have nausea, and headaches.  I want to know if there are any cancer surviors of this and I am on my way to possibly being very sick and need to turn around and go back to the states.  I could also try to find help here as they have American Hospitals but I am not sure how good they are here.  I am living in Beining.   Any advise is gladly welcomed.  You can also email me directly ati lisaanngaffneyusa and it is a gmail account.

     

    Thanks,

    Lisa

    Lisa,
    Im sorry you are going

    Lisa,

    Im sorry you are going through this.  It sounds like your diagnosis was endometrial hyperplasia with atypia.  For other ladies dealing with this try the uterine cancer boards.  If I were you I would see a doctor and get a second opinion.  It sounds like you are notfeeling well and having symptoms that warrant investigation.  Good luck.  Hugs.

  • Teri L
    Teri L Member Posts: 1
    #18
    Judy1957 said:

    Hi, I wanted to clarify something that took me a while to figure out about endometrial hyperplasia. There are 4 grades of it -- simple hyperplasia, simple hyperplasia with atypia, complex hyperplasia, and complex hyerplasia with atypia. Simple versus complex means how much the lining is overgrown and what the structure is like. 'With atypia' means that the cells have started to change from normal endometrial cells -- one can only believe that they are on their way to becoming cancer cells, but then I'm not a molecular biologist. Only the last one (complex with atypia) is considered pre-cancerous and is treated with a hysterectomy (some times treated with hormones if you are young and still want your uterus for kids). The others are usually treated with hormones to get your estrogen/progesterone balance back. I had the 4th type at age 46 -- no kids, no family history. During the operation they discovered that I already had endometrial cancer (stage 2) and I also had ovarian cancer (stage 1). I was very lucky to get the right tests and have the right doctors interpret the results -- it saved my life! Take care and get those tests done!! (My symptoms were fairly constant low grade bleeding over several months.)

    Thank you for this!

    Thank you for this! I have simple hyperplasia without atypia and was told by one Doctor that It was a precancerous condition. And another doctor told me it was not. So, this really helped me to understand. The only one that is considered precancerous is the fourth level. Also was told if it is precancerous not to take progesterone. So, I was very confussed and frusterated. Thanks you so much for this break down.

     

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