Update to Scared and looking for advice

hscvt said:

Happy Holidays to you
Hope that you have a great Holiday - How are you feeling? You have been so kind to ask how I am doing when you are going through treatment as we speak - I don't even know 100% what is wrong with me yet - so you have already given me moral support which I greatly appreciate.

Take care of you and I hope you are feeling well and have the best Holiday ever (as a newlywed) and a Happy New Year!!!!!

How did it go?
How did everything go today? I hope you are feeling okay and at least have a start on getting the answers you need.
Hugs,
Deanna

hscvt said:

It hurt
Hi there

I just happen to be up and online so I just got this message. It was awful. Sorry I did not enjoy the biopsy at all and thought it hurt - in fact I screamed and started crying I normally have a high pain tolerance. I still have some cramping which is why I am still up. She said that I may have answers end of this week, although with the Holiday it's more than likely going to be early next week. I have the saline ultrasound done on January 6th. I hope this biopsy is enough as if it comes back inconclusive, I will not have it done again - they will need to knock me out.

Thanks for checking in-

I'm hoping that no news is good news...
Howdy,
I was just wondering how you are doing? I presume you have your biopsy results back and hoping that no news is good news. Unless there has been a change of plans, you should be having your ultrasound tomorrow. Good luck with that, I hope all is well.
Hoping you and your family had a joyous Christmas and a Happy New Year. Take care.

hscvt said:

Hi -

Sorry..I have been so busy with the holidays - hope your was a good one.

The biopsy results came back as normal tissue - however, I just had the saline ultrasound today which showed a very large polyp in my uterus - which she stated has to come out because that could be cancerous. So I am not out of the woods yet so to speak. She first talked to me about having a uterine ablation after the polyp was removed or placing an IUD to help with my heavy bleeding however, I asked her about hysterectomy - she did tell me if that is what I wanted done - she would do it. So I am going to schedule that for hopefully March. I can't have children (Had my tubes removed due to numerous ectopic pregnancies) and I don't need it...

I am wondering if this polyp has been present for the last 3 years. 3 years ago I was going to an infertility specialist who ordered an ultrasound be done. She told me she saw a polyp and wanted to do surgery. My family doctor recommended I have the saline ultrasound done first (like I had today) and that doctor who preformed that told me there was no polyp. But with the size of the polyp that is there - I wonder if it's been there for that whole time. I hope not although it would make sense. I don't know if I"ll ever know the answer to that.

Thanks for checking in - I was thinking about you and that I wanted to let you know what has been going on - just busy.

Hang in there
Don't know how much of myexperience will be of help to you but I have always had horrible periods since I started in 4th grade. When I was younger no one seemed terribly concerned and when I got older I simply quit going to doctors because of a number of bad experiences with some doctors who never should hae been doctors.

About a year ago the periods got really bad. I thought I was just getting ready to go into menopause. But one night I was sitting at the computer and when I stood up after an hour blood started gushing and wouldn't stop. After nearly passing out I drove myself to the emrgency room and told them I thought I was bleeding to death. It's amazing how calm you get when you have lost 1/2 your blood. I was admitted immediately and put in ICU where a nurse sat with me all night as they thought my heart was going to fail from the loss of blood and I was given 4 pints of blood that night.

The next day after they finally got the bleeding to stop they did an MRI and found that I had a 10 pound tumor that had hemoraghed. It was so big that it was laying on my liver and kidneys which they were worried about. They did an emergency hysterectomy and removed the tumor the following day. Amazingly there was no damage to the other organs and because everything looked fine and there was no sign of cancer they left my ovaries.

Two weeks later when the pathology report came back it turned out that the tumor was mostly fibroid BUT there were cancer cells (very early stage)in the lining of the uterus and they had to go back in to remove the ovaries and biopsy the lymph nodes. The second surgery was not as easy as the first (not that it was easy but since it all happened so fast there wasn't time to think about it) and there were numerous (non cancerous) complications which made the whole experence a nightmare but everything worked out for the best. I tell you all of this simply to show you that while the fear is absolutely unavoidable while you wait for test results and doctors to make decisions there is a light at the end of the tunnel and all may work out for you in the end.

If I had not nearly bled to death my doctor said they would not have found the cancer in time to remove it so easily (I have not even had to have radiation so far), if I had not had to have the second surgery they would not have found the raging infection inside the first incision and I might have died from that. Two days later while still in the hospital I had a stroke and my nurse who was watching me found one of the leading stroke doctors in the world was making rounds right outside of my room. If I had been home alone no one would have been there to notice and in another two days a new procedure to put a stent in my brain was performed. A month later there was almost no sign that I had had a stroke. Through every step I was where I needed to be at the time. So hang tight.

I wish I had found this spot when I was going through all of this pretty much alone. It would have been nice to know there were others going through what I was and who totally understood.

One thing that helped me through was I kept a written diary of what I was going through and sent it out to my friends via email. Writing to them helped them understand what I was going through, it gave me a place to vent, and it helped me keep my sense of humor which I desperately needed. Writing really is cathartic.

And this place will give you so much peace...just reading other posts and realizing that there are people going through the same things you are.

This all happened to me starting just before Thanksgiving 2007 and the worst parts of it were that when my pathology report came back with the C word my doctor was on a 2 week vacation so her associate told me I had cancer and would need a second surgery but they would wait until my doctor came back to decide what to do so I sat and cried for two weeks not knowing anything. Then the insurance and the hospital decided not to cooperate with reports and billing and my $200 a week disabiltiy check (my only means of support since I couldn't work) was cut off leaving me no money for rent, food, and utilites not to mention what it does to your Christmas spirit. I felt so alone even with friends there because while their hearts were in the right places they just couldn't understand from my point of view like the people here can.

But I came through it and I have been cancer free for 1 year now. So good luck and keep your spirits up. My prayers are with you.