New here

Hi everyone. First off, let me say that I'm not sure what my medical condition is right now. I'm scared, and looking for info and support.

Some background on me: I'm 49 years old, and have no children. I do have some other medical conditions: I have rheumatoid arthritis and I also (for some unknown reason), have gotten DVT's and PE's on several occasions. I am on top tier injectable drugs for my RA, and I take coumadin for my DVT's. I regularly get my blood work done to make sure my INR stays in range. I am also overweight, but have no family history of cancer.

At 49, I am still having regular periods. Mine have usually been fairly heavy, and not too long in days. Lately, they have been lessening. I should say that I had regular periods until about 2 months ago. I started what I thought was my period at the right time 2 months ago, but it was very light, and mostly just spotting. After several days, it stopped. Then, about 3 weeks later, the same thing happened. So, I assumed that the first one was a light period, and the 2nd one was too....and it was a week early. The next time though, it got strange. I started light spotting, but it never turned into a period...I just kept spotting lightly. Some days, I don't even need to wear a panty liner. Other days, I wear a pad. This has been ongoing for almost a month now....with several days of absolutely nothing happening.

I do get regular gyne exams, and my last was in Jan of this year, at which time she said my PAP was slightly abnormal, probably due to an infection that will go away, and that I tested negative for HPV. I decide to visit her again. Her exam was quick, and she suggested a transvaginal ultrasound. I had some really bad cramps last year and had several ultrasounds done to check up on a cyst, so I knew what I was in for. I also had CBC, thyroid and hormone testing done, and all of this was normal. For this ultrasound, the cyst was gone, but I did have a fibroid tumor that was a bit large. I was also told that my endometrial lining was 17 (mm?), and that was thick. They pulled my last ultrasound from 6 months ago, and it was 11, which my doctor said was fine for a cycling woman.

Since my lining was thick, she wanted to do an endometrial biopsy. She wasn't sure she could perform it, since I never had kids, and the cervix was clamped shut basically. :-) I was scared. I did go through with it, and it was painful. She was fast, but told me she couldn't get in as far as she wanted, but thought she had enough of a sample. So now...I wait. Tomorrow will be one week, and she told me I might have an answer by then. She happens to be on vacation for 3 weeks now, but her nurse will call me.

I did have some pretty bad cramping the night of the biopsy, but what happened next is what surprised me. My biopsy was done on a Thursday, and by Friday afternoon I had some really heavy bleeding, and some (not sure how to delicately phrase this), heavy clotting. By Saturday, it was so bad, I thought of going to the ER room. I was scared that possibly she punctured something, since I had never bled like this before. This continued all day Saturday. I had called the Dr's office and spoke to the on call Dr on Saturday, and she said it probably wasn't a puncture or anything wrong like that, but more of a "stirring things up" kind of thing. She gave me a Rx for a birth control, but I can't take it because of my blood clot issue. I told her that, but she said it was safe. I checked online too, and everything says not to take it. By Sat evening though, it started to subside, so I didn't have to take the Rx. By Sunday, I was back to just spotting. Then, something even weirder happened. Even though I am just spotting, for the last 2 nights, I will get a feeling that it's heavy again, and when I check, it is, and then I will pass a large clot, then I am back to spotting for another full day. Sorry for the graphic descriptions.

So....I know that endometrial cancer is rare. But I also know that I have some risk factors: no kids, obese, and abnormal bleeding. I'm trying real hard to not diagnose myself, but I also can't find much info online about what else it could be, other than endometrial cancer. Before my blood work came back, my doctor said it was probably related to my coumadin, or a hormonal issue. But...all my tests came back fine.

There....I got it all out! I am scared. I am recently divorced, with no support system in place. Unfortunately, I am somewhat of an introvert and never managed to make good friends. I am turning to this board for info and support, though I don't even have a diagnosis yet.

I guess what I'm trying to find out is: are there other reasons for a woman's endometrium to be so thick? Does this always mean cancer?

Not just am I scared of the diagnosis, I'm also scared of surgery. If I had to have a D&C, or a hysterectomy, I have real big issues because of my DVT's. Surgery is always like taking my life into my own hands. I guess in a perfect world, this slight bleeding would stop, and never happen again. I did have regular cycles until 2 months ago though. Is it possible to have cancer even if I had regular cycles till recently and the spotting just started?

So...now you've heard my story. It does feel better just to get it out. I will say, to those of you that made it to the end, thank you...and future posts won't be nearly as long. :-) Thanks for letting me spew this out. And if anyone has any words of advice or info, I'd love to hear them.

Thank you. Pat