Hi @Sarah1471 - I am glad there was no change and that they are moving forward for a proper look at what is going on with you. Hang in there and keep us posted. We are rooting for you!
On the first scan it said intermediate signal, and she said there was still signal on this scan, but no growth. Did you have anything similar? Xx
Thank you, such a long tough road isnât it xxx
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Yes it is. You are doing an amazing job dealing with a stressful situation.
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I only had my mri scan after something was spotted on my cervix at a post treatment check up. xx
Iâm booked in Friday morning for someone to have a look inside, I wonder what scar tissue looks like compared to residual? X
In my experience, scans cannot identify scar tissue, and nor can the consultant. Only a biopsy can identify what something is for certain. This is only my experience, but my consultant said he could see something tiny at a check up-could have been scar tissue, might not have been, so sent me for an mri.
The mri said there was something there but couldnât definitively say what, so the next step was a biopsy under anaesthetic. That confirmed for me it was the cancer back. So, in my experience they could tell something wasnât right but couldnât say what it was. I hope your experience is better. x
What was your treatment for residual cancer if you donât mind me asking please? X
Hi @Sarah1471
I donât mind you asking at all-I had a total pelvic exenteration 2.5 years ago-I was lucky enough that my cancer was still contained to my pelvis. x
Was your residual cancer quite big? I was told itâs so small they would be unable to take a biopsy or do a pet scan as it wouldnât be picked up. Iâm glad your doing okay now 
xx
It was 11mm when it was picked up, 5cm by the time I had my surgery as it was very aggressive by the time I had surgery⌠and had spread over my uterus and bladder. It spread very rapidly after they opened me up to do a salvage hysterectomy⌠which failed due to my radiation damage. x
Blimey- sounds awful. I was told it would be more chemo 
xx
It depends where it is⌠contained within the pelvis offers the opportunity of potentially curative surgery, otherwise chemo is the alternative. I was lucky and got surgery. xx
@Lilypingu so glad to hear youâre okay now. Youâre such an inspiration. Am I right to assumed that if the cancer came back in just the cervix a salvage hysterectomy can be done instead of pelvic exenteration? Much love.xx
@Sarah1471 i canât imagine the stress and worry youâre under in right now, but itâs good that they saw it as soon as possible so they can deal w it w curative options. Youâre in my thoughts. Sending you love and prayers. Xx
Well, it potentially could be attempted in that case, but scans donât pick up the damage done by radiotherapy so in my case, they opened me up and closed me up again and I still had to have a total exenteration.
The surgeon was completely shocked at the extent of my radiation damage, and it wouldnât have been safe to continue with the hysterectomy, and yes at that point the tumour was just in my cervix.
If I had my time again, I would have gone straight to the exenteration. xx
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Hey,
So I had my appt today, he said there was a red patch, but it didnât look sinister. He took some biopsies anyway and talked through the different scenarios, if itâs clear then he wants to perform a lletz just to make sure, and if itâs residual there were talks of a salvage hysterectomy xx
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@Sarah1471 hope your
Biopsy results are good. I had the same and a salvage hysterectomy in March this year at Christieâs hospital. It was done by robotic surgery and a complete success. I did have radiation damage as the surgeon said everything was stuck together but he managed to unpick everything in under 4 hours. I was warned though that they might have to remove bowel and bladder if they couldnât do it x
Nothing is straightforward on this journey is it 
would you recommend I request the potential of a complete exenteration? Iâm so scared, I donât know what to do it if it comes back as cancer. Have you got a colostomy? Xx
Hi @Sarah1471
The exenteration is only done in specific circumstances for recurrent cancer so it isnât really something you request. I had a total exenteration so I have a colostomy and urostomy. I think it will very much depend what is found on biopsies first, and then if itâs residual cancer the next step for me was to have further scans to check for any spread outside the pelvis.
Obviously a salvage hysterectomy is a much lesser surgery to go through if they think itâs an option. Mine didnât work, so it wasted precious time for me, while my cancer spread, and I have a friend who also had tried this but it wasnât successful so also had the total exenteration later.
Others appear to be more successful with the salvage hysterectomy, so itâs something to be discussed with the consultant after you know whether you have residual cancer.
I know itâs really scary, but you may be much more fortunate than I was. xx
