Hey all,
Posted here a while back about a recent early cervical cancer diagnosis - since December of 2020 I’ve had three LEEP procedures in an attempt to squash Stage 1A1/1A2 cervical cancer. Just got the results of my last LEEP on Friday and learned that, unfortunately, I’ll have to move on to a more intense procedure/op to deal with the problem (despite the fact the doctor said the odds of me being in the clear after this last LEEP were 75% positive, but WHATEVER). So now I have to decide between getting a trachelectomy and a hysterectomy - as of right now I’m very much leaning towards the trach, even though it’s something I had a hard time finding much info about until I stumbled upon this forum, which has truly been an amazing resource!
For context, I’m 31 (32 next month), Canadian (free health insurance), have a long term partner, no kids and never really felt the urge to get pregnant, but now I’m worried my biological clock will kick in a few years from now and I’ll feel not so hot about not giving myself the option to have kids. Obviously if hysterectomy was the only option I’d do it no questions asked, but I’m a bit conflicted given the fact I have the choice!
I’m also terrified of the potential for early menopause that may accompany a hysterectomy - there’s no need to remove my ovaries at this stage, but I’m worried about complications/the risk of messing with them that might come along with a hysterectomy (in rare cases? is this a thing? maybe i’m just paranoid and making things up!) While I know trachelectomy is a more complicated and time consuming procedure on the surgeon’s end, I’m wondering if ultimately it’s just worth doing even if I don’t plan on necessarily having kids…
All this to say, I’m wondering if anyone has any experience with trachelectomy and might be willing to share - mostly curious about recovery, short and long term effects. Trying to find the option that will leave me feeling as much like my current self (minus the current level of cancer anxiety) as humanly possible, after a stretch of annoying recovery of course.
Thank you all so much for reading and appreciate you!
