Hello ladies!
Firstly, I want to say thank you so much for all the ladies here who shared their stories and helped us understand that cervical cancer is curable, treatable, and there’s always hope for us all. I’ve been here for a month and I could definitely say that this place is a safe haven for me and my mother who was just diagnosed with cervical cancer. Whenever I feel worried and anxious, I always go to this forum to find some reassurance and encouragement. Deeply thankful for you guys all!!
Okay, so this my second post here on this forum. Just today, me and my mother went to the doctor to confirm the staging. The doctor initially staged my mother as 2B (poorly differentiated endocervical adenocarcinoma, 3,6 cm tumour), whereas after all the screenings, it was confirmed that the cancer is not only confined within the cervix as my mother’s lymph nodes within the pelvic area were also enlarged. The stage bumped up to 3C due to lymph nodes involvement.
This is the part where I would like to ask you guys for a suggestion or opinion. So basically the doctor said to us that my mother’s cancer is CURABLE and therefore he suggested the treatment plan to be chemoradiation + brachytherapy. However, he asked us to decide what treatment that we want to undergo first, either to go for chemotherapy first (6 times for every 3 weeks to prevent further spread and to control the cancer) and then followed with 25 sessions of radiotheraphy and 3 sessions of brachytherapy. While the second option is to have 25 sessions of radiotherapy first, followed with 3 sessions of brachytherapy and 6 sessions of chemotherapy as the final treatment. I was truly confused when the doctor asked me this. I asked for his recommendation but he said to us that the decision shall be made by either the patient or the family of the patient (however he said that majority of his patient who also have lymph nodes involvement tend to go for chemotheraphy first).
What do you guys think about this? Which route should I opt for and which route is considerably more effective to kill these invasive cancer according to your experience? I told the doctor that for now I think it’s better to do the chemo first in order to prevent further spread and to control the disease, nevertheless, as a law graduate, I don’t have sufficient knowledge on this and I would like to hear from your perspective as you guys have survived this type of cancer or currently fighting against this cancer
I haven’t made final decision on this but the doctor gave me a day until tomorrow to thoroughly decide on which treatment she will go first, either chemo or radiotherapy, it will start from next Monday!! Argghhh I feel so relieved after knowing the official stage and the treatment plan for my mother. It is true what you guys say, the waiting game and the fear of the unknown are the worst…
P. S: We live in a developing country in Southeast Asia and the healthcare system here is quite different with NHS or the ones they have in developed countries.
Any suggestions and opinions are welcome.
Thank you very much, ladies! Kayla x