I had a hysterectomy 4 weeks ago after having a tumour the size of a tennis ball taken out of me in July after several A&E visit and hospital stays.
On Friday I had my results through and the cancer hasn’t spread and it was staged at 1b2. I thought that would be it but I’ve now been told I need a 5 week course of radiotherapy & brachytherapy due to the rare cancer that was found in the tumour. They see this more as a preventative treatment and just to make sure everything has gone. I’ve coped with things relatively well with a few down days in between.
Has anyone else has this happen to them? It has worried me again that I will be dealing with more health problems and that my body is prone to cancer.
Saying that I feel relieved I haven’t had to have chemo and so lucky things were caught earlier.
I plan to drive myself to Radiotherapy and back which is about 45 mins to an hour each way as I live alone away from family. I believe the sides effects aren’t too bad so this should be manageable?
I was diagnosed with 1b2 in August this year. Surgery wasn't an option for me as the tumour was large. I had just got my head around my stage and treatment (5chemo, 25 radio plus brachytherapy) when something else showed up on pet scan. Long story short, I had to have surgery, thankfully just a simple ovarian cyst (ovary and tube taken). Just want to say I know that horrible feeling when you just get your head around something then it changes. I've just had my 4/5 chemo today and my 16/25 radiotherapy. Everyone is different but thankfully I have managed to drive to and from every appointment, even chemo day which is 9-5pm. I will add that I am only a 15 minute drive from the hospital so not sure how I would feel if the drive was much longer. Regarding radiotherapy, I started moisturising my whole pelvic area front and back 2 weeks before treatment started. I continue to do this every day just more gently now as my treatment progresses. Be careful about what you use, the team can advise you. I use E45 lotion (very runny) and when I developed two sore spots I used 99.9% aloe Vera gel. Both ok by the team but not to be used within 2 hours of having your treatment. I'm told my skin will likely get worse towards the end of treatment but hoping to keep it going this well for another few. Only 9 left! I have also started putting aloe Vera juice in my squash. Don't really know if this will help but like the idea of moisturising from the inside out. Hope this helps and if you have any questions just shout. I'm no expert but will answer if I can. Best of luck going forward. This is tough but doable. We've got this! x Maria
ps Didn't initially realise that you could get radiation burns where the rays exit your body and this is where my skin has started getting sore.
8 years ago I had all my cancer removed surgically, and because the tumour was larger than anticipated I was advised to have a course of 25 radio, 5 Cisplatin and 2 brachy. I did all that and have been fine ever since.
Initially I was told just radiotherapy, but chemo was added to the treatment plan just days before it began, so don't be too surprised or shocked if that happens to you too.
Yes, the treatment is perfectly doable and a 45 - 60 minute drive should be manageable. I took public transport to my treatment but once or twice, when I was extremely tired from a very long day in chemo without food I treated myself to a taxi. You may find that the radiotherapy gives you diarrhoea, so make sure you know where the pit-stops lie on your route.
