I’m glad I found this forum dedicated to cervical cancer. I was diagnosed with Stage 3C in late February. Squamous cell but poorly differentiated with some suspected pelvic lymph node spread. It’s been devastating for me and my family and I have rarely had time to process all of this emotionally.
I am about 2/3rds into my chemoradiation and about to go into brachytherapy in a week’s time. While tumor markers have gone down the main tumor is a bit slow to shrink down. I’m getting very anxious by the day but still trying to keep faith. I have heard radiotherapy’s effect continues on after treatment.
Since diagnosis the treatment started so quickly I rarely had time to process all of this emotionally and now the emotional rollercoaster of sadness, anger, anxiety are all kicking in and taking turns.
If there are any stage 3 ladies out there who have battled through this or currently battling through, would love to connect to make this journey a bit less lonely. Thanks
Hi @JennyCH, it’s nice to meet you! There are many stage 3 ladies in the forum - a few are going through treatment right now and have a Buddy group - I am sure they will reach out to you.
I am stage 3B2 (kidney and lymph node involvement - including para aortic lymph node). Your feelings are completely understandable - I went through a similar thing when my treatment ended. Don’t worry, you are not alone.
Don’t worry too much about the amount of tumour shrinkage just yet. The radiation continues to work for three months following treatment and the brachytherapy aims a powerful punch directly at your tumour. Stage three is curable. You will get through this!
I’m so sorry about your diagnosis but welcome to this forum. It’s been a great support for me so far and I can totally relate about not being able to process the whole thing during treatment. I was very eager to finish the treatment and finished in January and now waiting for my scan on the 21st. I’m at stage 3b and like you my main tumour was also slow to shrink as it’s still pretty much present before my brachy so I understand how you’re feeling right now. But like you said we have to keep the faith and just don’t lose hope and continue fighting. I can’t say don’t worry as it’s hard not to and considering our circumstances but our medical team are treating to cure let’s just hang on to that. Just wanna send you some love and to let you know you’re not alone.
I was diagnosed with stage 2b and finished treatment in September 21. My scan prior to brachytherapy showed some reduction, my first post treatment scan November 21 showed further reduction. My latest scan February 22 showed more reduction. My consultant said that only around 50% of cases he sees show a total response at 3 months so try not to worry. Radiotherapy continues to work for months after treatment ends. Scans often show areas which are inflammation or scar tissue they all look the same on a scan.
Good luck with the rest of your treatment.
Take care xx
Hi Jenny, I hope you are well! I completed treatment January 27th and I am currently awaiting my post treatment scans I will get my results on the 11th may,
I just wanted to let you know please try not to worry about the shrinkage so easy for me to say, I speak often to another girl who had cervical cancer and at her scans prior to Brachy her scans showed no response at all to treatment however the cervical cancer was gone at the next scans.
Myself I had a good response shrinking from 4.8cm down to 1.5cm at the biggest points after 21 rounds of radiotherapy I then had a further 7 rounds and my brachy. I spoke to someone else who said they tumour was barely visible after radiotherapy and before brachy … this made me panic but i spoke to my nurses who said not to pay any attention to that and that everyone’s body works differently and it doesn’t indicate anything she also reminded me that everyone has brachytherapy and to remember they wouldn’t do that for no reason if it was expected that the tumour would all be gone!
Just seeing your posts, I nip on now and again. I was diagnosed with stage 3c in July 2020. I just wanted to say that you still have a good bit of treatment left so please focus on that and don’t worry about what’s remaining, I know it’s so hard not to though they told me that brachytherapy is the cherry on top of the treatment and you still have that to go!! Keep going girl xxxx
Jenny, how are you doing? You will have finished your treatment now and I hope you are recovering well. Keeping everything crossed that your 3 months post treatment scan will be really positive news for you. X (another 3C girl - 1 year + post treatment)
they told me that brachytherapy is the cherry on top of the treatment and you still have that to go!! Keep going girl 
xxxx
