Vaginal cancer now cervical cancer

Hi ladies. 

Got a smear test done in April after operation to remove VAIN- which in fact turned out to be vaginal cancer (early). Doc said everything looked great and was confident smear would be clear...

turns out the smear showed invasive disease, so am booked in for a procedure and MRI to stage it. I'm utterly devastated and cannot believe it! How can the colposcopy look so well with no abnormalities and then cancer shows up on the smear? 

Theyre hoping it can be treated with a hysterectomy, which I'm absolutely dreading. Isn't it a huge recovery time with awful side effects? 

how soon after surgery can you get up and have a shower?! 

Also ive seen a lot of ladies mention CT and PET scans? Should I be getting either of these or just an MRI?

Hi 

So sorry to hear your news..I had a trach done abdominally and while I know it is not the same as the hysterectomy I was able to shower with help after 2 days then again a couple of days later with help again. I would say maybe a week or so before I was confident to shower alone just because of the incision really. 

That is unusual that nothing showed at colp but on smear! The only scan I had was an x ray but I had a cone biopsy before my trach so maybe that's why. A lot of others on here seem to mention the PET and MRI.

Sending hugs x 

Hi

I’m really sorry to hear your news, that’s just rubbish :frowning:
But please don’t fear the hysterectomy, it’s very manageable. I had a radical hysterectomy 4 and a half years ago. I was able to go home after less than 48 hours and was able to shower then, by myself, just making sure someone was around.
I was able to potter around the house very quickly, walking outside took a bit longer but I was taking very short walks after a week or so.
You just have to take time, and listen to your body but I was able to return to work after 6 weeks.
I have no side effects from my hysterectomy, any I have are from the brachytherapy I had afterwards. Even the scar faded after a year or so.
I also only had an MRI before my op.

Please try not to worry, the worst bit was the trapped wind and constipation! That soon passes tho.

Good luck with your results
Ali xx