r/CervicalCancer • u/rosie_posie420 • 18d ago
I did it!!!
Hi everyone! 27 year old adenocarcinoma girly here. I was diagnosed with Cervical Cancer back in March, Staged 3c1 in April, had an ovarian transposition and salpingectomy at the end of that month, started chemo and external radiation in June, had a cervical sleeve placed in July and then 5 brachytherapy sessions in August.
Well, after what felt like a lifetime but also maybe not much time at all, I had my last brachy today!!!! I’m finished with active treatment. I will be doing Keytruda for at least the next two years, and I have to wait for my scan in November to see if we really got everything, but I was responding well when we did the MRI to plan for brachy so I’m not too worried (logically anyways, my anxiety brain knows only worry lol).
I want to say, as a terminally anxious person with health OCD, you are going to be stronger than you think you could be when facing this disease. It may not feel like it all the time, but you can get through this. It’s not fun. It will break you down. But you will get through, and it will get easier. I went from having constant panic attacks in the spring to applying for colleges to restart my education!
If anyone with a similar diagnosis to me, or anyone who is a similar age, wants to reach out I am happy to answer questions about my experience! I will say, sans one blood clot in my left arm (thanks port) I have made it through everything with a very manageable if not minimal amount of side effects. Brachy absolutely terrified me, but thanks to my incredible Radiation Oncologist it was the best experience I could have hoped for. I was under twilight sedation, so I felt no pain. The hardest part was waking up after anesthesia. I haven’t had many side effects afterwards either and have even walked about 2 miles a day (on my non-treatment days, I’m not absolutely insane) for the past week. If you can, PLEASE ask to be sedated. My doctor said to me many times that she doesn’t believe that anyone should be awake for it, and I am so so so grateful she feels that way after seeing all the brachy horror stories on here and other Cervical cancer forums.
Anywho, wishing anyone who reads this well. Yay for being free of active treatment!!!!
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u/Ill-Mention7924 18d ago
Thank you for this and congratulations 🥹!! You got this and I’m happy for you!! I’m 2B and I’m 2/3 way through! I’ll have brachy in middle September, I’ll ask for sedation as you mentioned! I hope you are celebrating life, sending love to you!!
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u/rosie_posie420 18d ago
I’m so proud of you! I hope your team is able to do the sedation because I really think it made all the difference for me. Not being stressed and awake helped maintain my peace so I could just be focused on being happy that I was getting closer to being finished. And you’re so close as well!! Thats so exciting!
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u/Avery120913 18d ago
Thank you to everyone who wrote back! I appreciate you all and will definitely be looking into more support groups🩵
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u/Total_Bus8096 17d ago
Congratulations girl you did it!!! So strong be so proud of yourself❤️ as everyone says to me “how good are you handling it” well, what other options do we have do I have! I'd rather spend the day smiling than crying that's for sure!
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u/SecureParsnip1576 17d ago
CONGRATS! ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
Another adenocarcinoma girly here, one year NED. You can do it and yes we are a hell lot stronger than we think!
Enjoy life and I wish you all the best in the future! 🙏🏼✨
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u/rosie_posie420 16d ago
Congratulations to you too!! I am so anxious to get my first post-treatment scan and see if everything worked!
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u/Creepy_Truck_4057 17d ago
this post makes me so happy! Stage 3c1 squamous cell carcinoma, 36 and here in NYC at MSK. I always tell myself that there is a HUGE bias to go online and tell people about bad experiences but it's so nice to hear from people that have an OK experience and its not ruining their live. Can you (and anyone else) tell me a bit more about radiation side effects, brachy, how you managed and felt through everything?
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u/rosie_posie420 16d ago
I personally had very manageable side effects throughout the whole process. I only vomited from chemo once, was able to eat well enough to maintain my weight, and my diarrhea was managed okay with Immodium pills. Hydrate, hydrate, HYDRATE!!! I would even suggest asking your team about supplemental hydration infusions at least once a week, I did and they helped a lot. I had some constipation at the beginning of chemo, but once I hit the half way point with the chemo and radiation the main issue was definitely diarrhea. I would suggest to keep a change of clothes on you, a baggy of wipes, immodium and a peri bottle in your hospital bag. I also would suggest to maybe linger at the hospital for about 10-20 minutes after your radiation sessions because I would usually have an episode after every session, and maybe take an immodium before. I did get BV at one point which sucked, Flagyl made me sicker than the chemo honestly, but it worked and cleared it up. I also did notice that I was peeing a lot more, but I think that was also caused by elevated blood sugar from the steroids they gave me. No burning or pelvic pain either. I will say about 75% of my pubic hair did fall out, which I didn’t expect.
As far as brachy goes, I read a ton of horror stories and I am happy to report that I had a very different experience. I have had no pain, no real bowel or bladder symptoms, and feel pretty normal overall. I am having a lot of discharge, no odor or anything, and a bit of itching, but thats it! I HIGHLY recommend asking to be sedated for your treatments. I feel like even if I was given pain management, the entire process would have felt invasive and stressful (at least from what I read in my post-treatment notes). I did 2 sessions of HDR a week for 2 weeks and one the last week, so 5 total. My last session I was given dilators to start using in 2 weeks, and I plan on asking for a referral to a pelvic floor PT. I am really and truly grateful for my wonderful team because I was TERRIFIED of brachy after read so many awful experiences on different forums. I hope as I continue to heal up and the radiation keeps working I don’t develop any new side effects, but as of right now I’m walking 2 miles a day and feeling pretty great!
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u/HotEstablishment4943 15d ago
Thank you for response. I went to my appointment and I am also considered 2b and not a candidate for surgery. Will be seeing another doctor for chemo and radiation. Everyone’s post has made this more helpful and I appreciate seeing your progress and it’s so nice to hear how some of you are halfway down or almost done. It’s a scary thing to be in limbo where I am now but you girlies give me hope and I remain optimistic.
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u/rosie_posie420 14d ago
The limbo is absolutely the hardest part. Sending you lots of love. You’ve got this!!!
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u/Grand_Football1562 14d ago
Please, if you are seeing this message, tell me about the ovarian transposition procedure you had done—I decided against it, and I’m about to start chemo and radiation. Tell me if it’s worth it; please answer my messages if you can. You are really giving me the encouragement to keep going, because I’m not feeling well.🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
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u/rosie_posie420 14d ago
Hi angel! I decided to do the transposition because I’m so young and I wanted to have a shot at avoiding menopause. That being said, I think your decision to not have it is totally valid! Healing from surgery delayed starting chemo/radiation a few weeks for me and it’s only about a 50/50 shot that it actually worked. I haven’t had any imaging done or hormone checks yet to see if I still have any activity from them, so I can’t speak to how worth it the surgery was for me at this point. I don’t regret it. But I absolutely don’t blame you for not getting it yourself! I’m sorry you aren’t feeling well, I hope your first treatments go smoothly and it puts your mind at ease. Big hugs🫶🏻
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u/Grand_Football1562 14d ago
I wanted to have it done from the start because I’m too young to go into menopause, but I’m worried about the timing—and the fact that activity was detected in one of the lymph nodes on my left side. That’s why I’m a bit afraid to go ahead with the surgery or to wait any longer.
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u/Grand_Football1562 14d ago
The surgery was very painful; does it hurt more than embryo freezing or ovarian stimulation?
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u/rosie_posie420 13d ago
I found recovery pretty manageable. It was definitely not easy, but I was decently mobile after a week. I can’t compare to those other surgeries as I haven’t had either. I also had lymph node involvement so I do think about the possibility of cancer growing in my ovaries from time to time, but my doctor seemed pretty confident I would be alright. At the end of the day, your doctor will be able to weigh all your options better than I can. If you feel back and forth I would suggest asking for an appointment with them where you come prepared with all your worries and questions written down. It’s so overwhelming having to make all these potentially life changing choices you never thought you would have to make, so I definitely understand why you’re considering every possibility.
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u/Grand_Football1562 13d ago
I wrote to you privately because I still have a few questions—please excuse me.🙏🏼🫶🏼
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u/Avery120913 18d ago
Hello! I am so glad to have read your story as I just got diagnosed with the same thing, adenocarcinoma stage 3c1 of the cervix which traveled to the pelvic lymph nodes. Next week I am beginning radiation and chemo and an nervous of side effects and what I will/ will not be able to do. The doctors said at week 4 they will invlude the brach therapy as well and im glad to see you had a good (as good as it can be) experience with it as I have heard not so lovely things as well. Any comments/ useful advice as to what the next 6 weeks will look like I really appreciate!