Endometrial biopsy positive

Hi Greavsie, I had a Transvaginal ultrasound about 3-4 weeks ago which showed the wall of my uterus was thickened (I'd had a really bad bleed which lead to this, I already had previouslydiagnosed polyps which had been 'quiet' for years), got appointment to see consultant last week and he did a biopsy, got the results today as I say, I half expected it.

Oh OK, thanks for your reply, I just wondered as I'm having some problems down there myself, I hope everything goes well with the op, and u make a speedy recovery.☺

Hi again, hope you get sorted out soon, what us ladies have to put up with, I don't know, I also suffer with panic attacks so even going for these appointments hasn't been easy, think I've squirted so much Bach Flower Rescue Remedy on my tongue it's a wonder I haven't failed a breath test lol, I like to think it helps though. :0)

Were you conscious throughout this? I was given a GA, and was very alarmed by this as I thought they'd go the whole hog and do a hysterectomy there and then.

Do you mean the ultrasound? if so then no I wasn't given a GA either for that or the biopsy later on.

Thanks for your kind words, I most definitely will stay in touch as it is good to keep talking about these things so that you don't bottle things up.

Hi again back at you, I had half expected it so not too much of a shock, it's a weird feeling though, perhaps it hasn't completely sunk in, I'm quite upbeat about it, my hubby not so much so I am trying to jolly him along.

How about you? Have you seen consultant yet? I know you were waiting for an appointment.

Hi, you sound a lot like me, you know its got to get done and you are going with the flow and like you say i half expected the advice i was going to get from the consultant. I had my consultant app a few weeks back and the fibroids have grown quite a bit and also a few more have appeared so the only option is to have an abdonimal myomectomy to get them all out, which means 6 weeks rest and 3 nights in hospital and like you i am feeling good about it as just want them out as they are causing a lot of discomfort. But hubby is being all weird about it, everytime i mention something like i need to buy stuff for my stay in hospital, he gets all strange like i should not be talking about it.

Men are funny creatures, my hubby keeps asking me about the actual hysterectomy and how it will be done and if vaginally how do they get all the instraments in LOL! silly man, he has always been a bit 'green' about ladies stuff a bit sqeamish if you like so now I am having to give him a belated (he is 65) biology lesson

Phoebe and Fibroidy, I have two teenagers at home and I found it very difficult to explain about my womb cancer to them. Even though I was terrified inside, I had to put on a brave face at home at all times, and make out the operations were very minor. I would have to drive off in my car to a quiet place and have a good cry.

I am lucky in as much as my 2 boys are grown up (37 & 39), I appreciate that it couldn't have been easy for you trying to explain things.

Hi there, just wondering if you have had your op yet and how you are? or are you like me and pack way before you have to go? I have to see another consultant today one who specialises in Gyny cancer, hopefully get a date for op as well, fingers crossed.

heee heeee, no i am just super organised and think way ahead. not even got an op date from hospital yet, but gyny indicated it would be around Feb time, as I am on the Esmya now so the bleeding has finally stopped and am actually feeling a lot better in the stomach area, I do not feel full all the time, so hopefully the drug is making them wither away - wishful thinking i am sure. Not sure how long appoinment will take to come through via NHS - are you going NHS also?

i hope you appointment went well for you today, at least things are moving swiftly and once you have the appointment date, you can get sorted. 

Thinking of you. xx

Hi there, am going in on 15th December, what a lovely guy this consultant was, I have to go for pre op tests etc next week ECG/blood tests and the like, I have a very kind relative who has offered to pay for me to go private, I suffer very badly from Agoraphobia and can't deal with large crowded hospital environments, it will take me ages to pay back, I feel a bit guilty about it but just the same I snatched up the offer very quickly with both hands.

I am so pleased your bleeding has stopped, what a relief, mine began agin with a vengeance this morning but my consultant thinks that it might have been because I was really uptight over the weekend, thinking about being poked and prodded yet again.

I have been packed since my GP said I might have to have a hysterectomy LOL!

Take care xx

thats wonderful you are getting it sorted quickly. my mum had an op in a london private hospital, its very comfortable and quiet and a huge contrast  to the same op she had with the NHS. So  at least thats one less worry for you, you will have your privacy.

sorry to hear your bleeding started, i hope it stops soon, mine was stopping then started for the last month and got so fed up with it, so I know the feeling. Try not to worry about the poking and prodding, i know its hard but just keep in mind, its all needed for that end result of being well.

will be thinking of you. x

Yeah horrid you feel 'mucky' all the time, I bought one of those portable bidet's as not lucky enough to have a real one, Tranexamic luckily works quite quickly for me.

Off to bed now, I am 'pooped'!  :0)

Thinking of you too xx

All the very best wishes for the 15th. It is excellent news that it will all be over before Christmas. Hope everything goes well. The hospital sounds amazing.

Hi there, thanks. Yes it is a lovely hospital, only 34 beds I think.

I was going to message you this evening, did you have to have Heperin injections? I was asked if I thought I could give myself an injection once a day for a week after I leave hospital (doesn't bother me so yes) and was wondering if it was the norm?

No, I've not heard of this. I had to wear some ugly green stockings for the operation and could take these off the next day, when they took out the catheter, drip and morphine. I didn't miss any of it and was glad to be "unhooked" from all the paraphernalia. I got sent home with a packet of Ibuprofen and some sweet syrup to soften my stools, and I stopped using those after a couple of days. Waterworks and plumbing all seemed to work as well as before.

I still have numb patches at the front top of my thighs. Consultant said this would go, and glossed over the reasons for this, but I've found out online it is due to having your legs raised in the stirrups for a long time. Your consultant might change the position of your legs during the op to prevent this. I've read it helps. 

My mum was amazed at how able I was after the op. Kept telling me off for doing too much too soon!

It must just be this particular surgeons way, it is to prevent thrombosis, oh the joyous thought of having your legs up in stirrups for all to see your bits, I was laughing about it with hubby this afternoon, I was an auxilliary for years so know for sure that they have 'seen it all before' but when it's your bits on show it is a different story, I was told they would pump air in where the laparoscope goes in and that I would have a catheter, is it weird to say I am looking forward to going in?

Oh I really shudder at the thought of what I must have looked like lying there, because my hospital was a large teaching hospital, where students were there at all times. In a way, the hysteroscopy was worst, because I was told a group of students would be watching the operation. Waiting to be anaesthetised we were held up because, I was told that they were trying to fix the camera and had just got it to work. I remember begging them not to let any of this end up on YouTube, and they told me it was for my file. At every subsequent appointment I would always strain to look at the notes in my file to catch a glimpse of any of these photos, but I never saw any. Just what do they use those photos for? I feel slightly uncomfortable about it all, especially as I work at a university with a large medical school...

Oh poor you that must have been awful, you can insist on seeing these photos as they are in your file, you are entitled to know where they are and what they will be used for, have you asked your GP? I feel bad joking about it now, sorry.

Please don't feel bad or sorry for anything. I'm not offended at all. It hadn't occurred to me to see my GP about this. I had just assumed that my hospital notes would be kept at the hospital, and I would have to make an appointment to go back again, and I've got no desire to go back there for a while! I seem to remember asking about them before and getting the impression I wouldn't be able to see them. You seem to be getting a lot more two way information in your consultations, and that is a big help. I never saw the same person regularly. It was a different person at each appointment, and very impersonal. Your hospital sounds much better.

Now you are gona think this strange, but i asked the surgeon to take pics of the fibroids and she wanted to for her files. must be due to my scientific background, i want to see whats been causing all these issues. I would not have an issue with my surgery being filmed  if it could help others learn, but can understand some would feel awkward about it

Fibroidy, I don't think this is strange at all, because I wanted to see what my cancer looked like too, and asked to see the MRI scan of it. I was able to do this once I'd got out of bed after the hysterectomy. It was during the investigations before that I was shunted from one consultant to the other with no explanations of what was going on, or why any of it was necessary. It was a horrible feeling knowing that others would be enjoying a ringside seat to this spectacle, when I was deeply upset about it all. Maybe this is the problem with being in a teaching hospital, you are just a dummy for the students to look at, and your concerns aren't being addressed as they would in any other setting. During my convalescence I made an appointment to view my medical records at my local surgery to find out more, and I was surprised that the hospital had written to my GP a few times with information on the state of play, one letter asking her to speak personally with me. None of this had ever been passed onto me, dispite me visiting twice in this time for another issue. It was simply an awful time. You are both very lucky to have consultants who are treating you as intelligent, enquiring human beings.

Yes I consider myself very lucky, now, the first consultant I saw wasn't nearly as nice as the one I have now, the first one did the biopsy and left me bleeding badly, and while he made all the right noises ('you poor thing' etc) I felt like a number, he hadn't listened to a thing I had told him, and his secretary!!!!!! don't even get me started on her, the consultant I have now been referred to I could have hugged him after my appointment (I didn't) he was so lovely even when I burst into tears he sat quietly saying to take my time and he really put me at my ease, I feel sorry you had such a bad time.

i to feel very lucky to have the lovely consultant i have now. the first one i saw a few years ago when my fib's were much smaller, saw me for literally 30 seconds and said, go have kids now if u want them , not doing anything to you now ! i left feeling awful, thinking i must be making a big deal of the bleeding i was having. Fast forward a few years, ended up with more fib's, they got bigger and became so anemic needed a transfusion, so seems we all have a bad time before we are taken seriously

Thank you both for your replies. It was my first time in hospital actually, and now feel better able to stand up for myself. I've always wondered what would have happened if I'd refused to have any students watching. I asked the nurse if they were all going to have a go on me, and she said "No we don't do that here", but I wish I could have believed her. Would they really have told the students in the theatre "Sorry, but this lady said you can't watch or touch, so please get out". I doubt it somehow...

Hi informed, hope you are continuing to keep well? I just wanted to ask you, when were you able to do things such as vacuuming? I am almost 4 weeks post op now (where does the time go?), and getting restless and not to mention fed up waiting for other half to do it, thanks.

Phoebe

Hope all went well today?

hi, yes it was fine, bp, bloods, mrsa thingy, weight, height and loads of pages to read. some kind of nuritional drink as well. so now just a waiting game till march ! have lots planned to keep me busy and get stuff done before the surgery.

Put that vacuum cleaner down Phoebe !!! think thats to much, unless you have a super light one ! but can imagine 4 weeks the boredom must be creeping in. 

Good you are so upbeat, I would be really ticked if my surgery had been bumped to a later date.

Boo hoo! Looks as if I will have to get nagging again. No not light, I have a Henry, he's not too heavy. :0)

i was at first, as ideally would have liked it done a mid feb which is when my Esmya drugs course ends, but hay hoo, its the NHS, so its only set me a month back, it could have been worse, could have been refused the Esmya drug, so at least had those, been great having no periods !!!

oh no, not good, to much bending and pulling !!!! lol 

:0(

Hi Phoebe, I went back to work after 4 weeks, (a part time desk job), which I really could have returned to a week earlier, as it is not very stressful. I was quite fed up with being a patient and keen to get back to the real world, although I have to say, mentally I'm still shocked by what happened, and it is with you every moment of the day, even after all these months.

I would say to do whatever you feel ready to do, but get others to help with lifting anything heavy. Vacuuming is a big issue in our house too. I seem to remember doing it, but getting my husband to get it in and out of the cupboard.

Hope you are keeping well, Hope Kath's experience went well for her today.

Hi, thanks, my hubby has already told me not to do it, says he will tomorrow, hmm bet he doesn't think about it again, we'll be up to our ears in dog hair soon lol!

Yeah I keep thinking about Kathy, fingers crossed all went well for her.

lol, hopefully the vacuuming got done today and if not, the dog hair will still be there tomorow lol.  

Its been a day since Kathy's op, thinking of her also. At my pre op they were very insistant on having to get up and move from day one and get you out the hospital asap.

Silly,of course it didn't get done, I have said, no Sunday dinner if he doesn't do it tomorrow, hopefully that'll work.

I wanted to get out of bed asap I was more worried about getting a dvt than I was anything else, I was up 14 hours after op, it's better for you if you can do this as it gets the bowels and bladder working properly again, I know I am lucky as I didn't have abdominal incision, it is still good if you can brave it and get up, maybe not as quick as me but certainly within 24hrs. Sounds brutal I know, when my sister had it done 30 or so years ago I think it was 3 days.

sounds like a good bribe, hope it gets done !

i don't know how brave i will feel, never had kids so not been through anything major before, but have a feeling i am going to be to scared to move. But I know i will need to get moving so i can leave the hospital. 

You will be fine, it's amazing how 'forgiving' the human body can be, you will be up and about in no time at all. :0)

lets hope so, now the 2 month wait ! sure it will come around in no time, as have a few things i would like to do before the op, just in case my receovery is longer than expected. 

Hi Girls, just wanted to say I feel your pain re the vacuuming!! Funny how no one else notices the build up of dust on the floor or scunge in the toilet! Lol! I'm at the 6 week aft op today, still get a bit exhausted if I've done to much.😘 ps Still looking out for you all. Stay well! X love your Aussie mate xo

Hi informed, long time, I hope you are continuing to progress well? I have my 6 week check on Monday and just wondered if I will have to have follow up checks, for example..annually maybe? are you going to have more check ups or did your consultant say it wasn't necessary? Hope you don't mind my asking but don't know anyone else with similar situation as my own.

Thanks, Phoebe x

hi Phoebe, can't believe its been 6 weeks, how do you feel, are you doing things around the house ?

Hi fibroidy, good to hear from you, I am very well thanks, still get the infamous swelly belly especially at the end of the day, hovering is still a bit difficult, you don't realise how much you push and pull a vac until you've had this type of surgery, other stuff all ok..........shame 😉.

How are you doing? Have you a definite date in March for your op or are you still waiting? Before you know it you will be going for your 6 week check.

Hi Phoebe, I typed an long reply earlier, but got an unexpected error, when trying to send it, so it all disappeared. Can't believe it has been 6 weeks already. No, I got a full discharge at my 1st follow up appointment, so I've not been back. Consultant said straight after my op, that he felt there would be no need to return, but he gave me the option to do so. I declined his offer. The odds are remote of it returning, and I'd read that the woman herself would know. This was good for me, but other women might want the reassurance of some more visits. I'm someone who likes to do her own thing, so don't be alarmed if they suggest follow up to you on Monday, as I think it is the usual procedure. Hope it goes well for you.

 

I like to do my own thing too, I don't even want to go on Monday as I feel so well but as we paid for it I may as well go and see what he has to say, my letter of confirmation about the results said the same as you were told that it is unlikely to return, but I just wondered if there would be more appts, but hopefully not, I will let you know.

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly.

Phoebe.

I felt the same way, that I wanted to put the whole business behind me, and not go back, but consultant had said on the phone that just 1 follow up should suffice, and then that would be it, so I felt obliged to go, or they might pester me for ever more. I have their phone number and can call anytime I find something suspicious, and they will fit me in. No need to go through the GP system again. I'm happy with this arrangement, even though I've read countless cases online of follow up lasting 5 years for this cancer. They may well be American ladies, who have more gyn visits than we have hot dinners...

I am very well, but have a few lasting issues: the numbness in my legs is still there, abdomen still tender, especially at night, where lying on one side might wake me with discomfort. I have a tooth problem, which I think may have been caused by pressure from a tube in my mouth during surgery(?). Dentist can't seem to sort it out. Otherwise, I'm finding it difficult to come back down to earth mentally, after all that has happened and I feel a bit tearful at times. I am sure over time these problems will resolve. I am 8 months past surgery now, and I've read that major surgery can take a long time to get over, even if you have had keyhole surgery and it doesn't look as though much has changed on the outside.

How are you feeling emotionally?

Hi, you seem to be having a bit of a rough time of it, the tooth problem could have been caused but the intubation tube, I didn't/don't have tooth problems but for the first few days after the op my tongue felt like it had been burned?? it was very sore, it's ok now. I have heard it can take a year or more to really get back to normal, when you think how much has been cut through even during keyhole surgery there is lots of bruising, I get pains low in my side, Right side mostly nothing major I just know it's there, it's where I had my appendix out, I suppose existing scar tissue is harder to cut around. Emotionally I am fine, I am a very philosophical sort of person and when I got the cancer diagnosis I already expected it, the first consultant who told me was very taken aback by my reaction, he referred me to a cancer nurse but I declined and quite frankly I personally couldn't understand why they thought I needed to contact her, it was all very bizarre, I don't know why I am this way especially as I suffer with mental health issues, when I left the hospital the sister walked me to the car as she knew I was anxious about the journey home and I said to her (and meant it) 'I am more anxious about walking to the car and travelling home than I am about a cancer diagnosis', my Agoraphobia completely controls me, so perhaps that is what prevents me reacting 'normally', having to go again to the hospital on Monday is starting to freak me out again I'm all nicely cocooned in my 3 mile radius and don't want to leave it.

Sorry for waffling on , I'm going to have a nice soak in the bath now and read before getting dinner.

Take care

Phoebe.

Sorry to butt in but my sister is a dental nurse and said it is possible to have tooth problems caused this way and that, given time, they generally resolve.

Yes I was warned by the anaesthetist beforehand that accidents do happen sometimes.

Thanks for your advice. I tried twice to have the old filling in this tooth replaced, as it's very hot and cold sensitive, but both times I had enough anaesthetic to sink a battleship, but the tooth could not be numbed, and I couldn't stand the drill without anaesthetic, it was too painful, so I've just had to leave it. I'd always felt that some kind of tube resting on this tooth during my operation might have been the cause. I don't know what else to do about it. 

Will speak to my sister later today or tomorrow and see what she can suggest

yeap have the op day 10th march, been inviting a wedding a month later so hope i feel up to it and sure i will still have a swelly belly. so for now just waiting till them, had my pre op tests, have these drinks to have the night b4 and need to go for blood test week before, but other than that just wait till the day. i can't believe jan has already passed and sure i will begin to get anxious once March comes.

Good to hear you are getting back to normal, long may it continue.

 I had my 6 week check today and all is healing nicely, had to have a dreaded internal again and he also palpated my tummy and no pain, he says I can pretty much do whatever I want now but to listen to my body, if it hurts, wait a few days then try again, he said it's perfectly reasonable to ask hubby to do hoovering for the next 5 years lol! He wants to see me every 6 months for the next 3 years, I am more than happy with this, also if any bleeding in the meantime to contact him immediately.

Hi Phoebe

So pleased you are doing well. and glad to hear about the hoovering!

xxx Kathy

Hi Phoebe, thats great. Sounds like the doc had a sense of humour re the hoovering.

Kath, you're back! How did it go? Are you OK?

Hi Informed, good to hear from you!

I'm doing really well thanks.  Ended up with keyhole again, which was brilliant!  They also only removed the uterus this time (although they had to unstick it from my bowel first) as they couldn't see anything else sinister. I had the op on the Friday and came home on Monday, so not bad going.   I have to wait for my biopsy results (next Monday 2nd Feb) and have been told that I will still need to have a course of chemo to make sure their are no rogue cells, so am worried about this.

All in all though, I seem to be recovering quicker this time than last!

How are you getting on?

xxx Kathy

Yes he does, he is just so nice, I told him he must have waved a magic wand in that operating theatre, I feel so good, he said that he had expected me to be happy but that I looked completely different to when he first saw me, just 8 short weeks ago, I haven't felt this good in such a long time, I hadn't realised how poorly I had been.

Hi fibroidy, how are you doing? Haven't forgotten you, Are you still on track for a March operation?

Hi there, been so busy with work my feet not touched the ground, trying to finish everything before the op. everything still on for next month so hoping no last min cancellations, as i am set to go, my stomach is feeling very hard, so not sure how much the shrinking drug Esmya has worked.

Hi, good to hear from you, sorry I keep forgetting not everyone is old and retired like me 😀.

Glad things are still on track for next month, you have had such a long wait and have been so patient. As you are on this drug for shrinking your fibroids is that so you can have keyhole? I can't remember what/ if you said when we first began chatting.

Phoebe

heee hee, you made me laugh - i just feel like i need to do everything as sure after the op i am going to feel like poo.

Not sure what the point of the drugs are, as the surgery is still going to be an abdonminal incision. They are not even going to scan me to see before, just open me up and see. 

I'm sure all will be fine, you may even have a relatively pain free recovery, I hope so, let us know how things go.

Off to sit in my rocking chair with my shawl and little checked slippers with the pompoms on, 😴

Take care

Phoebe x

Thank you for your reply, Tazchurch, but only last Monday I got a letter (completely out of the blue) to go for root canal treatment on this troublesome tooth. It had only taken 5 months! Looks like my dentist got me an NHS appointment after all with this private root canal specialist. Before I knew it I was in the chair last Thursday, and, yes, the anaesthetic worked and the job was done.

Brill as not been able to speak to her yet so glad got it sorted.

will be back online as soon as i can. thanks for your kind and funny words.x.

Hi fibroidy, just wondering how you are? have you had your op yet or is it very soon? I know it is this month.

Anyway, thinking of you.

Phoebe.

hi Phoebe, Thanks for remembering me. The nerves are kicking in, on the count down now, op in 6 days. packed my bag - book, nightie and toiletries.

Aw, I remember that feeling well, you will be ok, if you can get a signal take your phone with you too, are you only in a couple of nights?

yes, its only a few nights,they said 3 nights.  will take my phone and reading book. There is also the hospital bed phone that gives you free calls to local numbers so can call mum and hubby.

I will be thinking of you, let us know how you get on.

Best wishes.

Phoebe. x