I had advanced cervical cancer. I didn’t have a secondary cancer, and it wasn’t distally advanced or I wouldn’t have been eligible for surgery, which I had because of recurrence and spread within the pelvis only.
It was done with curative intent and has been extremely successful. I have an excellent quality of life I’m pleased to say, with no further recurrence. I’ve never been interested in asking for a prognosis-I prefer to get on with my life!
My husband was not referred for this surgery, eventhough the MDT he was under knew how his cancer would develop and that this surgery was a potential cure.
He now has liver mets. Most likely caused by them cutting into the cancerous adhesions and perforating the tumor.
I have seen that some hospitals would potentially operate with distal mets - depending on their size and location.
He also has a BRAS gene mutation, making treatment harder.
Hello and thank you for posting in Ask the nurses,
I am sorry to hear that your husband is going through this surgery and treatment. Although I realise that you are asking the Cancer Chat community if anyone has had this treatment I thought it might also be helpful to have some written information about it. I am not sure if you need it but I have given you a link to information from a NHS hospital for patients undergoing it, you can see it here
I hope this helps and that the treatment goes well.
Please get back to us if you need any more information or support. You may find it helpful to talk things through with one of the nurses on our helpline. The number to call is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and the lines are open from 9am till 5pm Monday to Friday.
I’m sorry to hear this. For my particular cancer this would never be a first line treatment, and it’s only done for recurrence where there is no spread outside the pelvis so would not have been an option if I’d had any mets. It is a huge surgery with a very long recovery period, but I’m certainly glad I had the opportunity to have it. I wish you well, and hope that it might be an option for your husband.
Just returned from a meeting with the initial surgeon as we had many questions to ask about procedures, paperwork, misinformation etc.
My husband had 2 MRI's today with contrast. One of his pelvis and one of his abdomen/liver. The surgeon had managed to get a preliminary response from the radiographer who said that the liver tumors had gone from 7 to 3 and that both the liver and bowel tumors had shrunk!!
He hasn't had any chemotherapy for 6 weeks!
A couple of weeks ago the Oncologist said he was palliative and ceased treatment.
A second Oncologists opinion was the same, and said he had an average of 6 months.
Now we seem to be in a whole new ball park.
Surgeon said he is going to inform MDT that he isn't palliative, and write to the surgeon at the other hospital to update him.
This is fantastic news. But we are shellshocked. We've already told everyone the bad news earlier this week. Now we have to get in touch with everyone again with this much better news.
