Hi Laura. 

I keep seeing replies from you on many posts. It's very reassuring.

I am 26, I have two children 9 and 5. My periods have always been weird due to being on the implant. But I think in December it lasted a few days longer than normal. Fast forward to this month, I had my period as normal. It lasted around 10 days which is normal, then 4 days later I started bleeding again and bled for a week. Classed as spotting as it was never enough to wear a pad or anything. I phone my GP, explained everything and she didn't seem too worried. She booked me in for my first smear (haven't had one due to Covid) and also said she'd take some swabs 'to be on the safe side' (don't know what they're for?) 

Since speaking to her I've noticed I have lower back pain in a morning which eases off throughout the day. I have groin pain pretty much constantly, it's just a dull ache and I also noticed I had stomach cramps the day after having sex. Te cramps were pretty painful. They eased off in the evening. 

I don't have any smelly discharge, no bleeding during or after sex, no bloating, I'm not off my food and I don't think I've noticed any changes in bowel movement either.. 

Just looking for some reassurance really. My smear is booked for 10th March but I'm ringing to ask if they can bring it forward. I'm due on on the 10th march and all this worry is really affecting me. 

Hi, sorry I didn't see your post until now! I hope you are doing well and you've found out what is going on. At your young age I wouldn't think your issues would be cancer related but it is always good to follow up and keep tabs on things.  Please message me if you need to. 

Laura xx

Sorry I have another question .  How long does it usually take from diagnosis to starting treatment.  I know I'm stage 2 possible node involvement.  The waiting is draining me.  I was diagnosed on or around the 3rd October.  Thanks 

For me it was 6 weeks or so, from mid September diagnosis to starting treatment in the November. Compared to other ladies that honestly was very typical..some were slight longer. The waiting to start is horrible...but I’m assuming you’ll be having chemo and radiotherapy so there will need to be a planning scan for the radiotherapy, and getting the tattoos for radio. All the planning is what takes the time...xx

The waiting is torture.  I need a pet scan and appointment with my consultant next, my CNS is on it and chasing them every day  hopefully get some news soon.  Will be having chemo and radiotherapy and think brachytherapy too Xx

Ah, I didn’t need a pet scan at my diagnosis. Just the mri and ct but I didn’t have node involvement. All the waiting is an absolute nightmare, I know, when you just want to get on. The stage would go to 3 if there’s lymphnode involvement, but chemo, radio and brachytherapy is standard treatment whether it’s stage 2 or 3, so that won’t differ. The pet-scan is putting an extra stage into the waiting process for you, but they need to know everything precisely to plan the radiation and exactly where it will be going. Hang in there! The waiting seems endless at this point. xx

Thank you, I'm trying to be patient but it's not working very well for me lol.  Will keep yous updated xx

I’ll give you a little piece of advice based on my experience and something that held things up for me. When you go for your radiotherapy planning scan, make sure your bowel is empty! No-one told me, and when I went for mine, they wouldn’t do it because my bowel as apparently too full. So a wasted 3 hour round trip to the hospital and I was sent away with suppositories and had to make another appointment. Such a simple thing, but some advice in advance would have saved me another trip and more delays. xx

So today I've called the cancer hospital off my own back to see what's going on with my appointments, well, apparently the referrals from the MDT have never went over and the doctor I'm meant to be getting an appointment has never been told I'm a patient.  The MDT was 2 weeks ago.  Appt for PET scan has also not been requested.   Anyone else had anything similar.  Can tell now that the nurse knew yday but just didn't tell me.  I'm nearing the 62 day mark as was diagnosed 5th Oct but the doctor had seen it on the 23rd Sep when I went for Lletz.  I don't know what to do, I don't want to be arguing and don't have any energy but I feel if it's already stage 2 possibly 3 then why are we not doing anything yet.  

Oh my goodness, that’s very poor communication on their behalf. However, a delay is not likely to change things as regards treatment, and it’s not likely things will get any worse during the wait. It’s not acceptable though and you shouldn’t have to be chasing up things yourself. It’s not uncommon to wait 2 or 3 months for treatment and I know we feel things should be happening quickly, but it doesn’t always happen as quick as we’d want it to. I hope everything is in place now for the next steps to happen? This must be making everything extra stressful for you, xx

Thanks for the advice.  I've spoke with 4 different people today and things are moving.  It had been an error that I wasn't referred and was sent for a CT instead of PET scan, but all sorted out now thankfully.  PET scan on Monday and appt with oncologist will be here in next couple of days hopefully.  I will call on Monday if it's not in the mail by then.  Xx

Hi sorry to jump on this thread but I'm a little concerned and this seems to be a very reassuring and caring bunch on ladies.

I'm 23 and got 2 kiddies ones 2½ years old and ones nearly 6 months. My mum had cervical cancer and had a hysterectomy but think they left the ovaries.

I've had 3 occasions since December 2017 where I've had to take tranexamic acid to stop heavy bleeding which is very unusual for me.

After having my 1st boy I was on the mini pill and I had random bleeding sometimes spotting sometimes heavy bleeding. I was only off the pill for 2 months before we conceived our 2nd so I had 2 periods which we're longer than normal and had spotting in-between but put that down to just coming off the pill.

After having our 2nd in June I had the normal postpartum bleeding then went onto the same pill I had before but I bled heavier than normal for 9 weeks. I stopped the pill but the bleeding started again after a few days of stopping. In the end I had to take tranexamic acid and I finally stopped bleeding then went on to have a normal ish period and had the implant in. A month into the implant I had 2 weeks of spotting and then bled for the whole of November so went back the the sexual health clinic who have made me an appointment for the 17th to see a doctor because I was having a lot of fleshy bits within my bleeding which I could see on the pad and tissue. The nurse told me to call them back if I had any bleeding after sex which I did on Saturday. It stopped by Sunday morning but i had awful period pains so was expecting to start bleeding again but never did, still getting the pains on and off. I've always got watery discharge since coming off the pill to conceive our 2nd but never thought anything of it, there's no smell but I have to wear a panty liner every day and night otherwise I'd be changing my pants several times a day.

When I called them they made me the next appointment which is Thursday so I'm not sure what's going to happen at the appointment. When I saw the nurse she did some swabs (I had to do them to myself) to check for sti/stds.

Obviously as soon as I googled bleeding after sex it pointed start to cervical cancer which I know is rare in my age but it does happen and I think with my mum having it as well makes me worry. I try not to think about it too much and just wait and see what the doctors say but it's hard when these worrying thoughts pop up. 

Just looking for some reassurance really, when I googled cervical cancer at 23 there were quite a few news stories of women around my age (before they can have smears) who had it.

Hi sorry to jump on this thread but I'm a little concerned and this seems to be a very reassuring and caring bunch on ladies.

I'm 23 and got 2 kiddies ones 2½ years old and ones nearly 6 months. My mum had cervical cancer and had a hysterectomy but think they left the ovaries.

I've had 3 occasions since December 2017 where I've had to take tranexamic acid to stop heavy bleeding which is very unusual for me.

After having my 1st boy I was on the mini pill and I had random bleeding sometimes spotting sometimes heavy bleeding. I was only off the pill for 2 months before we conceived our 2nd so I had 2 periods which we're longer than normal and had spotting in-between but put that down to just coming off the pill.

After having our 2nd in June I had the normal postpartum bleeding then went onto the same pill I had before but I bled heavier than normal for 9 weeks. I stopped the pill but the bleeding started again after a few days of stopping. In the end I had to take tranexamic acid and I finally stopped bleeding then went on to have a normal ish period and had the implant in. A month into the implant I had 2 weeks of spotting and then bled for the whole of November so went back the the sexual health clinic who have made me an appointment for the 17th to see a doctor because I was having a lot of fleshy bits within my bleeding which I could see on the pad and tissue. The nurse told me to call them back if I had any bleeding after sex which I did on Saturday. It stopped by Sunday morning but i had awful period pains so was expecting to start bleeding again but never did, still getting the pains on and off. I've always got watery discharge since coming off the pill to conceive our 2nd but never thought anything of it, there's no smell but I have to wear a panty liner every day and night otherwise I'd be changing my pants several times a day.

When I called them they made me the next appointment which is Thursday so I'm not sure what's going to happen at the appointment. When I saw the nurse she did some swabs (I had to do them to myself) to check for sti/stds.

Obviously as soon as I googled bleeding after sex it pointed start to cervical cancer which I know is rare in my age but it does happen and I think with my mum having it as well makes me worry. I try not to think about it too much and just wait and see what the doctors say but it's hard when these worrying thoughts pop up. 

Just looking for some reassurance really, when I googled cervical cancer at 23 there were quite a few news stories of women around my age (before they can have smears) who had it.

Hi Sillygoose

I’m sorry to see how worried you are, but it would be difficult for anyone other than a doctor to reassure you by an examination and assessing your symptoms. 

To my knowledge there is no genetic link in having cervical cancer, although I believe that there is research showing there may be a genetic link in a person’s ability to clear the HPV virus, which is responsible for the vast majority of cervical cancers. 

I would recommend that you stop googling as this won’t provide the information you need to diagnose you and may give you information which isn’t relevant. There are other reasons which could be causing the bleeding which are not nearly as serious as cancer, although, yes, it is a possibility in your 20s. A possibility, but by no means a certainty. 

A smear is not a or a diagnostic test for cervical cancer-it’s a screening for abnormal cells-so it’s good you are seeing a doctor to investigate further. Any unexplained bleeding should have an explanation and I hope the doctor will be able to reassure you that it is nothing as serious as cancer. Good luck with your appointmen5 and let us know how you get on. xx

Thank you so much for getting back to me, I've got my two boys to keep me busy and off Google. I'll let you know what happens on Thursday, on the 17th I believe the dr is doing an examination so will see what they say.

It’s good you will be examined by the doctor. And good you can keep busy and off google-it’s honestly the way of madness when you don’t actually know what’s wrong and it always gives worst case scenario for everything! Fingers crossed you will get a simple explanation for your issues. xx

Hi Everyone,

Hope you are all well.

I have read all 25 pages of this chat and it's so lovely to see everyone supporting each other

I have a colposcopy booked on Thursday morning and hoping for a good result. My symptoms were bleeding after sex on a few occasions and bloody tinged discharge often.

I had 2 GP's take a look and both said they can see something on my cervix but it doesn't look nasty, it looks like a ectropion and superficial? Not sure what that meant but referred me anyway.

My last smear was last summer which came back clear.

I am worried but am hoping for the best as that's all I can do at this moment. Xx

Hi Holly

It’s good that you are getting properly checked out with the colposcopy but an ectropion isn’t serious, and isn’t cancer. It just means that cells from the inside of the cervix are growing on the outside, and this can cause bleeding sometimes.

The doctors are just being thorough in their tests, so try not to be too concerned at this point and I hope that your appointment goes well and you can be reassured. xx

Hi Holly,

I'm glad you found this thread and hope it will provide you with some peace of mind. There are so many other issues we can have that aren't cancer and it is good that you are getting yourself checked out. That is the most important thing, I think, taking charge of your health and following up. Keep us posted on how you are doing.

Laura xx

Hi All,

sorry to jump on the post but I have read a lot of your thread and feel like it would be good for me to reach out and speak to people.

I am a 27 year old mum of 2 boys (aged 3 years & my youngest is 5 months), both children were born by c section, first was emergency and second was elective. By 6 weeks post partum I felt back to normal and was no longer experiencing any pain. Fast for to around 2 months ago I started to feel pain in my lower stomach/pelvic area, the pain was so bad if I even leaned on against the kitchen side, whilst standing washing the pots for example, it would really hurt. The pain now is pretty much 24/7, like dull achy period cramping pain, I had the implant fitted around the same time I started experiencing the pain and have bled constantly ever since which I know the implant can cause, I have had implants before and had no bleeding whatsoever.
 

Other symptoms I've had is painful sex, this has been ongoing a lot longer than the rest of the symptoms (I'd say probably since my first born), the pain is more like I'm really dry? but I'd initially put that down to the fact I'd dilated to 5cm before requiring an emergency section and the fact we'd attempted sex quite soon after birth of my first born so I kind of thought maybe because I was expecting sex to be painful it was causing it to be, if that makes sense so I thought it might have been more psychological.
 

i do suffer with severe health anxiety which deffo doesn't help matters, this is something I have CBT and counselling for. 
 

I had a smear not long after my first son was born and I'm due another in August this year. My first smear was normal which is good. Before I had the implant put in this time, I'd noticed an increase in watery discharge, however no strong odour and more recently I have had itching and pain similar to thrush, however I have used thrush treatment and had no improvement. I also don't have any STDs.

In addition I have had lower back pain since my youngest was born, I thought it may have been caused by the spinal block I had or maybe sciatata, I suffered really badly with SPD during my last pregnancy. Today I am bleeding so heavy, put a tampon in and it was sooo painful, the same pain as I feel during sex, took it out more or less straight away and had the most intense cramping in my stomach afterwards. When I went to see my gp she didn't examine me because of my heavy bleeding but put me on an urgent referral for a pelvic ultrasound and transvaginal scan which I have tomorrow, I think I can feel raised lymph nodes in my groin but my anxiety also plays tricks on me! So scared this is going to be cancer of some sort! My Nan is currently suffering with ovarian cancer and I can't help but think i could end up with some sort of cancer in that area.

Hi Elma,

Sorry your having these issues but you are doing the right thing by getting checked out. That is actually the best way to combat health anxiety (which I totally understand and suffer from myself). Of course no one here can provide any medical advice, but I picked out some things from your post that are positive in my opinion. Your last smear was normal, good. Your getting a few tests, good. Taking charge of your health, good! Again, I have no medical background, but with the children, the implant, the itchiness.. sounds like you've got a lot going on that could be the culprit. Continue on ruling things out and you will feel much better. Keep us posted on what you find out.

Lauraxx

Hi Laura,

thanks for getting back to me, im trying so hard to focus on the 'positives' like that but then I also can't help feeling that all the pain im in across my stomach, the constant heavy bleeding, the pain during sex and inserting a tampon and back ache together is just not going to be good. The only thing I'm trying to cling on to is hoping that it may be endometriosis, as although I think it's quite rare, I believe c sections can increase the risk of that but I have no idea. Dreading today, do you think they would tell me any findings there and then or will I have to wait for them to tell my doctor and then wait for my doctor to get back to me? The waiting (like I'm sure it does everyone) is just the worst thing for my anxiety and it puts me in such a low place, I have been prescribed anti depressants for my anxiety but am yet to take any as it says on it that it may impair my driving reactions etc and a huge part of my job involves driving so I'm just having CBT and counselling which at the moment doesn't seem to be improving anything yet. It's just so exhausting feeling like this all the time. I will update you all later my scan is at 12 so not too long to wait now. Xx

Hi Elma

I'm not sure if you will be told anything at your scans or will have to wait. These are not the types of scans used in a diagnosis of cervical cancer specifically so it would seem like your doctor wants you to have scans which will give a good look at the area in general to try to identify what the problem is. For the scans used in a cervical cancer diagnosis-ct, mri, petscan,you need to wait for results, but the scans you are having might be different in terms of what they are able to say at the time you have them. 

There are so many gynaecological issues which can affect us which are not cancer. Has a doctor mentioned cervical cancer, or is this something you have focused on from your symptoms? Your anxiety must be very debilitating, and it can manifest itself in lots of physical symptoms. xx