Hello Nic

Welcome to the forum.  I had cervical cancer stage 2B diagnosed in Oct/Nov 2019, treatment starting at end of November and ending on 3rd Jan this year.  Five weeks of radiotherapy, every Wednesday chemo (I only had 4 out of 5) and I needed a blood transfusion.  3 brachytherapy followed by a couple more days of radiotherapy (they don't give you a day off !).  I have to say the first three weeks took forever, but the last two weeks were quick and my only side effects were fatigue (chemo related) and some hip pain.  I worked all the way through and didn't take one sick day off (which I should have in retrospect).  They wanted to cancel my follow up MRI a couple of weeks ago, but I told them it was a matter of life or death (I needed to know), so they reinstated it.  The consultant rang me up about 7 days later and said my body had responded very well to treatment and the results were excellent.  I can access my hospital scans via Patients Know Best and that info will become avialble to me in a couple of weeks so I can read exactly what they said.  So yes, there are good results, I was 55 at the time of treatment (have to say, the diagnosis caught me by surprise) but I was fit and positive all the way through.  It's almost becoming a distant memory and my body has returned to normal, no real side effects.  The negative effects for you will be menopause, but I'm sure you've gone through all the details with your team.  I was already post-menopausal, so it didn't change my mood or outlook at all.  I hope it goes well for you, and your outcome is good and that it's not disrupted by the virus.  Stay safe and good luck. Diane

Thanks for your reply Diane. That's great news, you've had all positive outcomes so far.  Your so brave working through all this. Ive thankful had my mum and fiancé looking after me and had every side effect going so far but new sickness meds have helped.

I was told I would start menopause as early as the end of wk one but haven't been too bad so far, so waiting for that to kick in.

Think I'm most nervous about the brachytherapy, but going to avoid thinking about that till it comes. 
 

Fingers crossed I get good results after all this as well 

nic
 

Hello Nic

That's great you have good support - it keeps you positive.  I have experience of brachy (who ever thought there was such a thing as internal radiotherapy !), and it was a weird experience to put it mildly.  But don't worry too much about it, honestly, it's the last thing they'll do to you (yay) so the worst of it will be over by then and you'll be looking forward to going back to normal.  And you will go back to normal ... I can genuinely barely remember any of it, I rarely think about it, and it only ended in January.  The oncologist told me at the outset they were looking to cure it, and I never thought that they wouldn't.  Before the brachy you'll get an MRI, and by then the tumour should be half the size.  Mine had reduced from 4.5 cm to 2cm ... the brachytherapy sorted out the remainder of it. Stay strong and positive, after week 3 it will go quickly, and hopefully ending with a positive outcome for you.  Best, Diane

Hello,

I was diagnosed with stage 2A cervical cancer in November 2012. I had 4 rounds of chemo (was supposed to have 5, but blood counts dropped too low), 26 rounds of external and 6 rounds of internal radiation.  I was not able to have a hysterectomy due to hemorrhaging prior to starting treatement.  So, here I am 7 1/2 years later. I've had clear scans, my last was in 2017 and that is when my oncologists cut me loose. :) I hope this is behind me for good now and wish you the best of luck going forward. Please let me know if you have any questions I might be able to answer. 

Laura xx

Thanks Laura, it's stories like yours that are keeping me going just now 

Nic