2 week referral

Hi everyone.

Please help.

After experiencing normal thrush symptoms (something I have been plagued with on and off since a teenager) I grabbed the mirror to apply some cream - dont know what made me grab the mirror as I dont normally.

I found a lump on entry into the vagina, it clearly isnt a bartholins cyst and clearly wasnt supposed to be there, I have certainly never noticed it before. Just to note it looks like pink tissue. (this was 13.06.20 @ 11pm)

Worried I phoned 111 the next morning who passed me through 3 doctors on the phone, I was eventually seen by a doctor in the afternoon of 14.06. The lovely doctor confirmed she could see the lump but did state the tissue looked healthy although shouldn't be there.

The doctor then had a look at my cervix, she said it had 2 angry patches at 12oclock and 3oclock (imagining the cervix as a clock face).

Just to note I had an ectropion cervix during pregnancy with my daughter in 2013 which was later cauterised in October 2015 after some spotting after sex. I was never given an urgent referral that time just an appointment with Gyny. Why is it being treated different this time?

In 2018 i had my little boy and ectropion cervix wasnt mentioned this time. My pregnancy the second time was a nightmare though as I was group B strep positive, and my waters went at 27 weeks so maybe wasnt high on their agenda that time??

I have been issued with 2 x urgent 2 week referrals, one for the cervix and one for the 'unexplained vaginal lump' as she called it.

To say I am panicking would be an understatement as I have 2 small children and am only 31 years old. I feel physically sick.

I am up to date on my smears with the last one being in October 2018 which came back all clear.

I have been having a tiny bit of spotting after sex (not bleeding though), regular cramps and lower back pain although I do have arthritis in my back. Occasionally I get a deep sharp pain in my vagina that feels like it is in my core. Last month I had some brown discharge mid month also.

Please help. Can cancer grow that fast? I dont know what to expect.

How soon was everyone contacted for their appointments when on a 2 week fast track?

 

Thanks xxx

  • I know it's hard to do, but try not to panic. I believe doctors have been given advice to refer "might be, might not be" gynae symptoms on the two week  procedure, as if it does turn out to be cancerous, early diagnosis can make an enormous difference.

    When my doctor put me on the two week referral, he honestly thought it would come back as fibroids. He was more gobsmacked than me when it came back as an aggressive womb cancer, but I will be forever grateful that he'd read and remembered the guidance.

    My cancer was caught at stage 1B, just before it spread to other parts of my body.

    Your doctor might be worried about cancer, she might not. But on the two week referral you should get all the scans and investigations done early, so at least you will be "in the system" and get a treatment plan, regardless of what it all turns out to be.

    Good luck!

  • Thank you for your reply. 

    I have moments where I am more optimistic and others when I feel like everything is crashing down.

    I dont want to miss my kids growing up x 

  • It is hard to stay positive sometimes but once you have a diagnosis you will know what you're dealing with. There is a lot of support out there.

    In the month between seeing my cancer on the hysteroscopy screen and actually getting the diagnosis, my youngest celebrated her 18th birthday and I honestly didn't know whether I would see her get her A level results, go to university or make a life of her own.

    She turned 21 in April, is just about to graduate and in December we watched her big sister get married. Never lose hope, even if the news isn't what you want.

  • Did they not confirm anything at the appointment when you saw it on screen? Surely to see it they must have known then x

  • No, but I worked out from the reaction of the doctor and the nurses in the room that they didn't think it was normal.

    They had been chatting quite casually about the polyps that also appeared on the monitor, explaining how they would be removed. When the camera got to the grey mass, it became "hmm, must make sure we get a good sample of that for biopsy".

    I can understand why they didn't want to guess at a diagnosis from just an image, in case they got it wrong.

    I possibly wouldn't have noticed the change in mood if I hadn't been looking at the screen as well.

    It meant I was ready for it when the diagnosis finally came though!

  • Hi What is youre symptoms? Ive got 2ww im so worried

    i hope everything goes well for you x

  • Hi.

    I've get regular stomach cramps and sometimes a sharp deep pelvic pain which feels like it is in my core but then it goes again.

    Spotting after sex (not bleeding) and some brown discharge between periods. I have lower back pain every day but I have done since a teenager so wouldnt notice this if it was related.

     

    As for the lump it is not painful and healthy pink in colour, didnt even know it was there till 2 days ago when I looked due to thrush and itchiness.

    I am sure it has grown since though.

    Sometimes I have an awful lot of pressure too.

     

    What about you? What are your symptoms? How long into the wait are you?

     

    Hope you are ok aswell. X

  • Hi [@Ladylees]‍ how are you getting on? I've pretty much for same symtoms as you, spotting brown blood after sex between periods, some pain doc.

    ive had a doctors examination and she said my cervix was bumpy, irrated and bled easily, so she had done me an urgent referral. I am a mess with worry. They rang with an hour of my referral to book a gyno app for Monday. (But telephone initially) I'm so scared. I had a smear last year which was negative for hpv 

  • Hi Casey123,

    So I went for my appt on Tuesday just gone (23rd), the consultant was brilliant and very knowledgable .

    She gave me a thorough examination and confirmed that there was 100% NO vaginal lump. The tissue I could see was just how my body has healed after the trauma of childbirth.

     

    In relation to the cervix, she said there were 2 angry areas, one of which seemed to be spreading round and proceeded to take some biopsies and some swabs.

    She cauterised what she could also and confirmed a bad ectropion (errosion), which I have had before.

     

    She said she will send the biopsies and swabs off for testing due to the post sex bleeding however she was extremely positive that it wasnt cancer.

     

    Fingers crossed for me!

    Please try not to panic! A little hypocritical of me though as I most certainly did.

     

    Will post when I get my results x

  • Aww that sounds so much more positive I'm really pleased for you and hope you feel better. I think when my gp said urgent referral I instantly thought the worst and I've been a mess since. X