I’m 63yrs old, and on 11th March this year , I woke up in the middle of the night, to find myself covered in blood, I actually thought I was dreaming. I went to the toilet and came back to bed to find a large blood clot on the bed. My instant thought was blimey, it must be some age thing. (I had gone through the menopause years ago) I thought it must be some sort of clear out!!
Next day it bugged me, and I thought maybe I’ll give the nurse a ring and ask ( felt a bit silly asking ) The next thing was, she got me an appointment with the GP straight away, and then my whirlwind started.
The Doctor went into hyper speed; between 12th March and 1st April I had every test going, and on 1st April ( I know, trust me , April Fools Day!! ) off I go to see the Consultant . He sat me down and out came the diagnosis, There was a Macmillan Nurse with him, then another nurse came in, which kind of gave me a clue. He said I had womb cancer, I’d never heard of it. I had a friend with me, So next thing I do is come out with "Its April Fools Day, right?" I went into a rather strange unreal haze. They were fab, but I wasn't really taking it in. Such a strange feeling .
Went through all the pre op stuff etc, trying to shorten the story a bit here! On 6th May, I had a Total Abdominal Hysterectomy and Bilateral Salpingo oophrectomy. I was in for 48 hrs.
My Doctor and Nurses were a bit shocked at that bit, but I came home but after about 2 weeks, I wasn't feeling to good, I stood up and loads of water stuff just poured out. I thought I’d had an accident, but my wound had become infected from the surgery. Apparently, the drain had been taken out to early, and it had opened up in two places ( won't give you all the gory details) I went to see the Doctor, and the District nurses were sent to look after me.
On the Sunday, the District Nurse came,, I was really poorly. Next minute I was back in hospital, on IV drip, antibiotics, and in a private room, For the first 3 days I had no idea what was going on. I was there for 8 days. I found out later that I was a few hours away from going into a coma and organ shutdown.... Phew!
My District Nurse, really saved my life. The District nurses came in every day.
To sum up , I still cannot believe the Cancer bit. The good news is that they caught it early. What knocked me sideways was the infection, how crazy is that? So anyone reading this, please please, if you have any worries, do something about it.
I nearly didn't bother phoning up , thinking it’s just an age thing. However old or young you are, play it safe, if something doesn't feel right, then ask your Doctor, or Nurse.
I must also add, that all they Consultants, Docs, Nurses etc have been fab, I feel really lucky.
It’s been hard to talk about it all again, and it’s like I still cannot believe any of it happened, but it has helped me to write it down and I hope that it might help someone else.
If you are willing to share your story then please email [email protected]
xx Kaz xx