Womb Cancer Support UK
  • Home
  • About Us
    • My Story
  • Awareness & Support
    • What is Womb Cancer?
    • Can womb cancer be prevented?
    • How you can help!
    • Share your story
    • Awareness Leaflets etc
    • Awareness Month
    • Peach Postcard Project
  • Blog
  • Useful Links
    • Local Support Groups
  • Contact

My journey with womb cancer by K.W

16/7/2017

0 Comments

 
.Another blog post from a Peach Sister

"Where does one begin – up until the last few years everything had been normal (well normal for me).  2 pregnancies in my early 20s, with one being a twin one resulted in 3 daughters.  Periods after this continued every 28 to 30 days so very regular until I hit my early 50s when they became more erratic.  This continued for a few years until I was 55 when they stopped after a few months of being very heavy.  Great thought I the end is here and now for some carefree days…..
How wrong I was.  They decided to start again after 9 months and got really heavy for a number of months and I was on the verge of going to the Doctors to see if there was anything they could do when again they stopped in February 2016 (at this point I was 56).  

A few months passed when I started spotting but thought nothing of it just assumed (wrongly) that this was normal after menopause. September 2016 came and I had felt a lump in my lower abdomen so thought I ought to get it checked out but as it wasn’t causing any problems left it for a few weeks.  End of October came and a niggly pain in my lower right abdomen for a few days finally sent me to the Doctors – I thought it might be appendicitis – little did I know! 
After being questioned and prodded about the Doctor announced - “I can feel a lump, it could be a cyst, it could be an ovarian cyst, it could be a fibroid or it could be cancer – I’m referring you to hospital on the 2 week cancer referral”.  

As you can imagine at this point I couldn’t really take in what he was saying, but sure enough within 2 weeks I had an appointment at the hospital at the Gynae Oncology Unit.  The next 7 weeks were a whirlwind of hospital appointments from pipelle biopsy, blood test, ultrasound, MRI, hysteroscopy and D&C, and CTI scans and finally culminating with a total hysterectomy on the 19th December. 
The 19th December happened to be my 35th wedding anniversary so was not what we had planned – the trip to Vienna for the Christmas markets had to wait!  The final diagnosis was that it was Grade 2 Stage 1a womb cancer, multiple fibroids making the uterus the size of a 22 week pregnancy – no wonder I could feel a lump!. 
Luckily I need no further treatment and the hospital I attend has placed me on what they call open access for 5 years – meaning that if there is anything I’m unsure about or have any odd aches and pains they are available on the end of the phone to talk through and will see me if they think it advisable – probably the best outcome I could have wished for.  

 
Now just over 6 months later I have recovered well. I am back at work full time, have been out to Vienna for a belated anniversary holiday, feel absolutely fine, and so incredibly grateful for the care and support that I have received both from the hospital and my family. 

My mission now is to talk about womb cancer and the signs to everyone I meet – after all unless we talk about periods, menopause and abnormal bleeding how can we educate people about issues that might arise."

If you would be willing to write a blog post for us then please get in touch via the contact form.

Kaz xx


0 Comments

Accentuate the positive.

4/7/2017

0 Comments

 
.Every Tuesday evening the lovely Neelam Heera from Cysters hosts a twitter chat about various gynae health issues.
This week the subject was sex and gynaecological issues. The people taking part all have an interest in gynae health and we shared various tweets about the inconsistences of healthcare and the lack of support that some women get when dealing with their gynae health issues whether it be womb cancer, PCOS, endometriosis or other gynae issues.

Towards the end the chat turned from talking about the negative side of things to the positive – yes there are some “good news” stories out there.
It was mentioned that if we shared positive stories about gynae healthcare then that would help other women challenge sub-standard care that they might be getting.   After all, if you think the care you are getting is what everyone is getting then you are more likely to put up with it but if you know that better care practice is possible then you will want it for yourself too, right?
It’s easy in this day and age to constantly talk down and be negative about the NHS – we all know they are under immense pressure and cut-backs are everywhere but very often all it takes is a different approach and a little more understanding to make things better for patients.

Sexual health issues that occur as a result of gynae health issues are very often overlooked as they are not seen as important by HCP’s so many women suffer unnecessarily, and often for many years.  Even something as simple as going for a smear test can cause great anguish in some women.
However, we know there are some women out there who have had good quality support and treatment from HCP’s so it is important that we start to focus on the good so that all women know the standard of care that should be available to us all.

It is up to those of us that work in this area of gynae health care, many of us who have gynae issues ourselves and are running small support organisations to be the voice for all women and speak up on their behalf.
We want to see change and we want to see services improve for all women experiencing gynae health issues. It doesn’t have to cost money; sometimes all it takes is just a change in attitude.

Kaz xx


0 Comments

    Author

    Blog posts about life with womb cancer; by me and other womb cancer fighters and survivors. Plus occasional guest blog posts on relevant subjects.

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Old Posts From Blogger
    Personal Stories

    Archives

    May 2022
    February 2022
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    November 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014




Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.