Blog Archives - Womb Cancer Support UK

Goodbye to another September.

30/9/2017

At the start of this month, I put a post on my FB profile saying that I would make no apologies for the amount of womb cancer related posts that would be appearing on my timeline as part of womb cancer awareness month.

The lack of awareness about womb cancer is shocking even though it is the most common of the gynaecological cancers and the 4th most common cancer to affect women in UK.

When I was diagnosed with womb cancer at the very end of 2009 (2 days before Xmas!!) I had never heard of it and sadly nothing much seems to have changed since then because neither have a lot of other women. Despite 26 women a day being diagnosed, (CRUK 2014) there is no national awareness campaign for it.
More women are diagnosed with womb cancer than either cervical or ovarian cancer – yet most women have heard of them. Why is this? It’s not like it’s a rare cancer like vulval cancer which affects around 1,300 women a year. We are talking over 9,300 women (CRUK 2014) diagnosed with a cancer that many have never heard of.

Womb Cancer Support UK raises awareness of womb cancer day in and day out, every week of the year and throughout September, which is womb cancer awareness month, we work extra hard to spread the word about the signs and symptoms to look out for.

Myself and some other ladies are doing what we can on social media to help raise awareness of the symptoms of womb cancer so that hopefully we can prevent other women having to go through what we have gone through.
I recently found out that one of these lovely ladies is being criticised for posting about this issue on her own FB page and I find this extremely hurtful, not only to her but me too.

Cancer can often be a life changing event and many of us have to live with the long term consequences of treatment. Sadly there are some people who assume that just because you may not need any further treatment after a hysterectomy, that you can move on and “get over it”.
This kind of attitude only shows their ignorance and does nothing to help a woman who is now facing sudden menopause and all the issues that brings with it, plus the fact that if she was below 40 when she was diagnosed she may well have lost the chance of becoming a mum as cancer will have robbed her of the opportunity of ever becoming pregnant.

There are so many emotional and psychological side effects to a cancer diagnosis and we are trying our hardest to raise awareness and offer support to those who find themselves in the same position as we were when we heard those dreaded words “I’m sorry but you have cancer”.

So, the awareness will not stop. We will continue to do all we can to raise much needed awareness and also support those women who have been diagnosed.

Kaz xx

How long do the Cancerversary's last?

28/9/2017

If you’ve not been diagnosed with cancer then you probably don’t know what a “cancerversary” is. It marks the date each year that you heard those words “I’m sorry but you have cancer”.
When the first one comes around it can often be a time of slight celebration – I made it this far kind of thing. I got through the treatment and I’m still here!!
Then the second one comes around a year later and ok maybe we’re not so much in the mood to celebrate but we still mark the occasion, even if it is only in our minds or maybe even a quick post on social media!
Then we get the third year, the fourth year and then finally we get to the fifth year and if we’re lucky we get the all clear and life can return to some sort of normality without having to worry about check-ups and scans.

That’s if we are lucky. There are a growing number of cancer patients who get left with serious long term side effects from their cancer treatment so being able to draw a line under the cancer experience isn’t a given at all and for those who are unlucky to get a recurrence, it can seem like the line is never going to be drawn.

For those of us living with long term side effects from treatment, it can sometimes feel like the cancer was secondary to the side effects. For me anyway, the lymphoedema, the bowel and bladder issues, the menopause issues, the underactive thyroid, the serious fatigue, the cognitive and memory issues etc have a much more dramatic effect on my quality of life that having cancer did.
Also, very often family and friends get fed up of hearing us talk about cancer all the time. They want us to forget about it and get back to normal (whatever that is!!) So reminding them that it’s 5/6/7/8 years since you were diagnosed sometimes doesn’t go down too well!!
They can’t see that what for them was maybe a minor inconvenience in their lives (having to forgo holidays or days out due to you having treatment etc or having to take time off work to look after you) was a very major thing for us to try and deal with and sometimes being able to count the days /months/years since then can help us to deal with it.

But there has to come a time when we have to draw that line in the sand and say I’m over it now – I want to look forward and not back.

It’s proving difficult for me to do that at the moment at just over 7 years since my treatment ended but hopefully I will soon be able to draw a line and move on.
I hope you are able to do the same too.

Dispelling the myths of womb cancer.

26/9/2017

There are several myths around womb cancer, from it being an “easy cancer” to have, to it being one of the “best” cancers to have. How on earth any cancer can be regarded as an easy cancer is beyond me.

However the one myth that really does annoy me and a lot of others who have been diagnosed with this cancer, is that we bring it on ourselves for being fat and lazy.
Womb cancer gets very little media attention but when it does it is usually accompanied by images like this.

A demeaning image of an unidentifiable woman. The jist of the article is usually that obesity is the cause of womb cancer and that if you get diagnosed with it then it’s basically your own fault for being overweight and not doing enough exercise.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that obesity isn’t a risk factor – according to CRUK around 41% of womb cancer cases can be put down to “lifestyle choices” – which means being overweight or a lack of exercise. Which means that 59% of cases are not.

Now, I will admit to being overweight and I was when I was diagnosed. So are quite a lot of the women who come to WCSUK for support after being diagnosed but not all of them are by any means.

Let me introduce you to 2 women who have been diagnosed with womb cancer. Margaret was diagnosed at 54 and Lydia was diagnosed at the age of 24.

Do either of them look obese? They are both also far from lazy. Before being diagnosed Margaret did 6 zumba classes a week and now cycles on a regular basis and Lydia used pole dancing as a form of exercise and keeping fit.

We need to get rid of the stereotypes of what kind of woman gets womb cancer. As you can see from Margaret and Lydia, it also affects women of all ages.
It is vital that we raise awareness of womb cancer and make sure that women of all ages and sizes know about it and know that it could affect them.
Most women have heard of cervical cancer – we want them to know about womb cancer too. Help us #GiveWombCancerAVoice and raise much needed awareness.

You can read more of Lydia's story here

The hidden impact of womb cancer by Lydia Brain

23/9/2017

It’s September, which to many is just the start of autumn, but it is also womb cancer awareness month. For me this is a time to look back and reflect on how womb cancer has affected my life.

Last November, at 24 years old, I was diagnosed with an extremely rare uterine tumour, myofibroblastoma. From that day my life changed completely, as well as my body, my attitude and my outlook. It’s been a long and tiring old journey, that for the most part has been downhill, and unfortunately I’m no way near finished. Having any cancer diagnosis changes you forever and leaves you with psychological, emotional and physical after effects, and there is often little guidance and support on how to deal with these.

First of all a cancer diagnosis immediately throws your life into disarray. Everything else takes a step back and your health becomes your number one priority, your only priority. Everything else blurs into the background. Your social life, relationships, and career all have to fit around your new cancer schedule and into your altered brain space (of which your cancer and cancer related worries take up around 99.9%).

Even before treatment womb cancer has a large affect on your social life and relationships. I personally had very unpredictable and heavy bleeding for months before and after diagnosis. Living in the largest sanitary towels, sometimes ‘just in case’ makes feeling and looking good rather difficult, and wearing skirts a big no no! It also made sex rather challenging, and I would sometimes be bleeding too heavily for weeks on end to even consider the possibility. All relationship mystique goes straight out of the window when you bleed constantly and heavily. Having to ask my boyfriend at the time to help me escape a public place and walk behind me to try and hide my big red patch on my trousers wasn’t exactly my sexiest moment. Heavy bleeding also made exercising rather difficult, there are very few classes you can do in womb cancer friendly clothes. So during bouts of bleeding I would either have to give it a miss completely, or exercise at home (factoring in several runs to the bathroom and possibly a few outfit changes).

At the point of diagnosis, being only 24, most of my thoughts and worries were occupied by the looming possibility of infertility, and the decision I would have to make. Whether or not to give up my chances of ever carrying a child for the chance of my tumour spreading and possibly losing my life. To some the answer to this problem seems obvious, and I know many people didn’t understand my reluctance towards a hysterectomy. The importance of fertility varies hugely from person to person but I know for me, losing my fertility was my worst nightmare. I was also very aware of the possibility of regret later in life if the wrong decision was made, and how very devastating that could be. Womb cancer put a very grown up decision on my young head, and one of the largest effects it had on me was stealing my youthful freedom and carefreeness. I was forced to consider and plan out my entire life in those few weeks, when before I had merrily floated along taking life as it came, like all young people should!

My wonderful consultant and I did our best to try and save my fertility, and for three months I tried a hormone treatment, Zoladex, in hope it would shrink my tumour. I was the first patient that we know of to try and treat my type of tumour in this way, and unfortunately it started to grow even faster than before. In the end there was no choice and I had a total hysterectomy. But, at least I hadn’t had a choice in the matter. I can have no regrets as the weight of making that decision was lifted from my shoulders.
Even though my hysterectomy got rid of my cancer (and hopefully it won’t return). It brought a new pain to my life, and one that will never leave. At 25 infertility is easily ignored, but in 10 years time when all of my friends are starting their families I’m sure it will hit me like a brick wall.

Womb cancer and everything it brings leaves a mental scar, I’ve suffered with bouts of depression and anxiety (including the notorious scanxiety). I can liken post treatment life to films where characters are on the run from the police. They spend their whole life looking over their shoulder, never truly able to relax or let their guard down. Always on high alert. In the back of my mind is the possibility that my cancer will return, with the knowledge that this time it would be a whole lot worse than before. Every pain and niggle is a possible new tumour, every symptom and side effect rings alarm bells. I’m yet to have my first three month scan post op, but I already know the feeling. The worry and the anxiety that there will be bad news. There is usually bad news.

That’s the thing I’ve learnt about womb cancer, always be prepared for the worst, because your plans change at the drop of hat. Every single appointment I’ve had, I have come out in a different situation and with a different plan than before I went in. I can’t count the amount of times people have asked how an appointment went with questions that are no longer relevant. Everything I had planned for and decided on has had to go out of the window. After just about getting your head around your treatment and life plan, you have to start again. This unpredictability brings anxiety, and makes it hard to look forward. It’s a never-ending rollercoaster and you can’t see what lies ahead.

Womb cancer has affected me in countless ways. The hidden psychological effects have been the hardest to deal with and are often under-acknowledged, underappreciated and under-supported. Post treatment it is often assumed that you are ‘all better now’ and your life is back to normal. The hidden emotional impact from womb cancer will last my lifetime and the effects it has had on my body can never be repaired. Increased awareness and support can and will improve life for women like me.

You can follow Lydia on her website https://youngwildandfibroblastic.com/

Your Pelvic Floor is Important.

20/9/2017

Our guest blog post today is from Leah Dalby who has been working as a physio for 30 years. Her special physio interests are in working with people who have scarring after surgery and radiotherapy, changes in the brain after traumatic injury and enabling sensuous and sexual expression in those who have been ill or have disability. She also loves her family and chickens.

If you are reading this, I imagine that you or someone you know have experienced incontinence. You are amongst friends. Incontinence, especially of urine is common – but not “normal.” And from my physio and personal perspective, not okay. Or perhaps you are wanting to optimise your wellness, which is great.

The pelvic floor, the bottom of our pelvic “basket” has three openings – for the urethra, the bladder outlet, the vagina and anus. The pelvic floor, abdominal muscles and diaphragm are inextricably linked, so surgery and/or radiotherapy here may affect their function including their role in continence.

The pelvic floor can come under pressure when straining or carrying extra weight (including a baby). Abdominal/pelvic surgery and any weakness/disturbance of function can cause a few drops or a steam of urine to escape from the body when we cough or sneeze. (stress incontinence)

As I get older and work with more people who use a urostomy/colostomy bag, I have discovered how important care of the pelvic floor is even if it is not being used as it used to be before surgery. It still needs to be working well to optimise movement, stability and fluent movement throughout the body.

Pelvic floor exercises are discreet and can be practiced almost anywhere and at anytime – but they need to be done several times a day, over a period of months (a lifetime!) to be effective.

Especially after surgery and/or radiotherapy, as a physio, I hope to enable people to find joy in their body again through pleasurable movement, confidence in the body and delight in sensation. Continence is important as is the opportunity to enjoy sexual and sensuous expression.

If you have stress incontinence, some sessions with a women’s health physio may be what you need, so please ask your GP or consultant to refer you to a local women’s health physio. You are likely to have a thorough verbal and physical assessment, which may or may not include an internal examination. This will depend on what you need/want and also the level of post graduate training that the physio has had. There are women’s health physios working in the independent sector as well as the NHS.

If your local services are embarrassed or don’t have sufficient experience, I hope that you have the courage, strength and determination to get a referral to someone who loves this area of work and is keen to work with you. Specialist Physiotherapist, Elaine Miller’s interview on BBC Radio4’s Woman’s Hour August 4 2017, might give you the impetus you need to request some physio. If you have more specific sexual questions that your physio doesn’t feel able to answer, someone like Samantha Evans may be able to help you.

I hope this is useful and wish you the very best in finding who you need to enable you to be continent.
Leah Dalby MCSP
www.leahthephysio.co.uk

The awareness will never stop!

15/9/2017

At the start of this month, I put a post on my FB profile saying that I would make no apologies for the amount of womb cancer related posts that would be appearing on my timeline as part of womb cancer awareness month.
The lack of awareness about womb cancer is shocking even though it is the most common of the gynaecological cancers and the 4th most common cancer to affect women in UK.

When I was diagnosed with womb cancer at the very end of 2009 (2 days before Xmas!!) I had never heard of it and sadly neither have a lot of other women. Despite 26 women a day being diagnosed, (CRUK 2014) there is no national awareness campaign for it.
More women are diagnosed with womb cancer than either cervical or ovarian cancer – yet most women have heard of them. Why is this? It’s not like it’s a rare cancer like vulval cancer which affects around 1,300 women a year. We are talking over 9,300 women (CRUK 2014) diagnosed with a cancer that many have never heard of.

Womb Cancer Support UK raises awareness of womb cancer day in and day out and throughout September, which is womb cancer awareness month, we work extra hard to spread the word about the signs and symptoms to look out for.
Myself and some other ladies are doing what we can on social media to help raise awareness of the symptoms of womb cancer so that hopefully we can prevent other women having to go through what we have gone through.
I found out a couple of days ago that one of these lovely ladies has been criticised for posting about this issue on her FB profile and I find this extremely hurtful, not only to her but me too.

Cancer can often be a life changing event and many of us have to live with the long term consequences of treatment. Sadly there are some people who assume that just because you may not need any further treatment after a hysterectomy, that you can move on and “get over it”.
This kind of attitude only shows their ignorance and does nothing to help a woman who is now facing sudden menopause and all the issues that brings with it, plus the fact that if she was below 40 when she was diagnosed she may well have lost the chance of becoming a mum as cancer will have robbed her of the opportunity of ever becoming pregnant.

There are so many emotional and psychological side effects to a cancer diagnosis and we are trying our hardest to raise awareness and offer support to those who find themselves in the same position as we were when we heard those dreaded words “I’m sorry but you have cancer”.

So the awareness raising will not stop - because we are committed to making sure that every woman knows about womb cancer.

Kaz xx

Difficult Conversations: How The Womb Room is making space for honest conversation about women’s bodies.

11/9/2017

This guest blog post is by Saschan Fearon-Josephs, the founder of The Womb Room.

The Womb Room was conceived in 2011 following life saving emergency surgery to remove my right ovary and fallopian tube. At 19 years of age I was entirely unprepared both emotionally and physically for the life long change which I had experienced. At 19 I was unaware that 3 years later I would be diagnosed with stage 2 endometriosis, or that at 23 I would be told I also have uterine fibroids, uterine polyps, suspected adenomyosis and would probably be infertile by the time I reached 27. I was entirely unprepared for the issues I would come to have with my continence and my bowels before discovering my endometriosis had spread, developing to stage 4, fusing them together and causing me chronic debilitating pain. I was unprepared for the loss I would suffer; friends, family, partners, jobs and the grief I would have to work through at the thought of never conceiving a child that I have loved before they have even existed outside of my mind or in the hostile landscape of my womb.

This is the situation almost every woman I meet or talk to has found herself in, silently questioning the symptoms she has and placing them to one side as life often gets in the way. Quietly struggling with the decisions she has made or will make and the choices placed before her following a diagnosis. It is often not until we are faced with the harsh realities of a reproductive health problem following a diagnosis that we begin to question the importance of our desire to build a family and conceive.

We are often socialised as women both socially and culturally to believe that motherhood is a natural and almost granted part of our journey through womanhood. That having a family is, if we desire it, something we will have. It is rare that we talk about the realities, we don’t sit around kitchen tables talking to our aunts, mothers, grandmothers and other matriarchs in our lives about the fact that 1 in 7 couples struggle with infertility, or that fertility affecting diseases such as endometriosis are as prevalent as diabetes. We aren’t encouraged to seek help and we don’t talk about the fact that black women are least likely to seek support and help for serious symptoms and therefore least likely to receive the help or treatment they may require.

We need to open up space for the conversations about our bodies and our lived experiences as women. I truly believe that we have a duty to the generations of women who will navigate their way through the world trying to understand parts of themselves they have never had the space to learn about and discuss. We owe it to all of these women, all of the girls who will grow to become women to actively make steps towards removing the barriers of shame, misinformation and self awareness that are preventing us from changing the narrative on our lives. In order to ensure that our traumatic or life altering reproductive experiences aren’t duplicated from woman to woman in the way they are now. To campaign for better education, better services and better support for the hundreds of millions of women living their lives with PCOS, fibroids, endometriosis, painful periods, extremely heavy bleeding, infertility and everything in between.

The Womb Room is looking at the future of women’s health. Through events, digital service provision and product development we’re connecting women with the knowledge and resources to understand their bodies better, find their tribe and redefine what womanhood means to them. This year we’re launching a 12 month event series #REALTALK across London, Birmingham and online which will provide space for the difficulty, dirty, sweaty, messy and bloody bits of women’s health we are often discouraged from discussing in public. Through our Facebook group we’ll be connecting women with experts from pelvic floor specialists to reproductive health doctors through a series of live Q & A’s and we’re launching a free online network which connects women with brands, professionals and community. We’re supporting women to live a life they define and not their health and we’re making space for women to build community and support they need to live a fulfilled life.

Welcome to The Womb Room. Welcome to the Reproductive Revolution.

Social Media: Twitter, Facebook & Instagram @thewombroom
Email: [email protected]

We want to thank Saschan for doing this blog post for us. if you would like to write for us then please get in touch using the contact form.

Womb Cancer Awareness by Margaret Chandler

6/9/2017

Womb Cancer is the 4th commonest cancer diagnosed in women in the UK after breast, lung and bowel cancer.
The most recent statistics from CRUK in 2014 show that 9324 cases of womb cancer were diagnosed, there were 2166 deaths and 78% of patients had survived 10 years or more (up 7% from the 1970's)
According to both CRUK and The World Cancer Research Fund, between 37 and 44% of womb cancer cases could be prevented (approx 3900 cases per year)

So what are some of the risk factors for womb cancer and what can you do to prevent a diagnosis?
The risk of developing womb cancer is linked to the body's exposure to oestrogen. As oestrogen can be produced in fatty tissues, being overweight or obese increases the level of oestrogen circulating in the body, which in turn can build up in the lining of the womb, possibly leading to a cancer diagnosis. By not maintaining a healthy weight a woman increases her chances of a womb cancer diagnosis by between 3 or 6 times those of a woman of a healthy weight.

Another risk factor is inactivity. Public Health England has just published findings that show that approx 6 million adults aged 40 to 60 do not even complete 10 minutes of brisk walking per month and yet the WCRF has found that as little as 30 minutes of brisk walking per day can decrease the risk significantly.
Finally a healthy diet has also been found to decrease the risk for womb cancer (and 13 other common cancers too). By limiting high calorie food and drink, cutting down on red meat and consuming a wide variety of fruit, vegetables and grains, a cancer diagnosis is less likely.

However, even if you are not overweight, eat well and exercise regularly, you can still be diagnosed with womb cancer, as happened to me in 2013. The only risk factor I had was being over 50 and still having regular monthly periods, meaning increased exposure to oestrogen. Luckily my cancer was found at an early stage and after a total hysterectomy one month after diagnosis, I was cleared of the disease. I still have regularly check-ups and hope to be finally discharged early next year.

Exercise has been a major part of my recovery and survivorship. The American Cancer Society is researching into the effect of exercise on cancer survivors. So far they have found that it helps improve cardio vascular fitness, increases muscle strength and has positive benefits on levels of fatigue and psychological difficulties such as anxiety and depression.

Many cancer patients struggle emotionally and psychologically even after treatment has finished. Brisk walking produces endorphins, which help balance and neutralise the stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, which create inflammation in the body (itself a possible cause of cancer). By reducing stress, self- esteem is improved, happiness and quality of life increases. Future research is hoping to find that exercise prevents cancer recurrence, itself a major source of anxiety in those whose cancer is in remission.

By undertaking regular exercise I have found that my sleep pattern has improved, my menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes, night sweats and mood swings have been largely alleviated. I have more energy, although I still get occasional bouts of fatigue but it has had a positive effect on my bone health.

I have also enjoyed the support and friendship of other women at both my Latin Fitness Dance Class and Leicester Women’s Velo Cycling Club. I am looking forward to setting more personal fitness challenges in the future, including organising a peach themed cycle ride to raise awareness of the commonest gynaecological cancer that nobody seems to have heard of.

Thank you to Margaret for this guest blog post. If you would like to write one for us then please get in touch using the contact form.
Kaz xx

My womb cancer story by V.P

4/9/2017

Another personal story of a womb cancer diagnosis

"I am a 32 year old, recently married woman, currently living in Preston. I never in a million years thought I would ever hear the words, “I’m sorry, you have cancer.” I’ll start from the beginning, from when I think things became strange.
I got married in August 2015. I moved from London to Preston, so it was a big change for me. Me and my husband talked about having children for a while, even before we were engaged. We both knew it was important that we didn’t take our time with starting a family as I suffer from PCOS and it could have been difficult for me to conceive.
My cycle suddenly changed in February 2016. I began to bleed in between my cycle. In April, my cycle changed again and became really heavy. I always suffered from heavy bleeding, but this was different. I spoke to my friends about it and we put it down to it being stress of not being able to find a permanent job, moving cities, being away from my family etc. My husband and I decided that we should try for a baby soon after. Nothing happened and I was told by a friend to go to the GP and get referred to a Gynaecologist for testing.

In August I was referred and I had my first appointment with the Gynaecologist in September. We started off with blood tests and then she wanted me to have an HSG (an X-Ray of my tubes and womb) to see if my tubes were blocked. The procedure didn’t work the first time so I went in again at the end of November for the second one. They found this one difficult as well. I had complained about bleeding after this procedure so about a week later I went in again for an ultrasound. At this stage the doctor found what looked like a polyp in my uterus and she informed me that it would need to be removed.
I went to see my Gynaecologist again and she informed me that she wanted to perform a hysteroscopy, polypectomy, a laparoscopy and dye and ovarian drilling to see what was going on and to help with my fertility. By this time my periods had become even heavier and the Gynaecologist suggested some tablets to help minimise the bleeding.

I had the procedures in March 2017 and by all accounts they went well. The Gynaecologist informed me that she had removed the large polyp and found lots of small ones in my uterus that would go off for testing as was procedure and that one of my fallopian tubes was fully blocked and the other one was almost completely blocked too. She told me that they would refer me for IVF if we weren’t able to get pregnant in 6 months.
After the procedures I went home to London to recover. About 10 days later I received a phone call from the hospital asking me to come in the next day. I informed them that I wouldn’t be able to, but that I could come in Monday. They agreed to a Monday appointment and at the end of the phone call the nurse told me that the doctor had requested that I bring someone with me. She was insistent that I have someone with me for the appointment. I knew deep down that something was wrong and the thought of cancer did momentarily flit through my mind.

On the Monday we went for the appointment in the afternoon at 2 o’clock. My husband and I sat down with the gynaecologist and there was a nurse in the room as well. She told us everything that had happened so far and then explained that the sample she took from my uterus had gone for testing and that during the procedure she didn’t notice anything concerning.
She told me they’d found cancer and I started crying. The first thing I thought was ‘Oh my God, what is he (my husband) thinking right now, how am I going to tell my parents.’ It sounds like a stupid thing to think but I guess everyone deals with these things differently. She informed me that she had already contacted the oncologist and that I would hear from them soon. She was genuinely shocked and told me that if I hadn’t come to her for fertility testing they wouldn’t have found it this early. I guess you could say I was lucky, but I didn’t feel lucky.

I saw the Oncologist and his team a week later and they told us that normally the treatment for endometrial/womb cancer is a hysterectomy but because I hadn’t had children yet and we wanted a family they were opting for a hormone treatment to preserve my fertility while reversing the cancer.
I am currently taking 400mg of progesterone a day for 6 months. I’ve been taking the tablets for 2 months now and I have 4 months left. It hasn’t been easy so far. I took the news really well at first. I was really positive and reassuring everyone around me that everything was going to be fine. I wanted to be strong for myself and for everyone else. That lasted about 2 weeks. I went back to work after the Easter holidays and within 3 days I had to be off on sick leave. I guess being strong wasn’t working for me anymore. I was being strong for everyone else but inside I was breaking apart. But I didn’t want anyone to worry. Not my husband, not my friends and not my family. I cut myself off from everyone, even my husband. I stopped talking and when I did talk to people I faked it. I made out like I was fine and that everything was ok. But I felt like I was being dealt an unfair hand. I felt like I had done something wrong to deserve this.
At the same time I had friends announcing they were pregnant left and right. I was happy for them but so unbelievably upset for myself. The thought that I may not be able to ever have my own children was killing me inside and I had no one to talk to about it. On top of that the treatment was taking its toll, making me tired a lot of the time and I was having trouble sleeping too. I would spend most of my days going to the gym and then sitting in front of the TV for the rest of the day. It was definitely not healthy. I didn’t want to see anyone and I just wanted to be left alone.

I went back to work after the half term at the beginning of June. It has probably been the best thing for me. Though I am exhausted every day when I get home, I am busy and I have no time to think about having cancer. Most people where I live don’t know I have cancer because it’s a small community and my husband and I are quite private, so it helps that no one asks me any questions. I am sure it will all hit me at some point but for now I am feeling ok and that has to be enough for now. One day at a time.

In October I will have another hysteroscopy and they will test to see if the cancer has gone or not. If it has then we have the green light for IVF, if not then it will be back on the operating table for a full hysterectomy. I try not to think about it because I don’t know what is going to happen. I don’t want to hope because I don’t want to be disappointed but deep down of course I hope that this treatment will work. I am worried how I will cope if the treatment doesn’t work, but I have to think about what is more important; my life or having children. It sounds like it should be an easy choice to make, but these things are never easy and it’s not something you can be logical about either.

I guess my message to women of my age and younger out there is KNOW YOUR CYCLE. Recognise any changes and talk to your GP about it. Don’t just put it down to being nothing, because it might be something. Womb cancer doesn’t just affect older women. I am living proof of that."

If you would like to write a guest post for us then please contact us via the contact form.
Kaz xx

Time to go peach for womb cancer awareness.

1/9/2017

Today is 1st September which means it is the start of womb cancer awareness month.

The time of year when those of us that have been diagnosed with womb cancer (or endometrial or uterine cancer as its sometimes called) make a lot of noise and try to raise awareness of this cancer because despite it being the most common gynaecological cancer it gets very little awareness unlike other gynae cancers like ovarian or cervical.

According to CRUK 9,324 women were diagnosed with womb cancer in 2014 (the latest year for which figures are available) That means 9,324 women who are Mothers, Daughters, Sisters, Wives, Aunts, Nieces, Grandmothers and Girlfriends.

Sadly many of these women will not have known anything about womb cancer before they were diagnosed. Just like I hadn’t when I was told I had it on 23rd Dec 2009.

There is no national awareness campaign for womb cancer and it gets very little media attention. This is why we at WCSUK have spent the past 6+ years working hard to raise awareness.
This September will be our 7th annual awareness campaign and we are going to make as much noise as we can about womb cancer.

Other organisations may call it gynaecological cancer awareness month but we are determined to make sure that womb cancer gets the attention and awareness it needs.
Our lives as womb cancer patients and survivors are worth as much as other cancer patients and we demand that our cancer is given the same amount of coverage.

It’s time to go peach for womb cancer and raise much needed awareness.

Kaz xx