Mother diagnosed - any advice appreciated on steps from here

MrJeff · New User Joined: 29 Oct 2009 Posts: 4

First I have to say my heart goes out to everyone here... although I am a adult male and can't really appreciate what everyone is going through, all of you will be in my prayers going forward even though I don't know you, I mean that.

My mother is 69 and just diagnosed with cervical cancer from two biopsies, one in the cervix and one in the uterus after going in to treat an infection possibly involving a long overdue IUD that needed to come out. She almost certainly has had a low level infection for years now as well.

Apparently she has had some of the foul discharging periodically and blood spotting for three years now and was so frightened she didn't say anything and tried to pretend nothing was wrong out of fear. She also was not getting regular pap smears, or anything. My heart aches that I didn't stay aware and put pressure on her to be checked out over time.

She also had a pelvic examination where there were no masses detected, the light test of the cervix exterior which looked clear along with no visible cancer, and a pap smear which showed abnormal cells. An interior ultrasound was done showed the uterus being a normal size and no thick walls, etc. Her blood-work also came back normal, though I don't know the exact counts. According to her she has had no bleeding since they took out the IUD last week after the initial day or so.

Her Gynecologist has done the work till now but she is saying that a hysterectomy is probably going to happen along with radiation and/or chemotherapy treatments, and is now forwarding her to an Oncologist to schedule a CAT scan.

Any advice on what to ask the Oncologist and where we might be with this would be very appreciated, I am racking my brains because I can't figure out from the various results what stage she might be in, all the routine tests appear good... but then we get the biopsies that show cervical cancer and there is the problem of the periodic bleeding. I am also worried that although her blood work came back normal, perhaps her white blood cell count is actually low but artificially higher from fighting the infection. There has been no mention of it spreading to the upper vagina, but I am concerned that her Gynecologist is either not talking about it or just didn't check properly, or maybe it's very evident if it was and she saw no need to elaborate since she didn't see anything - I just don't know.

Right now we just want to get an accurate idea where she is stage-wise, and any advice on what to check with the Oncologist would be so very helpful as she has an appointment for 10/2. I am concerned a lot about metastasizing, should we push for a check of the lymph nodes? What other questions should we ask about?

Again, thank you for your thoughts we appreciate it very much and thanks to the host of this forum, you provide an invaluable service.

Thanks and God-bless,
Jeff

rockstar

Jeff,

Males are just as welcome here as women.

First, I am so sorry about your mother. try not to beat yourself up about not asking about her doctor appointments. Its not your fault especially since she did not tell anyone about her bleeding or discharge. (not trying to say its your mothers fault either as those are common ailments in women).

I think it is great all of those tests are coming back negative! They aren't noticing any further growth outside of the cervix and that indicates that the cancer is most likely in a lower stage. That is a good sign. And even when I had cancer, my blood tests were coming back good. There isn't any need to over analysis.

The biopsies that came back positive, are those the colposcopy biopsies? Have they done a cone biopsy?

I think it is good you are worried about the cancer metastasizing. I think her doctors are being precautions. They are doing lots of tests to find out all the information needed.

If they are going to preform a hysterectomy, they would biopsy lymph nodes at that time to check for cancer. If the nodes are clean and all tests show that the cancer did not spread very far, they probably won't recommend radiation or chemo.

Doctors are a lot more ready to recommend a hysterectomy at your mom's age as she has already gone through menopause and had kids. It is something that can be removed without lots of side effects.

As far as questions with the oncologist, I recommend asking questions on anything you don't understand, how far the cancer has spread, different options and scenarios.

You have the full support of everyone on this forum and we wish your mom a speedy recovery.
_________________
Stage 1B1 Adenosquamous Carcinoma of the Cervix.
Diagnosed 5.7.09 @ age 20
Radical hysterectomy on 5.15.09
Wedding date: July 23, 2010

MrJeff · New User Joined: 29 Oct 2009 Posts: 4

Thank you for responding RockStar, it means a lot!

Her two biopsies taken at the same time were colposcopy biopsies of the cervix and uterus which both came back positive, so I'm afraid it has spread somewhat from the cervix even though the doctor said she couldn't see anything visually. There was no cone biopsy as far as we know, just the two colposcopy biopsies.

What I find perplexing is that the doctor didn't see anything visually, and yet we have two positive biopsy results for cancer, one in the cervix and one higher up in the uterus without anything visible. In reading it sounds like the progression usually becomes visible to the naked eye late stage 1 before spilling out, but I guess that is just more common and a microscopic growth could spread just as easily.

Thank you for the information on when they would do the lymph node biopsy, I read another site mentioning it but it wasn't clear how or when they would do it. This has gone from a trip for the two of us overseas coming up in a week from now to discussions of chemotherapy and operations in little over two weeks. so my head is spinning still, and I'm not even the one who is ill Sad

It helps so much to have someone else to bounce this off of, you just wouldn't believe how much so!

Cheers and God-Bless,
Jeff

rockstar

Glad that I could help, Jeff.

As for the doctors being able to visibly see something, that depends on the type of cervical cancer. There are macro-cells and micro-cells. Macro-cells are large and with enough of them you can visibly see it with the naked eye. However, with micro-cells, you would have to use a microscopic device to see it, even if it is wide spread.

And with the biopsies, they may or may not do the cone biopsy. I never heard of anyone testing the uterus via colposcopy, but there is a first for everything. But if they truly did and those cells are present in the uterus, then most likely a hysterectomy will be preformed.

Wishing you well!
_________________
Stage 1B1 Adenosquamous Carcinoma of the Cervix.
Diagnosed 5.7.09 @ age 20
Radical hysterectomy on 5.15.09
Wedding date: July 23, 2010

MrJeff · New User Joined: 29 Oct 2009 Posts: 4

Hey Rockstar,

My mistake, the colcoscopy was not the procedure with the light like I was thinking, I thought that was the name for the light test and examination, apparently that was the procedure they were looking at to remove part of an IUD fragment.

The two biopsies were done as part of the examination with the light, not sure what it is called, sorry, my mother and I are a bit mixed up right now.

Again, thanks for your all your thoughts and kind words, my prayers are with you on this as well!

Cheers and God-bless,
Jeff

rockstar

No Problem MrJeff,

Don't worry about being confused about all of this. It can get very confusing. My dad kept calling a hysterectomy a vasectomy. Very Happy

Regardless, I believe your mother is in great hands and that her doctors are doing all the necessary testing to provide the best and appropriate treatment for her.

Hang in there!
_________________
Stage 1B1 Adenosquamous Carcinoma of the Cervix.
Diagnosed 5.7.09 @ age 20
Radical hysterectomy on 5.15.09
Wedding date: July 23, 2010

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