Hi Virginia,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. Losing a child as well as the horror of cervical cancer is terrible. I think you made the right decision to have the operation and be able to be there for your children. I'm sure that a trachelectomy is not the kind of operation that you could have had whilst pregnant.

My incision is exactly the same as yours, it starts at my belly button and ends at the pubic bone. I have been wearing dresses with nothing touching that area in the hopes that it will heal quicker, but it is still very sore and causing me a lot of grief.

I am at home and will be for another 2 weeks minimum. Sometimes I feel like I'm back to normal and then I try to sit up and the pain hits me, both emotionally and physically.

I am trying to be positive though, as the trachelectomy operation means that I can hopefully one day start a family. I just hope that once I have healed enough to start trying, that there isn't any major internal scarring, as this is a contributor to infertility to women who've had the trachelectomy. The surgeon said that if all is going well at my 6 month check-up, that my partner and I can start trying for a baby.

If I am lucky enough to get pregnant, there is a much higher risk of miscarriage in both the first and second trimesters due to the lack of a cervix. I will have to see an obstetrician and have stitches to keep the fetus within me. Also, an early caesarian birth is the only way of delivering.

It seems like there are no easy solutions or simple paths through the trauma of cancer, but talking to others who have gone through this helps me feel that there is a future.

Thanks for getting back to me,

Kylie


-----Original Message-----
From:   Cervical-Cancer@yahoogroups.com on behalf of Virginia O'Malley
Sent:   Mon 3/5/2007 2:28 PM
To:     Cervical-Cancer@yahoogroups.com
Cc:    
Subject:        Re: [Cervical-Cancer] Same situation?

Hi,
I'm 37.  I have two children and at the time the cancer was found I was 17 weeks pregnant.  Perhaps I was not a candidate for the trachelectomy because of the pregnancy.  They really gave me no other choice.  The pregnancy was terminated at the same time the hysterectomy was done.  It was the most difficult time in my life.  I wanted my baby so badly but I could not chance leaving my living children without a mom.  I keep going over the entire situation in my head and wish there was something else they could have done to save me and my baby. 
The pathology report of my cervix and uterus showed that the cancer was indeed localized in my cervix. 
My recovery has been long and at times very depressing but I am finally pretty much back to normal, physically.  They took out 31 lymph nodes so I still get some discomfort in the groin area.  I have to always be on guard for lymphedema. 
What kind of incision do you have?  Mine is from my belly button to pubic bone. The incision still bothers me at times, so much that I still can't wear tight fitting pants (I basically wear sweats with soft bands around waist). 
Hope your recovery is speedy.
Vicky
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Kylie Suttor
  To: Cervical-Cancer@yahoogroups.com
  Sent: Sunday, March 04, 2007 9:23 PM
  Subject: RE: [Cervical-Cancer] Same situation?





  Hi,

  I'm so sorry to hear that you weren't given any other option. Do you have children already? How old are you??

  A trachelectomy is an operation that removes the entire cervix but leaves the uterus. The uterus is reattached to the top of the vaginal vault. It is not used often as only patients with small stage 1a-1b1 tumours are able to have it and most doctors won't perform the operation unless the patient is quite young and the uterus has been examined through MRI and internal examination during the operation and is completely clear of further tumour. Luckily I fulfilled all of these criteria, and post operatively the pathology of the removed cervix showed healthy margins, plus there was no cancerous tissue in any of my lymph nodes.

  How is your recovery going after your hysterectomy? I am finding it quite hard going, the internal stitches aren't bothering me, but the external wound is painful and stops me from sitting up for extended periods.

  Let me know.

  kylie




  -----Original Message-----
  From:   Cervical-Cancer@yahoogroups.com on behalf of Virginia O'Malley
  Sent:   Mon 3/5/2007 12:08 PM
  To:     Cervical-Cancer@yahoogroups.com
  Cc:   
  Subject:        Re: [Cervical-Cancer] Same situation?

  Hi Kylie,
  So sorry to hear about all you have gone through.  I was in similar situation with the cone biopsy showing unclear margins and staging being 1b1 and MRI showing lymph nodes clear.  I on the other hand was not given another option so I had a radical hysterectomy on December 12, 2006.  I am curious, what is a trachelectomy?  What did your doctors say to you about the success rate?
  Thanks for posting because I never knew there were other treatments out there.
  Vicky
    ----- Original Message -----
    From: koali333
    To: Cervical-Cancer@yahoogroups.com
    Sent: Sunday, March 04, 2007 4:25 PM
    Subject: [Cervical-Cancer] Same situation?



    Hi,

    I am hoping to talk to someone who may have been through a similar situation as me. It
    would be great to chat to women who have been through this and can tell me their
    experiences.

    My story started in December 2006. I had some abnormal bleding and went and had a pap
    smear. I got high level abnormality as my reslt and on December 22nd I had a colposcopy,
    biopsy and cystoscopy. The surgeon believed I had a stage 1A cancer and recommended I
    have a cone biopsy to excise the tumour.

    I had the cone on January 18th this year and when the pathology came back, the cancer
    was re-classified as a 1b1 cancer. Plus, cancerous cells were found on the upper margin of
    the cone. My doctor recommended a radical hysterectomy as the standard treatment,
    which I found horrifying. This completely shattered my dreams of becomming a mother.

    The surgeon said that although it is considered experimental, he would consider me for a
    trachelectomy instead, taking into consideration my age, the size of the tumour and that
    my MRI showed the cancer was localised.

    After talking with my partner, the doctor, cancer councillors and much research on the
    internet I decided that I wanted to have a trachelectomy. This was done abdominally on
    February 15th, just over 2 weeks ago. I am feeling better every day and have my first
    check-up appointment on the 13th of March. Hopefully it will go well and I can return to
    my regular life.

    Something I really want to know about and hear from others is trachelectomy success
    stories, especially those that have since had children.

    Hope you are all well.

    Kylie



   


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