Sometimes in life things seem to come at you from all angles, I’m sure many of us have felt that with the challenges of 2020.
In 2014 my husband and I made the choice to move from London to Shropshire to be near to my parents, as my Dad had been diagnosed, at the age of 85, with dementia. Unfortunately, circumstances took over and within 4 days of us arriving he was taken into hospital. He then went into a care home.
Christmas was going to be different for us and I, of course, was unaware of the next challenge coming my way.
I am post-menopausal and had no problems with the menopause apart from being hot sometimes. So, on Christmas Eve I was shaken to discover some vaginal bleeding, ‘Great’, I thought, ‘this doesn’t bode well and is all I need right now’. I decided not to say anything to the family and let them enjoy the days, get on with things and deal with it after Christmas.
Christmas was over, but unfortunately the bleeding wasn’t, it had become quite heavy and I knew I needed to see a physician.
Getting an appointment with my GP was going to be difficult so I went to the after-hours doctor who wasn’t able to do much as she couldn’t refer me. When I did get an appointment with a GP, nothing was obviously wrong when they examined me. I was referred for an intra-vaginal ultrasound- the most uncomfortable part was maintaining a full bladder as I had been overenthusiastic with the water.
The sonographer did tell me that she had found some thickening of the wall and I’d need to be seen further. This was not the best news.
I had an abdominal ultrasound in clinic where it was found that I had fibroids. I was offered a vaginal extraction of the fibroids and an implant to prevent further growth. On the day we were all ready to go, I was prepped on the table and awake with local. But, there was an issue, originally it was thought that the fibroid was of a size to be dealt with not needing anaesthetic. However, on examination it was too big, and in fact there was another. The consultant who was in the room halted the procedure and we had a chat. I decided that I didn’t want a hysterectomy and would opt for a smaller procedure of a clear out under general anaesthetic.
This was organised, I had an appointment and everything went smoothly. It was quite nice chatting with the other women in the unit, we were all a bit nervous but at least all in it together.
My husband accompanied me to all my appointments and my family knew what was happening. I did however keep most of the steps from my Mum as I thought she had enough to deal with in the adjustment to her life.
Some days later I had a call and my heart dropped I was being asked to go into clinic the next week. I knew without being told that this didn’t bode well. My husband came with me but waiting for that appointment was hard.
I was told I had endometrial cancer stage 1. I was actually relieved, ok I said “what is the next step”, with a smile. Stage 1 is the early stages and I knew that, but I think my consultant was a bit puzzled by my reaction.
The morning of the surgery arrived and as we were driving to the hospital I thought I would never have to be in this situation. I was prepped and ready then my consultant came in and said we have a problem, a urine infection I had hadn’t cleared, so sorry, we are going to have to cancel. Relief, disappointment plus frustration. So home with more antibiotics and more waiting. This was the hardest time, I just wanted to get on with it and not be thinking about what the cancer was up to in my body.
So it was back to the hospital and everything went smoothly, it was hard to say goodbye to my husband at the theatre doors. A few days later at home, I got the call from the consultant that I was worried about, they found no further cancer and I needed no further treatment. I was very lucky.