Any one else who has suffered with uterine cancer

Well, no I haven't had the same as you, but I have had bowel cancer. Now I have a hernia above my op scar. I did have a friend who had a hysterectomy, and when she came back to work, I had all my menopause symptoms with her. My own menopause happened about 10 years later, and was very mild by comparison.

All I can offer is that I am sure that your bowel will settle down, and in the meantime, maybe you can take something for it. We are all different, and my O/H always notices everything in his bowel first.

Keep on logging in and keep us posted.

Good luck

Ruth

hello (((((looblou))))

when i read your post here, it could have been written by me!!!!!!

i have the same ongoing issues happening with me aswell!...it can be so hard and tiring and just down right....life hindering when living with such ongoing health problems.

you can read my life experiences under the cervical section.

however!!! i will tell you here that after 17years of ongoing bowel issues due to the radiatation...i finaly got a dr that has found something for me that is helping!!!

it is called Cholestyramine.......and it is working for me. for over 17years i was living a life around imodium, ongoing diet changes, stress, insomnia, mental exhaustion, in fact it has been so bad that drs even suggested that i go on a pension as there is no cure for it.

i now even have a name for it. Radiation Colitis. now isnt' that something~ i dont' know why, but that in itself makes me feel a bit better. because with it having a name it means that people are aware of it. i have found it very isolating living with such a condition, very hard to explain to people that dont' go through it.

please PM me anytime you want to talk...

peace and happiness...Ocean..xxx

hello (((ruth))))

am sorry to hear of your hernia, i do not know anything about them, is there anything that can be done for you.?
~
unfortunately for some people the bowel issues don't settle down..as in my case...for over 17 years i have been battling with this..until recently and only due to a chance meeting with a dr for a 5min consultation.

i found this info which i will post here....as it basicaly sums it up.

Radiation Colitis

Radiation colitis occurs when an increasing number of cells in
the colon die as a result of radiation therapy. Often the doses
of radiation that cause colon injury are very close to the doses
needed to treat cancer in the abdomen or pelvis. The severity
of the condition depends on the size of the radiation dose
and other factors such as the frequency of treatment and
tumor size.
Radiation colitis can be acute, coming on suddenly, or chronic,
developing gradually and persisting. Most of the time, patients
with acute radiation colitis develop symptoms within 8 weeks
of starting their treatment. With the chronic form of the
condition, symptoms may not arise until months or years after
radiation therapy is over.
Symptoms of radiation colitis may include abdominal cramps, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, frequent
urges to have a bowel movement, rectal bleeding, weight loss and fatty stools. Complications can
develop, especially in chronic radiation colitis, such as:
♦ Intestinal blockage ♦ Infection/abscesses ♦ Nutritional deficiencies
♦ Heavy rectal bleeding ♦ Bowel rupture ♦ Cystitis (bladder inflammation)
Although the cause of radiation colitis is cancer radiation therapy, other risk factors can increase
the risk of radiation injury to the colon such as surgical scar tissue, high blood pressure, diabetes,
atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and underlying inflammatory bowel disease.

source. http://www.oncolink.com/experts/article.cfm?c=2&s=37&ss=117&id=1843

Looby..... I have exactly the same as you...have'nt time to write much now but look under Endomrtrial cancer it might help.... how long since you had the radiotherapy...I know my bowels played up for ages but they did settle down.

I had my radiotherapy back in October/November 2006 - initially apart from soreness it wasn't too bad, but after a few months, the urgency to go started. I had a couple of accidents while I was out, really embarrassing, luckily I always carry a spare pair after my years of heavy periods, and have a jacket handy. Also I don't go out far unless I have the car to retreat to.
I had my four monthly check up with my Oncologist yesterday, he says I can go onto six monthly checks now, but if anything changes and I'm worried to ring up and he will see me sooner.
I will look under Endometrial cancer as you suggest. Thanks. Loobylou

Hello LoobyLu, You sound like you wrote my story, I had the exact treatments like you. I started 1 year ago today with the 5 weeks everyday radiation treatments and had the worse side effects ever. When I had to pee it was like a razor was coming out, they gave me pills for that then I had the bowel problems. They told me they were shocked because of the type of low dose radiation beam I was getting. I too now have started to gain the weight lymphedema in both legs not too much swelling but pain along with it. My bowels flare up and my stomch still hurts when I touch it. The hot flashes I thought would be gone too but they here and I too went through menopause before the radical hysterctomy. I now have to go see a Dr. today to find out if the Uterine cancer has come back in my lungs, I don't want to scare you but get a ct scan at least 1 year after your dx. I will keep you posted.

I agree with looby get a scan done....apparently the cancer is most likely to return in the lungs from primary uterine cancer, as mine has done after hysterectomy two years ago and radiotherapy....I had a really bad cough last Xmas which wouldn't go away so had x ray and there they were, spots on my lung!

I forgot to add that it is unusual for uterine cancer to metastasise if it is caught early and hadn't escaped the uterus, so Mac you may OK...keep fingers crossed eh

Hello there, I was in the same boat as you. I had a radical hysterectomy on July 2,2008. I also had lymph nodes taken and had the wash which were both clean. I had a cyst on my ovary the size of a tennis ball and then they thought it was 2 different cancers. It ended up that it was endometrial that went to the ovary. I had the radiation same as you just internal. I suffered so much with the bowels but the doctor gave me great pills to help me through it. It does hit you bad, but I survived for about a year and then I am now hit with secondary disease showing up in the lungs. I don't want to scare you because everyone is different. We have decided that the cancer got out of the barn door before the hysterectomy. I had my first round of chemo last Wednesday and today is the first day I felt great.

Write and tell me how you are doing,
MaCurley

I have come to the same conclusion as you that the cancer may have escaped before hysterectomy because all my washes etc were clean and nothing showed then. It was a year later that I had a scan because I had a cough which wouldnt go away and there they were, nasty little spots on the one lung.......I have completed 6 doses of carboplatin/taxel and had scans last week, I now wait for the results in a couple of weeks time...I had a scan about 3 doses in and the spots on the lung had shrunk considerably so am hoping that they may have shrunk a lot more now...I have some metastasis in my guts somewhere, dont remember where though so hope that has shrunk too..hopefully I can have a breather now..the chemo certainly takes it out of you and each treatment seemed to affect me differently presumebly cos they up the dose everytime...luckily I only felt nauseus for a few days, I didnt take the pillls for it as they made me feel worse! My hair dropped out fairly quickly which didnt bother me as much as losing all eybrows and all eye lashes, however all hair is now growing so I might have some fluff before xmas. I have numb feet and a few numb fingers so am trying vit B6 ....you can take it with chemo which is good as not able to take anything else. The pills that I had to take for two days after the chemo gave me horrendous indigestion, Ive never had it before and thought I was having a heart attack! something else, think it was steroids gave me constipation but it was all sorted out....I have never taken so many pills in my life!! I think if you are fairly fit and healthy before the chemo the effects are not so bad.. good luck with yours and if you want to know anything or just say how yous feeling do say so....what we have is quite rare apparently, did they tell you that?