EndoCa: What to expect from 3 month post surgery exam?

I had surgery in early May and then had a 2 week check up and at that appointment I just spoke to the Dr and they checked my stomach stitches. I had a LAVH. IT was early stage and he did not take my ovaries. My lympnodes came back good.

I have my 3 month checkup coming up and I am not sure what to expect. I assume he will do an exam but what else? Blood work, ultra sound?

I am really worried about the cancer having spread and lurking. I know this is irrational but I am so worried. I also found out from my mother that the aunt who also had endometrial cancer then died from breast cancer and my dad's aunt just died of breast cancer. I just turned 34 and I feel numb from the cancer diagnosis and then less than two weeks later I had surgery and so I feel like I cannot process this.

I am very grateful that the cancer was in an early stage and that I am healing well from surgery but I am so numb. I do not feel sad , depressed or angry just numb. I feel like my life is on hold for who knows how long. When is it ok to feel like I don;t have cancer anymore? When can I stop worrying where else in my body it might be hiding?

Sorry just having trouble with this appointment coming up. My dr is a great surgeon but not a very easy to talk to dr.

ntpruett:
I would love to tell you that it will get better. However, I am having my 1 1/2 year check up in Aug. and I always get nervous. Especially since I was told most recurrences happen in the first 2 years. I think for me it will get easier once I cross that hurdle.
As for what to expect, every doctor is different. Mine has me do a ct scan and CA125 bloodwork each time, and he does a pap or vault smear. There are a lot of women that just get a pelvic exam, some get a rectal exam also. It seems to be whatever the doctor is comfortable with. If you feel enough is not being done, just ask why they do what they do . If you still feel like you want more tests, you can ask.
As far as not being easy to talk to, I almost left my gyn/onc. I said something to his P.A. and she must have spoken to him as he has been much nicer and spends more time answering my questions.
Best to you.

Dear ntpruett,
I send my support to you. I recognize the anxiety.

Don't know if it will help you, but I had an insight after an anxiety-attack in the middle of the night the day after I for the first time spoke to my radiotherapist.
I "knew" for sure that the cancer would be spreading while I was sleeping and that a lot of suffering was yet to come.

Then it suddenly dawned upon me that I was creating at that same moment my own reality, filled with fears I couldn't control.

My father often told us his favorite poem (I will translate it from Dutch to English, but it won't rhyme):

man suffers most because of the suffering he fears,
but which won't appear.
Therefore his burden is much heavier than God intended it to be.

Even now I know that I have cancer I still enjoy my life a lot. Yes, of course I have fysical problems and I do have to cry once in a while and sometimes more often then that, but overall I find that the birds still sing and the flowers still bloom. Even if I find out cancer has spread, and even may be incurable, they still will do that. And I still will be trying to live my life the way I do now and have always done.

Everytime I get anxious or nervous I think about this, I stop, feel how I breathe, listen to the birds and usually it will go away. I find myself smiling afterwards a lot.

Dear NT

Every doctor does follow up slightly differently. Mine did a pap smear of the vaginal cuff, a physical inspection of the pelvis, checked groin lymph nodes, checked for liver enlargement and did a rectal exam. Sometimes the vagina can be felt easier from the rectum.

Does your doctor support phone calls? I always do better when I know what to expect. I set up a phone call with her several days before the actual appointment. I asked her what she would be doing, and what she was looking for. any other tests etc.

It helped be prepare.

Sending you a big hug.

Lyn

I feel the same way as you, just kind of numb. Not "why me", not hysterics, just kind of outside myself. I had my hysterectomy 2 weeks after diagnosis too, and just felt weird even telling my family that I had cancer. I even felt odd saying the "c" word. I guess everyone reacts in a different way. I just had a second surgery last Thursday and was told yesterday that everything came back negative,which is great, but I am really scared deep down that it will come back. I see from other posts that it does do that sometimes, so I guess I will just have to keep being positive and being grateful that it was caught early. I have an appointment next week to see my surgeon, and am not sure what to expect either, so thanks for all the insights, ladies. I know that didn't answer your question, but I felt it may help you to know that you are not the only one to feel this way

to everybody in this thread.

Ntpruett -

As others have noted each doctor is slightly different. I had very early stage Endometrial cancer. My doctor does abdominal palpating (spelling?), vaginal and rectal exams as well as a pap. He said he'll do that every 3 to 4 months for the first year and will then decide if it's 2x a year for 2nd year or drops to 1x a year for next 4 hears.

If they caught it very early there's a really high rate of remission / non-recurrence. You didn't mention your stage and grade so hoping it was a 1

NtPruett & Faith55 - I totally get the numb feeling over all of this. I had it and at times still have it. However it does get better. Still odd but it does get better. The women here have helped me immensely. If you can't seem to talk about it or if it seems overwhelming think about seeing a counsellor. I have one and he was a godsend through all of this.

Anna - hugs and prayers to you. You have a wonderful outlook on it all.

to everybody.

G.

I just had my 3 month post surgery exam. Had to get my refill for my HRT. I have to come back in February 2010 for a pap smear and the HPV test. I'm surprised he isn't doing a pap smear and the HPV test now. Maybe its too early too do that.

At my 3 month exam, I had a pap smear, manual breast exam, rectal exam and pelvic exam. My exams at 6 and 9 months were the same and I have already graduated to annual exams. (My 9 month exam was delayed due to bronchitis so by the time I had the 9 month exam, it was almost 12 months.)

My sister had BRCA so I am considered at high risk for BRCA, too. My sister's BRCA was considered very aggressive but she is now 7 years well.

Although my grandmother had endometrial cancer, when I asked my gyn onc about any hereditary tendencies, he told me there were none. BTW, my grandmother had endo cancer at about age 50, had no further health issues and died peacefully at age 95. When she was diagnosed in the 1940's, I am sure they knew a lot less about endo cancer.

As far as recurrence, I decided the best thing I could do for myself would be to strengthen my immune system as much as possible. So, I rely on prayer, daily exercise, healthy eating, and stress reduction to bolster my immune system.

I hope that things get easier for you day by day. Please keep us posted.

Thank you all so much for the replies. I only saw this gyn/onc for about 10 minutes and he scheduled surgery. I spoke to him right before surgery and that is it. I saw someone else in his office for my 2 week checkup. My gyn told me he was the best in our area and he was the one she knew about who would do it lap and not a total abdominal.

He is not easy to talk to and his office staff is not good on the phone. I had a few questions post surgery and they did answer the questions but I felt like I was bothering them.

I had no idea that some doctors do a rectal exam yikes. That never even entered my mind.

I feel very lucky that it was caught so early. I don;t really have the "why me" feeling just one of shock. I usually deal with problems in a very straight forward way. I like to know the problem , find the solution and move on quickly. With the cancer I just feel stuck. I feel like I have no idea when I am "safe" and can move on and not have to worry about it coming back. I also feel like my body betrayed me.

Just thank you all so much for the help.

NT, I second that! Rectal exam, that never entered my mind either! I think also, like me, its hard when things are out of our control, it's a huge shock and it's something we have never dealt with before, and therefore we have to learn everything from the beginning. Thank goodness for this site and our sisters!

Bookworm, it was very encouraging to read about your grandmother, that actually made my spirits lft somewhat.

Hugs and prayers to everyone.