Pre-cancer cells found - update

After about a year of irregular bleeding and periodic heavy bleeding, I went to a GYN who did a pap and ultra sound, then a endometrial biopsy. The diagnosis is ovary cysts and hyperplasia with atypia (precancer cells). The doctor has recommended an abdominal hysterectomy to remove the uterus, ovaries, and cervix.

I'm trying to figure out how long I can wait and how to fit a 6 weeks plus recover into my work schedule. I mean, 75% chance of there not being cancer is pretty good, isn't it?

My partner is supportive and encouraging. My immediate boss, who has had a hysterectomy, is supportive. I haven't told anyone else yet. I don't know who I want to know and who I can or should talk to. I don't want to whine, especially if they don't understand or if it's too personal.


In addition to all of this, I was just diagnosis with diabetes, anemia and high cholesterol in December. What happened?!? I use to be at least moderately healthy!

another,
this of course is your decision to make. My personal suggestion is once you decide you are going to do it, you should go ahead as soon as possible. You gain nothing by waiting (once you are comfortable with your decision). You may gain a LOT by doing it sooner rather than later. At the very least, you will gain the peace of mind of knowing the outcome rather than worrying about it for that much longer. It sounds like this is not a bad time for you regarding work. It sounds like you might not have decided to do it at all yet, so that is a different issue.

My story is that my gyn referred to what was found as "pre-cancer" but referred me to an gynecological oncologist to fully review the results. The gyn/onc flat out told me I had cancer, though what they found is early-stage. He said I could delay surgery based on my schedule, but not more than a few months. Work was my big concern regarding scheduling. It was not an ideal time to take out, but then there was no clear future time that would be better. Basically, once I accepted that this was a surgery I needed, I called the Dr back (the next business day) and asked for the soonest possible surgery date. I could not have concentrated at work much at that point anyway, so it was really the best time to go out on leave.

[As my story goes.... while the initial cancer found in a uterine polyp was grade 1, my cancer was actually grade 2 / stage 2 and had started to spread into my cervix. I am very glad I did not wait any longer for the surgery. No one wants the hear they have cancer, but there is no denying that the sooner you find out and start treating it, the better.]

Oh my goodness, I can see why that face is just peeking over the wall -- you've got a lot on your plate, don't you? I would ask the doc how long you can wait; if there's no cancer, terrific -- but if there is, you do want to get rid of it. Glad you've got a boss who has had a hyst.

I too have multiple stuff going on, including diabetes and high cholesterol. I too was moderately healthy. I was able to get the diabetes under control and not take pill (it took a couple of months), but after the surgery my blood sugar levels went up again so back on pills. In my case they did find uterine cancer, so I had radiation for that. I take medication for the cholesterol, which helps. It's been quite an experience, kind of like knocking down bowling balls, one at a a time, but the good news is I'm still here and doing fine, and I'm expecting you will be, too. It's just sort of shocking to get all that news within a short period of time, isn't it?

There is a lot of good information on this site, and we sisters are v. supporting, so glad you're here. Do let us know how it's going, and hang in there! Sending BIG (((hugs)))

I was just wondering if you are a candidate for a DaVinci Hysterectomy? That's what I had and the recovery is much easier and shorter. Just a thought....

I'm glad you've found us. You also may want to consider getting the opinion of a gyn/onc as pre-cancerous cells were found. It is good to get better informed which you are doing. I'm glad your boss has had a hysterectomy as she will understand your need to take it easy for awhile,etc.after you've had your surgery.
Pls keep us posted.
s

I've taked some steps. Had an abdominal MRI and chest x-ray; they didn't show any signs of cancer. I've picked another gyn out of the insurance list, one who does DaVinci, and will call for a second opinion appointment on Monday. I'll also set one for my GP to approve I'm healthy enough for surgery. I am considering seeing a gyn/onco, but none are very close and I think they require an additional referral. Wonder if a gyn/onco would be more biased towards seeing cancer.

My doctor is recommending abdominal rather than laparoscopic or DaVinci because she wants to remove everything as whole as possible, to avoid spreading cancer cells, if any are there. She consulted with an oncologist, who said it would be ok for her to do the surgery.

One thing I'm curious about is how much y'all talk(ed) about surgery with other people in your lives and who you felt comfortable talking -- pre-op.

Another thing I'm wondering is whether or not I need to drop the one college class I'm taking. It's online, but requires regular homework and has on-campus tests. I'll go talk to the teacher next week, too. But how much will I be able to focus? Or how long would I be unable to focus?

Thank you for your support and encouragement!

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My doctor is recommending abdominal rather than laparoscopic or DaVinci because she wants to remove everything as whole as possible, to avoid spreading cancer cells, if any are there.

This is a good point. I had abdominal surgery in part because I had a couple fibroids that were fairly large. My gen/onc explained the abdominal surgery was better for me in that everything could be taken out intact with less chance of cancerous tissue breaking up and leaving cells. Also, the abdominal surgery allowed him to get a better view of everything. When he said all of that, I could not understand why they would ever recommend someone with cancer not have the abdominal surgery.

I would certainly recommend a gynecological oncologist. Just in case. They will know best what to look for. In addition to the surgery, my surgeons did a 'washing' to look for free-floating cancer cells, biopsied lymph nodes and some other surrounding tissue, 'scraped' my diaphram, and visually checked the surrounding organs to see if they looked healthy. I am sure a non-oncologist would not be prepared to check all of this. To me, it all adds to the peace of mind that everything that could be checked was.

Totally agree with Suddenly. I also had very early stage end. cancer. I was referred immediately to a gyn/onc and had DaVinci within two weeks. The oncologists are necessary because of what Suddenly said in above post. They get frozen sections during surgery, check lymph nodes and do washings if necessary. Suddenly's advice is right on. Good Luck.

Hi there! I had the same diagnosis as you and was referred to a GYN/ONC. I wanted to wait to do the surgery (much to everyone's dismay) because I felt I needed time to prepare mentally. The doc said I could wait 3 or 4 months but no longer. I waited 3 1/2.

The uneasy part was not knowing if cancer was actually there and, if so, if it had spread. My doc said it was unlikely that it had spread as this would have been a slow-progressing cancer. Turns out he was correct.

He also felt the same way about doing a TAH/BSO and insisted that it was absolutely necessary to be sure that cancer didn't form later.

As for talking to others about it, I shared it with just about everyone but only discussed my fears with those I knew would be supportive. I was very uncomfortable with people's reactions at times like co-workers who really didn't know what to say. I ended up feeling bad for them because they were trying so hard to be supportive but felt strange. I was a supervisor and I think they felt they had to say something.....

Then there are others who just jump into their stories about whatever surgery or other situation they went through and sometimes that angered me. I understood why they brought it up but I needed to talk about me. So I learned a lot about just accepting whatever other people could give.

But this is a private issue and you are not obligated to discuss it with anyone. It's your business, really, so do what is comfortable for you.

Best wishes to you!

My endo biopsy also revealed hyperplasia with atypia. The D&C I had a week later confirmed it actually was cancer. My GYN felt it was very early stage and that it was grade 1. I had a Da Vinci about three weeks after I was diagnosed. We had already planned to move (we just moved on Thursday) but my GYN was not willing to put off surgery until after the move (I am two and a half weeks post-op right now). I also have a gyn-onc - he works with my gyn a lot and she asked him to perform my surgery with her - he assisted her during the hysterectomy and BSO, then when the pathology came back he took over and took lymph nodes and did the washings (which were all negative).

As soon as I was diagnosed I went right into "getitoutgetitout" mode and felt that the earlier I had surgery the better. I also have a job where there's no real "slow" period, so the timing wasn't a huge issue. My cancer turned out to be grade 2 (still stage 1A), so I'm glad I didn't wait.