scared and confused

Hi sisters. I am not sure how to voice my concerns. I know that my situation is not as advanced as some of yours but I'm not sure how to deal with it. It's not that I think I'm going to die, I know that I'm not in the life threatening stage and I'm getting it taken care of. What scares me is the uncertainty. I don't really know what's happening in there. I feel pain, that is getting worse by the day, and anxiety over what is probably not as dire as my over-active imagination can come up with. I am so new to all of this. I'm only 33 years old, stupidly did not get a pap for over 5 years and now I'm suffereing the consequences. I went in for what I thought was going to be a simple check-up and pap and now, less than 3 weeks later, I'm having a hyst. My husband and I have a great attitude, feel good about our choice of treatment, even though we chose the most invasive, and feel good about the prognosis. The pain and the unknown questions, will my ovaries shut down, will I have problems with HRT's, etc has got me in a panic. Thank you for letting me vent. - Linda T

Linda, welcome to Hystersisters and CANCER CONCERNS .

I take it that you have cervical cancer /pre cancer.... what stage?

Remember that a hysterectomy is all that is usually needed to remove all the abnormal cells.

It is perfectly normal to have all these fears that you are experiencing. I know I did when I was first told. ( Still do sometimes ) My imagination sometimes has parties in my mind and runs away... it is horrid having an over active imagination. What I do ( or try to do ) is when I realize what is happening is to take a deep breath and tell myself that I am a survivor .

As for the ovaries, when I had my hyster , my ovaries kicked right in at about 5 weeks post op and worked perfectly ok until put out of use from pelvic radiation. I didnt have to take any form of HRT until then. A good place to visit here on the Hyster site is THE HORMONE JUNGLE if you have any questions about menopause and hormones. Also the PRE - OP forum is a good one just to read if not post , to realize that most girls have the same fears as you are when facing a hysterectomy.

I am so glad you posted here, there is no need to do this alone.We are here for you. Please post whenever you need us, take care and sending you lots of hugs xxx

hello regency_reader i am also new here. signed up yesterday. i can relate with what you are going through, i waited 7 yrs. i can only tell you that is everything will be alright. this site is one of the best places to talk and share stories. my ovaries were left and are still ok. been post-op now 9 mo. i was pretty scared and nervous when i found out. asking your doctor all the questions is a great way to help lesson the anxiety. we are all here for you! vent all you like, it is o.k. hope i helped some.

It sounds like we all feel pretty much the same. I waited 9 years before I went in for pelvic pain and the same scare came upon me. Stage 1a cervical cancer. I was told I had cancer in February and by March 27th it all done I had a LAVH. I chose to keep my overies because of a talk me and DD had. I am 35 so it was the best choice for me. I feel pretty good today small issues nothing I can not handle. Love those KEGEL exercises I had to make the choice with myself to keep my head up and walk strong. Listen to the DD and all will go well. for and yours.


E-mail me if you need to chat I am here with a strong shoulder to cry on and this web site is wonderful. A lot of night were spend on these message boards and chat.

Hi Linda,

Have you asked your doctor about relocating your ovaries, if they are healthy? I have never heard of such a thing but that is what the gynecologist oncologist suggested for my hysterectomy, in the event I may need future radiation. Well, my surgery was unsuccessful as he could not complete the hysterectomy because of excessive bleeding, infection from the colposcopy (performed two months prior) which led to my cervix being detached from my uterus. So he had to stitch me up and my form of treatment was radiation. From what I understand, he relocated it close to the kidneys. Just enough to be out of the area they would radiate.