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Can anyone relate to what I am going through? - Please help.
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07-21-2005, 09:24 PM
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Guest
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Posts: 128
Hysterectomy: June 22nd, 2004
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Can anyone relate to what I am going through? - Please help.
Hi sisters,
I know time to time I post what has to seem like the same question but this is still confusing me. I still have discharge on a regular basis - most of the time its a clear to yellow color and the Onc. has told me that this is normal because after hysterectomy we still have glands in the vagina that can produce discharge. I know I have one of the top doctors and they are aggressive in their approach with followups.
After my colposcopy 3 weeks ago (according to the doctor - everything looked fine) I started noticing a slight brown tinge to the discharge. I called the doctor 4 times - they still do not want to see me and do not seem concerned.
This week the discharge was clear/yellow - (great not worrying) tonight it had a slight brown tinge again. It is by no means anything close to blood colored but still - must I live my life obsessing over this "Cancerhead".
I have scarring from radiation but from what I have read on this website (I have read all posts from the beginning) it does not seem like anyone has discharge. I rarely hear about it in any posts.
I feel like I am in the Twilight Zone sometimes with this because the doctor does not seem concerned however it seems like I am the only one with discharge.
Please help. This is beginning to take a toll on me. I really don't have anywhere else to turn.
Sincerely,
-Jeannie.
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07-22-2005, 05:52 AM
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HysterSister
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Posts: 4,735
Hysterectomy: June 8th, 2004
Surgery Type: SAH
Ovaries: Removed both
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Can anyone relate to what I am going through? - Please help.
Jeannie,
Poor thing....I'll tell you what....the doc doesn't want to see you, and you are this concerned? Go somewhere else. Start from the top and move on down. Strongly state your concern, and that you want to be seen. Insist on it. If the gyn/oncologist doesnt' want to see you, try your regular gyn. If they don't want to see you,try your regular physician. If they don't want to see you, go for a second opinion elsewhere.
Do any of your doctor's have a nurse practioner that will see you? Mine do, and what a relief for things like this, I'll tell you. They have seen me with things that didnt' concern the doctor, but have concerned me, and they have put my mind at rest many times.
What if you called the radiology department and asked if this discharge was a normal side effect of radiation?
Whether the discharge is normal or not isnt' even the issue right this minute. What IS the issue (and what makes me very angry) is that YOU are distressed over this and the doctor isnt' showing enough concern to see you and assure you that all is well.
grrrrr.....wishing you good luck. Don't give up....I hope you find relief for this worry.
K9
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07-22-2005, 06:45 AM
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Guest
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Posts: 7
Hysterectomy: May 27th, 2005
Surgery Type: TAH
Ovaries: Removed both
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Can anyone relate to what I am going through? - Please help.
I agree you need to see someone else if your doctor won't take you seriously. At one point prior to surgery I was still working full time while in chemo, and was in a lot of pain. I called the doctor's office for new pain meds, only to be told he was "playing golf", please call back on Monday! This was after I had told him I had concerns about the fact that he was telling me a total bowel removal was a likely outcome for me, and my telling him that I wasn't ready to face that.
He got very defensive with me, and I ended up seeing two other doctors. Both told me the same thing, but the fact is they at least made the time to see me and were sympathetic. Unfortunately my experience has been this is "routine" to the doctors who deal with it every day, and some of them seem to forget that it's NOT routine to those of us going through it. Even if it turns out the discharge is normal, at least seeing someone who will listen to you will help ease your mind,
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07-22-2005, 06:45 AM
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HysterSister
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Posts: 68
Hysterectomy: December 7th, 2004
Surgery Type: TAH
Ovaries: Removed both
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Can anyone relate to what I am going through? - Please help.
Dear Gio48,
I too have a discharge. At my last gyn. visit in June, he did a culture to be sure that is all it is. The culture came back negative.
I know how frustrating it can be. My hyst. was in Dec. 2004 and I have not had a day without at least a pantiliner. I have my three month checkup with my rad. onc. on Mon., July 25 so I plan to ask her what is up. I'll let you know.
Try and have a great weekend.
Tish-lou
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07-22-2005, 09:56 AM
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Guest
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Posts: 139
Hysterectomy: February 17th, 2004
Surgery Type: TAH
Ovaries: Removed both
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Can anyone relate to what I am going through? - Please help.
Jeannie:
I am sorry you are going throught this stressful time and I am more sorry that you are not getting answers or the treatment you should be getting from your doctor. I have to agree that maybe you should see another doctor. Maybe your rad/onc. will see you. I would also suggest going to Sloan Kettering...they can get you an appointment rather qauickly. The main problem with Sloane is that they are not on any med. plans that I know about, so you usually have to pay a % of the bill. Unfortunately I paid so much already because there was no gyn/onc on my plan, I was responsible for paying about 10,000.00 for my hospital and surgery...so the doctor's bill has gone where all the others bills went--right on a credit card.
Please get your symptoms checked out--you should be going through a healing process since you finished the radiation and you need some answers.
ss
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07-22-2005, 11:07 AM
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Guest
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Posts: 120
Hysterectomy: January 3rd, 2005
Surgery Type: TAH
Ovaries: Removed both
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Can anyone relate to what I am going through? - Please help.
Hi Gio,
I too have some discharge, and the other day I had real blood, BOY! did I freak out, but the rad onc nurse spoke to the doctor and they said that can happen. I have a follow-up coming on the 3rd so I accepted that answer, but if I didn't I sure would be insisting on going in. Over reaction is better than potentially missing something. So get in somewhere so at the very least you can have peace of mind.
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07-22-2005, 06:01 PM
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HysterSister
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Posts: 897
Hysterectomy: May 12th, 1999
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Can anyone relate to what I am going through? - Please help.
Hi, Jeannie,
Sorry to hear that you are experiencing such distress over your current medical situation relating to the vaginal discharge. I know I was a lot like you and would worry and obsess about things going on in my body that seemed out of the ordinary to me unless I had a full explanation for the symptoms, etc., from my gyn-onc.
Here is my take on your situation. I think you sound relatively satisfied with the medical care you are receiving from your gyn-onc. I don't think the practice is meeting your psychological needs, however. From your post, I don't get the sense that you are ready to change doctors. I think you are really looking for reassurances that everything is okay.
Let's look at the situation objectively. You've had a colposcopy three weeks ago and everything was determined to look fine at the time. You've had this discharge since your colposcopy, which is why your gyn-onc most likely feels the discharge is not indicative of a recurrence or other serious problem. (I was wondering if you had this discharge before the colposcopy?)
You mentioned in your post that "you've called the doctor 4 times and they still do not want to see me and don't seem concerned." I would suspect that your gyn-onc probably feels confident that you are not experiencing a vaginal recurrence due to the testing he's done and that there is no need to see you any further at this point. He probably does not think there's anything more that needs to be done clinically or medically at the present time.
However, your psychological stress means that you need some sort of additional reassurance, be it additional information, psychological support, or something else. Do you have specific questions that you can fax to your gyn-onc the answers to which will reassure you not to worry? If so, perhaps you could arrange to fax them over and ask for a faxed response. I have used this approach with my gyn-onc. Alternatively, in any of your phone calls to the office, have you specifically asked for your gyn-onc to call you so that you can ask him whatever questions you have that will give your the comfort level you are seeking about the issue of the continued vaginal discharge?
If it comes to the point where you honestly believe that your gyn-onc is not meeting your needs, then I think it will be time for you to consider moving on to another doctor. I don't sense that you are at that point, however. I do think you may be looking for assurances that your gyn-onc cannot give you. He cannot tell you with certainty that your cancer will never recur, as there are no guarantees where cancer is concerned.
I do know that the fear of recurrence lessens as time goes on. I dealt with the uncertainty of the possibility of recurrence much better after a couple of years. I also was referred by my radiation oncologist to a psychiatrist for some anti-anxiety medication to get me over the psychological and emotional rough spots of my cancer journey.
Try to hang in there, Jeannie.
MoeKay
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07-25-2005, 08:34 PM
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Guest
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Posts: 128
Hysterectomy: June 22nd, 2004
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Can anyone relate to what I am going through? - Please help.
I just wanted to thank everyone for their responses.
MoeKay - thank you for taking the time to reply. I have always had a discharge since surgery. Right after the colposcopy I started having a slight brown tinge. It would be easy to think it was from the test. Its been there very slight almost every day after.
Well I called the doctor again today. I was told anything yellow or clear is fine to them (I am only referring to my situation) they feel it comes from the vagina with tends to produce discharge. They told me that anything pink to red (blood) would be my absolute concern to call the office immediately. Anything with a brown tinge could still be a slight residue from the colposcopy.
I have a routine appointment with the radiologist next Monday.
I understand after a cancer diagnosis how every little thing can be scary. Its also due to the fact that before the cancer diagnosis I bled for two weeks and did not even think anything about it - I thought it was nothing. I was very angry with myself to take such a lazy approach to this. After the diagnosis - my head has been spinning so much that I try to look at everything.
MoeKay - you are probably so correct to say it gets better as time goes on. I am only one year post-op and I am very scared.
Sincerely,
-Jeannie.
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07-26-2005, 04:42 AM
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HysterSister
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Posts: 55
Hysterectomy: October 14th, 2004
Surgery Type: TAH
Ovaries: Removed both
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Can anyone relate to what I am going through? - Please help.
Jeannie,
I, too, can relate to your situation because I have had a ongoing discharge since my surgery. The only difference being that I did not have any further treatment. I have mentioned the discharge at my first two follow-up appointments and the gyn/onc said he couldn't see any discharge when he did my internal exam. I see it in my underpants. It is a brownish color. I told the dr. that I have never had a discharge before I had a hysterectomy and he said now things are different. As it could be a symptom of recurrence, I have been on edge. Now at my third follow-up when I mentioned discharge, he did a PAP. I won't know the results for 3 weeks!!! It is hard not to be concerned.
Kiki23 (Jan)
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