Cervical Cancer

[vixen22]

I'm sorry for posting here as I only ever post on the IBB but I really need help with this. I hope you can help.

I have just found out that a friend of mine has cervical cancer, she is 24.

She is my little foster brothers sister and we just don't know how to tell him, he will be 9 next month.

She went for a check up at the hospital for something completely different a few months ago but they decided to check everything out and they found that she had advanced cancerous cells and they had to operate straight away.

It has now been 6 months since that last episode and when she went to the consultation and to have another scan the doctors told her that the cancer is definately there but they are unsure about the size of the tumour. She was asked to stay at the hospital from this Friday but it is her step-sisters birthday and she doesn't want to let anyone down by not going.

She really doesn't not deserve this to happen to her (not that anyone ever does ), she has done so much by getting herself and 3 siblings away from her alcoholic parents by going into foster homes 8 1/2 years ago, she only just went back to school 4 years ago and now she is happy with her life and a boyfriend.

She has been given the option of having her eggs frozen but all she is concerned about at the moment is the size of the tumour.

She is trying to put a brave face on for everyone, at the moment, she is living in England with her boyfriend and his family while she is at Uni, she has 1 full sister over there who she is not particularly close to but the majority of her family is over here in N Ireland. She is like another daughter to my mum and dad so this news has been hard on everyone (including myself as I class her as a sister).

Can anyone give me insight on how this type of cancer progresses, what the chances of shrinking the tumour is, since this cancer is advanced is chemo the only way?

Thanks in advance

[KKB]

Hi vixen22 -

So sorry to hear about your friend - as a 3 year cancer survivor, I can definitely relate to how horrible it is to get a diagnosis like this.

I had non-hodgkin's lymphoma of the cervix (different than cervical cancer but obviously in the same place) and had to have chemo, surgery and radiation. This is now why I'm doing the infertility thing - my husband and I froze embryos pre-chemo.

The only way for her to get the information you were asking about is to see an oncologist and have all the tests run that need to be done. Cervical cancer can be treated with surgery, radiation, and chemo, and which treatment modality is best depends on the size of tumor and stage of disease. It's really impossible to predict outcomes etc. without all that information.

The best thing she can do is get all that info as quickly as possible, get a second opinion, and look at her fertility options. I was grateful my oncologist was so forward-thinking about protecting my fertility and that my cancer was early stage and I had a month to do IVF pre-chemo - that isn't always the case.

Hopefully she'll get the answers she needs - this is a tough road she has ahead of her, but she's lucky to have your support.

[vixen22]

KKB thanks for your reply ...I sincerely hope that everything goes well for you and your DH and I am keeping everything for my friend, hopefully she will know more the next time she gets in touch