My D& C with colposcopy was done on April 6, 2016. At this time I had begun my second level II field work in occupational therapy working in Farmington, CT with children. The site was very supportive of what was happening in my life and I will be forever thankful for that.
I had the procedure at Fairview Hospital in Great Barrington, MA. It is a small local hospital where I was treated like a queen by the staff. I am not bothered by anesthesia so it was not a bad experience other than the cramping and lite bleeding that took place for a couple of days.
When I came out of the OR, Dr. Dread, came to speak to me. The only real news he had to tell me was that my uterus was "fluffy". Very "fluffy". I googled this once I got home till I was blue in the face and found nothing relative to cancer. He also told me there was a spot that looked suspicious at 7:00 (think of the cervix as a circle) and that a LEEP procedure should take care of it.
I went back to work at my level II field work site and waited for my appointment which was in about 2 weeks. This appointment had been scheduled at the same time as the D & C procedure.
Some advice to those reading this. Don't assume anything. I assumed that if they found anything 'tragic", they would call me right away. Not so. The morning of my appointment my husband asked me if I wanted him to go along with me. I said, "No, if something was wrong they would have called me already". I had also previously brought "my person" to another appointment for support and did not ask her to this one either. When I entered the office, the nurse said to me, "Where is your 'person'?" I should have known something was wrong right then.
In comes Dr. Dread and sits on a stool below me.
- You have cancer
- It is adenocarcinoma which is the rarer form of cervical cancer
- Adenocarcinoma is more aggressive than squamous cell
- Are you alright???????
I was furious and furious is not something I do often. I called them back later in the day and gave them a piece of my mind. They said they did not like to give 'that kind' of information over the phone so this is how they do it. Well then they should tell the patient to bring someone to this appointment regardless of what they think they might hear. They should make it mandatory that the person does not come alone. They should prepare the patient that at the appointment they 'might' be getting bad news. I was never given any indication that I was dealing with cancer. Of course I new that is what they were testing for, but everything had come back 'meh'.
Once my radical hysterectomy was done. The cancer/tumor encompassed 100% of my cervix. 100%!!! How did this doctor not see this? It had also spread microscopically to 6 lymph nodes. Aggressive. Yes! Let's wait a little longer to take care of it.
Next week... The Radical Hysterectomy
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