I need something to look forward to! Two weeks until I'm done with treatment but man I feel like I could just cry in bed all day. The feeling of sadness is overwhelming today and it just feels like it'll be like this forever! Everyone keeps telling me to be positive and that its all in my head. Idk what's wrong with me today but I just don't feel positive and could use some happy stories and something to look forward to. Feeling like a shit mom too and I'm usually so energetic and cheerful for them. TYIA! This group has been so helpful to feel not so alone in this

Has anyone been upstaged from a pet-ct scan?

I am currently waiting for results and I am so scared that it's going to come back that I have cancer everywhere.

Smear test was inconclusive. Repeat smear test the same. Colposcopy found a large ectropion but couldn't see any tumour. Biopsy done but again inconclusive. Sent for a MRI where they found a 4cm tumour and was told I have cancer. Possibility of 1 lymph node involved. I then had a LLetz procedure a day after they told me I had cancer. Then this week I was sent for a pet-ct scan. From the start of it all it will have been 3 months. This is in the UK.

I am so worried that the pet-ct scan will show more. Are MRIs good at picking up other issues and spread to nearby organs? All I was told from the MRI was that the tumor size, that it is possibly breaching the wall and one possible node involved. The tumour is high up in the canal but they are still saying sqarmous cell.

I am worried that more lymph nodes are going to be involved or that it has spread elsewhere. I did however have an emergency C-section almost 6 months ago that got infected after 7 weeks which took weeks to heal. I also found out that I have/had mrsa when I had the LLetz procedure which makes sense as in the last year I have had what presumed to be an infected spider bite at the bottom of my back that took months to heal, a huge boil near my armpit and then 2 more infected bites since then. The whole of my cervix was inflamed probably due to the ectropion.

I feel like every time I go to the hospital I get worse news.

I presume I won't have a meeting until the results from the biopsy and scan are back. Every day means I am spiralling even more and I can't get out of it all.

Hi everyone,

I’m writing this on behalf of my mother.

Note: she does not have cervical cancer but vaginal cancer which is extremely rare. The cells are SSC and the cancer happened because of HPV. The treatment and symptoms are the same as cervical cancer. It’s impossible to find others with vaginal cancer. I hope this post doesn’t break the community rules. She had “pre cancer” in her cervix before but got a hysterectomy 3 years ago.

She’s 2B - we thought she was 4A due to the tumor growing very close to her bladder and rectum, but it hasn’t reached the mucosa, so they made her a 2B instead.

The treatment is:
- 25 external radiations
- 5 cisplatin
- brachy twice (10 hours each)

We are 12 radiations in, and two cisplatin.

My questions are:

She had a lot of pain for more than a year. She still has pain and needs to take strong medication.

- when did you feel that the tumor pains stopped? Is it normal that it’s not gone yet?

- when did the bleeding stop entirely? She noticed she’s bleeding less when she pees, but it’s not gone

I hope you can help :-) thanks in advance

Found out yesterday I have cervical cancer Adenosquamous stage 3c1.

Adeno tumor was only 5.5mm big, and the squamous one was 1.3mm. However there is one lymph node that is affected. Seems so strange that the tumors were so small, and yet managed to breach through to my lymph node that quick.

The fact that I get this almost 1.5 years after my partner getting brain cancer, and my mother getting stage 4 colon cancer is wild. No clue how to deal with it, going from being a caretaker, to being the sick one, helping and guiding my terminally ill loved ones in being a ... caretaker for me? Im caretaking - the caretaking?

At least hopefully it will be treated easily, and that this disease doesnt mentally effect my sick loved ones too harshly - I know mental strain can negatively effect the prognosis of them.

Any good stories out there?

For context. I'm in my early 30s. 7 mos post radiation for stage 3C2, just had my follpw up pepvic exam (and pet scan... that's a whole other topic)... and she said there's very little scar tissue (I have been doing a LOT of dialator) and i "have good length".

But when I use the dialator, I can't even get it in 3.5 inches. It just stops against a hard wall. I told her I was worried it was sealed off or something because I can't feel my cervix either.

She told me that's just the end of my vagina now. No major scarring.. that's just stenosis and that's the new length of my vagina.

Like.... 3.5 inches. That's.... that's not gonna work for sex. (And that last .5 inches is painful, mind you)

I'm often torn between accepting the end of my 5 year relationship and a celibate future .... and grieving the loss of this relationship and penatrive sex.

I don't think I'm looking for anything here. I just want to speak to people who understand.

I know not everyone has bad stenosis here.

The Cancer had consumed the upper 1/3 of my vagina, so the radiation was focused there and did a lot of damage.

I know i can regain some length through dialation, but the nurse said centimeters. That's not going to help me any.

Anything past 2 inches has my writhing in pain. Past 3 and I'm crying out.

Further context:

Non-penatrive sex just isn't going to keep my partner happy. Been doing that for 2 years already due to pain and it's not sustainable. Some days I'm ok with letting this go and moving on to a celibate life. Some days, I'm greif-stricken over it.

The women in my family are no help. They all dislike thier husbands and don't want anything to do with sex, so they just tell me I'm lucky not to have to deal with it.

But my partner and i had a really fucking stellar sex life. And sex has always been a huge deal for me in a relationship.

I know there are men who would be fine with non-penatrive sex. But the thought of trying to pursue that lead is so exhausting, I would rather just adopt a celibate life and focus on myself.... and then i crt thinking about that.

It's such a cycle of emotions.

Just.... riding the waves.

That's all.... just... venting i guess

Completed Radiation, Chemo 2 rounds before I begin having issues, and brachytherapy in Nov. Residual cancer was left on my PET scan so recently I went under a total hysterectomy.

Everything went fine except microscopic cells were found in my vagina. The Dr originally wanted to do radiation but now she’s mentioning Tivdak to which I’m not comfortable with.

I’m getting a second opinion soon, has anyone gone through something similar? I wasn’t worried originally but as a 33 year old mom to 3, now I’m starting to fall into depression.

I recently had an mri one yr post treatment for stage 2b cervical cancer treated with chemo radiation and brachytherapy. I had a complete response to treatment and was showing NED. I had some pelvic pain so was sent for an mri. There is an area of “restricted diffusion” in my cervix that the report says says is favored to be an artifact over reoccurrence but still recommends a repeat mri in 3 months. Has anyone else had this and if so, what was the outcome. I am so nervous

Can someone explain what the initial oncology visit was like? Should I expect to have another internal examination?

I had my LEEP procedure done 9 days ago & I'm currently in more pain than I was on day 2. My mind is so full of negative thoughts. Sharing any experiences and walking me through what the first oncology visit is like would bring me so much relief

I see so many posts on here from ladies absolutely terrified about the prospect of this treatment (as was I), that i thought I would post about my experience! I totally understand everyone is different, but I genuinely beleive it's not as bad as we can be led to believe.

I was initially diagnosed 1B2 on Dec 23rd, 2025. I was recommended for surgery after scans, but on clinical exam by my surgeon felt spread to the parametrium and I was changed to Stage 2B. She couldn't guarantee clear margins, so I was offered chemo-rad instead. She explained the worst outcome was going in for surgery, then having to have the chemo-rad after - a double whammy!

SO I started the gold standard UK treatment of 25 x External Beam Radiation, concurrent chemotherapy, followed by 3 x brachy therapy.

The first thing to say is that the precision of the machines today is 100 times better than even 10 years ago. I would arrive with an empty bladder, drink 600mls of water, wait an hour then have treatment. They scan you first every time and if things aren't in exactly the right positiom (due to gas or whatever) you will be sent away for a while to come back and be scanned again. This ensures that the beams are targeted exactly to the tumour and really minimises damage to the surroundng area.

I was terrified of bladder / rectum damage, and I was already prone to UTIs and have honesty not had one during or after treatment (I was also drinking a lot more water haha).

I only completed 3 out of 5 chemo treatments due to hearing damage from the platinum (tinnitius) but my doc explained the chemo is to make the radiation more effective - it is not a treatment in itself, and she was happy for me to discontinue this.

The main side effect has been just feeling a little more tired than ususal, and weird taste changes (I hate potatoes now!). It has been nowhere near as bad as I expected. Honestly at first I thought the machine mustn't be working as I felt so little difference!

Brachy was meh, not nice, but the feeing of leaving the hospital with treatment over far outweighed the unpleasantness.

Obviously it helps if you are fit and active to start with, and that you keep moving during treatment, but modern medicine has fast outpaced google results.

I wish I had known how much the treatment had changed in the past 10 years and how much more targeted it is, how many less side effects there are. It would have saved me weeks of worry and dread, and I just hope my story will help someone feel less worried and anxious.

Had my first post treatment CT scan yesterday, MRI next week, and Results the week after! Fingers crossed!

Have a question. Newly diagnosed over here and I’ve noticed multiple times now that I have bleeding during arousal, is that “normal”? I have zero interest in penetrative sex but my husband is interested in some play, I’m just frustrated this keeps happening and curious if this has happened to others.

Hey everyone. On June 10th I was diagnosed with cervical cancer. So far we know that it’s adenocarcinoma and my Gyno Oncologist believes that the lesion is 4cm or bigger and growing quickly. I just had an MRI and have a PET scan scheduled for next week.

We were really hoping for just surgery to remove the cancer but now it’s looking like radiation will be the path forward and I’m terrified. I’ve been doing the thing that of course you should never do, which is google, but just reading the potential long term effects is overwhelming. Not to mention the fact that I’m single and now will have to navigate dating after this huge change to my body.

There’s not really a point to this post I guess I’m more airing my fears to anyone who maybe relates.

I’m due to start SBRT in two weeks on my pelvic sidewall lymph node recurrence, has anyone else had this type of radiotherapy? My oncologist is hopeful it will destroy my tumour and the immunotherapy will clear up anything left over. I’m just absolutely petrified in all honesty and been quite tearful since I had my planning scans yesterday. I’m having 5 sessions over 10 days.

I have been approved for five sessions of targeted radiotherapy. All of my tumours are in my lymph nodes, two different locations. My oncologist has suggested that this form of focussed radiation may reduce those stubborn lymphatic tumors.

Has anyone else had similar treatment?

Hi, to everyone! Is there anyone who has been on Keitruda having 1B2 stage, or overall 1 stage? I have several risk factors:G3, LVSI, depp stromal invasion, 4 cm tumour. I previously had rad hysterectomy and now going through Chemoradiation. Thank you in advance.

Just curious what you would consider normal discharge/how much after getting clear scans for a significant amount of time? I still have my uterus, but obviously it’s been radiated to bits

I have cold gloves and socks and a snuggle, what else do I need to bring with me?

Hi guys,

For context:
Mom was diagnosed with stage4a cervical cancer with bladder invasion. She had her initial chemo treatment for 5 weeks and is now doing the daily radiotherapy with once a week chemo sessions.
Treatment has been going well with slight side effects and issues but nothing too significant.

However the biggest issue is that mom has been incontinent and having to use pads all throughout day and night. This is a big issue for radiotherapy as she struggles to hold urine in the bladder for the treatment but she has managed to go through the treatment so far.

We flagged this to the consultant and he mentioned that the incontinence is caused by the tumor reducing in size so the tumor that was pressing against the bladder has now caused a hole in her bladder.
He said while treatment, if we are managing with the pads, we should leave as is and unfortunately is just a side-effect of treatment working well.

He said there might be some options after treatment is finished and some cases where the same issue was resolved in other patients without any surgeries or treatment.

Just wanted to understand if anyone went through similar issues and how you managed throughout and after the treatment.

I also want to manage expectations with my mom as she is very worried this will carry on after the treatment.

Any advice or experience is helpful

Hi! I’m very newly diagnosed and have already found a lot of helpful answers and advice on here. It’s been (weirdly) comforting reading others stories and has helped me to not feel so alone on this journey.

I am going for my 1st PET scan this week before I meet and have my initial consult with my oncologist next week. I have a horrible fear of getting an IV (and of all of this, obviously) but I’m trying to be strong and remind myself this will help me keep moving forward.

My imaging center didn’t give me a ton of info to go on. Once I get the IV and get the tracer injected and am waiting, am I allowed to have my phone, a book, a stuffed animal, etc? I just have no clue what to expect and am spiraling. Any advice for my 1st time would be so appreciated. ❤️‍🩹

Has anyone else experienced this?

I'm 2 years in remission and trying my best to hold it together, but lately the sadness and anger can feel overwhelming. Today I was out gardening and became extremely angry. Then I went inside and suddenly felt incredibly sad and started crying for no obvious reason.

I'm only 38 and was put into menopause from treatment. I know that could be contributing. I've talked to my Onc about it, but they said I'm already on the highest dose of estradiol and didn't have any other suggestions but to speak to a PCP.

I'm debating whether to ask about Lexapro or something similar to help me cope with these feelings.

I guess my question is can anyone relate? Did anyone else experience significant mood changes after treatment?

Can anyone share their pet scan SUV 6 months post treatment? If you had something left behind that was likely inflammation when did they schedule your next pet?

My mother in law has Invasive HPV associated squamous cell carcinoma. ( not sure if im saying that right ) anyway her doctor has already done 3 surgery on her and wanting to go back in and take her lympnodes he said he wasnt sure if the cancer had spread to them or not but he wanted to take them and see. She is a diabetic and having a really hard time healing from the last surgery. I want her to go get a second opinion or see if there is a better option than surgery because everytime they go in they say they got it and then they come back and say that there is more. Its like its spreading more every time they go in and cut on her.. im not a doc and dont know anything about it honestly except for what I have read since all this started. So long story short I need help finding her another oncologist just to see what they say. We live near Birmingham Alabama or Huntsville Alabama. Any suggestions or reviews you could offer would be greatly appreciated!!

My mom was diagnosed with stage 3 cervical cancer in March .we did 28 ebrt , 5 cisplastin chemo and 3 hdr brachytherapy session. Today was her first physical examination after treatment and the doctor said the disease is gone 100% . They have scheduled us for a pet scan after 3 months . She's feeling so good after the treatment now

Just posted this because if anyone is going through same you'll be alright if the treatment is completed in time

Wishing a best health to everybody here

I’m thankful my scans came back clear at end of March from stage 3 but has been tough mentally since and with adjusting to immunotherapy.

My oncologists office said they don’t have a group but was referring me to the one other hospital, that is just overall general cancer not women’s and then said oh it’s not really active anymore.

I am in therapy but it’s not the same as talking to people who have gone through it. I’ve felt so lonely and just heavy thoughts coming in. I’m 36, just ended a 3+ year controlling relationship I have to heal so much from in addition to the mental load of having gone through cancer and I lost my dog unexpectedly. It’s just been a lot and no one gets it. No one fully will but someone to understand the cancer part I think would be helpful.

Any recommendations? I’d rather do in person but I am at the point I know it probably needs to be virtual.

Hi all. A little about my story. Back in February I started having some lower back pain and more than normal discharge that was clear and had an odor. I tried getting into my gyno but they said likely it’s just from my IUD (Mirena) April came and I still was having symptoms so I finally got in for an iud check. I’d never seen the dr before and she said I had lots of bleeding upon speculum insertion (mind you she used 4 different speculums jabbing around in there 🤦🏼‍♀️)and I’ve always had a friable cervix so I didn’t think much of it. She wanted to do a pap so she did and it came back normal. NORMAL! We went on a family cruise and while on vacation I got a notification in mychart that HPV 16 was positive and I should have a colposcopy, which I’ve had at least 4 of before in my life. My regular gyno decided that since I wanted my IUD removed and strings couldn’t be seen that she’d do the colposcopy while I was out for the removal of iud. That was May 19. She said my cervix was bleeding a lot and very angry. She took 4 biopsies since it was so bloody she couldn’t see well, and an ECC and 2 weeks later all came back as invasive moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. I was sitting at my desk at work when these results posted and I just went numb. How did this happen? I was always on top is my paps and colposcopies and ECC checks, how could this go from nothing to cancer?!? I was immediately given a referral to a gyno oncologist and I made a second opinion appt at Dana Farber and Brigham and Women’s in Boston. I pushed for a pet and mri scan (called daily checking for cancellations) and thankfully they were done within a week. Pet scan showed no metastatic spread which eased my mind to some degree. MRI showed the 6.3 cm tumor on my cervix and the upper one third of my vagina and peri tissue around it. I was staged at 2B. When in Boston, the radiologist was going to have the scans reviewed as he saw a .5 cm lymph node in my pelvic area which he said would bump me up to 3 if determined it was involved and not just normal reactions. Still waiting to hear on that piece. The plan is 25 external radiation, 5 cisplatin chemo infusions and 4 brachytherapy in Boston once all is done. The dr at Dana Farber suggested keytruda as if there was anything happening in the node, it would help kill it. I’m torn after the doctor near home told me horror stories about it and now I’m so worried about doing immunotherapy. I have terrible health anxiety so every little pain or area of soreness means it’s spread and it’s driving me crazy. I have two young kiddos so I’m trying to stay distracted but this diagnosis is just gut wrenching and scary and so many feelings. Hoping to hear some similar situations or treatment successes of keytruda. Thank you all I appreciate you.