KiwiCat's updates

Yesterday I had two appointments. The second was for my massage, which was fantastic and I’m physically so much better for it. I’m going back on Monday.

The first, though, was the post-operative meeting with the surgeon, and the news is not good.

The tissue removed has all been tested and has been confirmed as an aggressive form of uterine sarcoma. It’s a relatively rare condition to begin with, made more rare by the particular genetic make up involved.

The good news is it is not hereditary, my sisters and kids need not fear developing the same, this is purely a matter of bad luck. The bad news is that it’s fairly certain it is already spreading elsewhere in my body, and further surgery really isn’t likely to help. Moreover, the usual chemotherapy for uterine cancers tends not to be effective for this particular type of cancer.

This is not the end of the road. I am being referred from the current specialist consultant group to an even more specialised consultant group who focus on sarcomas and who have the most up to date treatment options.

From what I’ve been told, unless they have something they particularly want me to do immediately, it may well be a couple of weeks before I get any update from them, and treatment may well begin in the new year. The silence doesn’t mean I’m being ignored, they just don’t need me right now while they look closer at the results and the options.

In the meantime, it turns out that the pain in my right side that I’ve been assuming was muscle strain turns out to potentially be a bubble of fluid caught in my kidney – apparently a not uncommon side effect of the surgery I had. I need an ultrasound to confirm, and then that can be resolved. I’m currently booked for that next Thursday.

In the meantime I’m back to the district nurse this morning to have the surgical wound checked but otherwise a quiet day.