Diagnosed Stage 4 During Lockdown

I'm 42 years old and, on day two of lockdown, I got diagnosed with stage 4 cancer of the lining of the womb which had spread. It felt like my whole world had fallen from beneath me!!

It's been really hard to do all this in lockdown - I've had to go to all appointments on my own whilst my husband stays home with the children. One of the worst things was having to tell my parents over FaceTime that I had cancer, and telling family and friends on the 'phone or by text.

I had a six hour op in early April to remove my ovaries, womb, fallopian tubes, appendix, omentum, lymph nodes and spots from my bowel and stomach. I recovered well in hospital for a week and then at home. Once I got the results from the biopsy they took, they were confident they'd removed it all, and the cancer hadn't spread to the lymph nodes which was great news! The mass they removed from one of my ovaries was the size of a honeydew melon!!

I've started six rounds of Carboplatin and Paclitaxel chemotherapy to make sure they got all the cancer. Chemo is not nice - feeling nauseous, not sleeping, and aching all over - but as long as it's doing it's job!

I lost my hair two weeks after my first chemo; my husband had shaved my hair short but it's still a shock when its coming out in big clumps. Plus I hadn't expected it to come out so quickly.

The NHS have been truly amazing, I've been so well looked after. I also have age on my side. So I'm feeling positive, which I need to be for my husband, children and family.

Karen x x

#womb #uterine #endometrial #gynaecological #gynecological #cancer #young #woman #women