yes i was planning more study that is now on hold, but my lecturers said that if you cannot do honours its ok because if i come back the year after i will be able to do my masters, so there is hope yet! i am lucky enough to have some portrait commisions to do, nothing too demanding, just small coloured pencill works, so thats going to keep my hand in on my good days.  Can you tell me if a heavy achy feeling in the legs is ok?, i have excrutiating pain in my lower back to the left side, but i think this may be a menopausal thing?, the good news is that all my body swelling is comming down, one last question, how do you get rid of that metal taste in the mouth? ... View more

hi everyone im ok  they put my chemo off until tomorrow morning so i dont know how ill be yet, the radiation only takes about fifteen mins and i can feel it but its not painful yet, it kind of  feels like my hips have had a good work out, and i have got myself there and back (i dont drive so its the bus) i hope i will be all right when it gets on a bit. I saw the social worker and she was helpful and my degree came in the post which was a brilliant cheer up! but now im back to the terrors im thinking you all know about that.  good luck with yours beccnat, i know youll find the right solutions for you and im so with you on the research some times you just have to get outside the square.  thanks for the book reviews!, ... View more

well your all mighty cheerful about starting your chemo's and good luck to you! i am still petrified of mine and i start chemo first cisplatin , if i cant take that they will change to carboplatin, on jan 5 with radiation external straight after, i had my tatoos last week so everything is ready to go execpt me, im still not. i have to have the internal radiation as well, and am going to be booked into the rpa for that as they aenesetise and rwh doesnt, my team is ok with that, it just needs me and its all under way.   i would rather be painting. ... View more

ok but this info does say it is not advisable for women undergoing chemo to take hrt.  SSri anti-depresants seem a better option while on chemo then  i will ask onco about any side affects likely for me, i am a little worried about the bone density thing ... View more

thanks for info, doctor im seeing in hospital told me she reccomends hrt, and that there is nothing wrong with it but this info says very different for someone in my position.  i am certainly not in favour of harming myself and have had a dissagreement with her already about the safety of hrt.  she's not so good at listening, i can only hope she's a great surgeon.  what are ssri anti-depresants? and what makes them different from other anti-depresants? and do they have any side effects? and can you take them whilst undergoing radi/chemo? ... View more

thank you i know what you say is true.  There is no not going into menopause for me though, because they said that after the radi/chemo they will do intrnal radiation and they will aim it at my cervis uterus and ovaries, they will actually aim it there.  i dont think theres going to be any comming out of that.  i know that the oncologist i have now is very good to me he has gone to another hospital to set up the last part, the internal radi so i can have it all under aenesthetic (they wont at this hospital, they wake you up after they put the rods up) because of my background i just didnt want to be further traumatised by being awake while i get killed on yhe inside again. ... View more

still not so good i just want my body the way it is and my right to a natural menopause in my own time and to carry on with my life i am just finishing my fine art degree and should be out starting my career off or doing my dip ed to teach like everyone else but i barly scraped through this term with this crappy cancer malarky and now there is no direction but hospitals and poisons. i am an abuse survivor and have always been a fighter ruled by my own determination but i cant seem to find any for this ... View more

here goes.  ..... my mri came back, and i have been told that operation is no longer possible for me.  even though i had just about decided on radi/chemo i feel upset that my choice has been taken from me even though i know its good because i no longer have to make a rotton choicei just feel so bad i just want to run away, i dont want any operation and i dont want any radi/chemo they want to put it in and out, i want to run run runand im afraid i will ... View more

Thanks beccnat! I am chasing this information as we speak - i am sorry to hear your story, no not all reproductive cancers are slow growing, it seems most are but not all.  I wish you every sucess and every thing you need to win your battle, hang in there and remember the mantra, you are going to get through this.   I have decided to go with the radi/chemo option because cisplatin is also used for lung and bladder cancer so if there is anything lurking in the bladder still it should kill it , along with the cervical and uterus as well, they said there was an 80% chance they would get it all, but i dont want to have to have an op + this too, and its just too seductive that lymph node damage after radi/chemo is not usually as great as after the op, however i do understand that damage to the bladder/bowel could be greater than the op.  its just an all round awful decision, but im getting better at making it. ... View more

thankyou for sharing your experiences it helps alot!.  my cervical cancer is abit tricky because it started at the top of the cervix not the bottom, which immediatly compromised my uterus. after exploration under aenestethic the surgeons fellow spoke to me and said there was also a nodule in the bladder.  The thing about surgery that scares me is that they might not get it all or that it can hide in the cells, so im thinking very seriously about the radiation/chemo option, despite the fact that internal/external rad/chemo scares me as well, these are awfull desisiions for a known coward like me.  There is a radiation/chemo mix which has shown to have great results with cervical cancer, my onco said, and i found an english site (reputable) which spoke of this and named the drug as cisplatin mixed with radiation, and said that in many cases it kept the cancer from returning, and for those whom it did return they found it took longer than would normally be to return, has anyone had experience with this?,   p.s. im with the rwh in randwick ... View more