hysterectomy for endometrial cancer and follow-up

@beebee. A different provider will be involved with radiation therapy as that person will be a radiation oncologist. I'm not sure about chemotherapy but one of our other members in our support group will be able to answer that question. I do know that many people in our support group have made appointments for second opinions and then scheduled their adjuvant therapy (chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy) at a different medical center. At this point you won't know what is required for your adjuvant therapy until after the hysterectomy is performed and pathology evaluates the tissue that has been removed. At that point a definitive diagnosis is made along with staging (1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, etc).

I am really pulling for you that the telephone intake tomorrow will result in Mayo appointments that will occur quickly. I live in a rural area where the surgery for any uterine cancer is not performed. That was 5 years ago. My gynecologist referred me to Mayo in Rochester and I had an appointment that same week at Mayo with the hysterectomy scheduled the following week.

So these are my thoughts. Do you have a list of questions to ask the person during your phone intake?

Hi Helen, thanks for the quick input. Do you have thoughts on questions I should ask? I was thinking the phone call tomorrow will be to get insurance info and set me up a portal to send test results. I was surprised that the on-line intake forms did not ask these questions.
My main question would be:
-Steps of the intake process
-When will I be seen by a gynecologist oncologist and how long would the wait be for a hysterectomy?
-What will be done at the appt with the gynecologist oncologist?
-Are there tests I should get done before the appointment with the gyn/oncologist or do we wait for him/her to order more?

I am pretty much clueless!

@beebe I think those are good questions. The person you speak with won't be a medical provider but they should be able to tell you about the wait to be seen by a gyn oncologist. They should also be able to tell you what, if any, other tests should be done prior to your appointment and what information Mayo will need. For instance, has your pathology report already been sent to Mayo Clinic? Have your slides from pathology already been sent and received? In my case pathology at Mayo Clinic requested my slides from my local biopsy.

Yes, like you I am thinking that tomorrow's phone call will be regarding insurance and getting your portal set up.

It sounds to me like you are doing everything possible to get your treatment going. You aren't clueless at all! You have good questions all ready to ask.

Thanks for the pep talk! Do you think since my biopsy was only a teeny pipelle sample that they will be interested in viewing the slide(s) from it?
The on-line intake form did not ask for any tests results which I found odd, I could have uploaded them.
In any case it should be an interesting phone call. I'll let you know how it goes:)

It doesn't matter if the hysterectomy and chemo/radiation are done at different places.

Speed and surgical experience are both important for the hysterectomy. My general feeling is that most gyn onc surgeons do lots of robotic hysterectomies and are generally quite good at it. But if you're not sure about your local surgeon, and the Mayo can come close on speed, it might be worth going there. Do you know when your local hospital can schedule a hysterectomy? Your questions for Mayo sound good to me.

It's definitely a good idea to get a second opinion on chemo and radiation, but you'll probably want to do the actual chemo near home. IMO a chemo infusion is a chemo infusion. I suspect radiation, especially external beam radiation, may be better at the top-ranked medical centers because they're more likely to have the latest, most expensive equipment.

Best of luck.

Thanks for the great input, especially regarding radiation tx. I will know after an appt on Tuesday with a local gyn/oncologist when he can schedule me for the hysterectomy. As far as the Mayo clinic goes I am unsure how far they will drag out this process, fingers crossed I can get some questions answered tomorrow:)

I was diagnosed with uterine serous cancer in June/July 2024. I had surgery and I did need chemotherapy. I completed chemotherapy 12/09/24. I start a maintenance therapy lawyer in January.

I want to follow you. I think we can support each other.

I choose the surgeon/oncologist for both. But I did get a second opinion after surgery and after I started chemotherapy. It confirmed the treatment approach. You need to do what you mind and heart are telling you to do.

Denise

I was out of the country when diagnosed with serous. Due to time constraint I had my surgery within 4 days of diagnosis in Mexico. I had almost 100% wall invasion so no time to waste. I then obtained my records and took them to a cancer center to have translated and discuss chemo/radiation. I am currently receiving treatment from a cancer center in Yuma but have a consultation with Mayo Phoenix in February which I requested in December. I felt the hysterectomy was a sense of urgency and I then was able to work on finding a treatment center that I felt comfortable with.

@jwestwood1 Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. It's great that you posted so that you could both share and support others here. I can understand why you proceeded with the hysterectomy so quickly given the diagnosis of serous endometrial cancer. You've started your treatment in Yuma and so I'm wondering how you are feeling. Also, does your treatment include chemotherapy and radiation? Will the consultation at Mayo in Phoenix be a second opinion?

Yes, I did 3 chemo treatments and will sandwich 28 radiation treatments starting next week. The plan is to then finish with 3 more chemo treatments. I did have a phone meeting in December with an oncologist gyn at Mayo. We discussed the surgery and treatment plan to date. He agreed that would be most likely the same protocol for first line but referred me to a medical oncologist and requested the pathology slides.
So yes, Mayo is a second opinion. Yuma has been wonderful but they do not see much endometrial cancer and rarely serous.