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← Return to Endometrial Cancer: Noticing my blessings every day
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Endometrial Cancer: Noticing my blessings every day
Gynecologic Cancers | Last Active: Feb 2, 2023 | Replies (100)Comment receiving replies
Not to scare anyone but always insist you get a speculum exam in the future. I had uterus cancer and a hysterectomy no radiation just regular exams, that was in 2009. I insisted on an examination with a speculum in fact I went to 4 doctors during a 2 year period who just did an examination without a speculum. The fourth doctor finally used a speculum in 2017 and found that my cancer had returned in my vaginal cuff, 25 external radiation treatments and brachytherapy. Had I not insisted the doctor use a speculum my cancer would have been missed. One has to be really proactive these days. I forgot to add that the reason the doctors did not want to use a speculum was because there was only a 1% chance of recurrence.
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Dear jeanadair123, Thank you for this reminder. I'm returning to Mayo Clinic for my cancer appointments. When I had my surgery follow-up six weeks after surgery, the surgeon did use a speculum. I will make sure that all of those subsequent appointments include the use of a speculum. Dr. Kumar (my gyn oncologist at Mayo in Rochester) told me that all of my future checks will be complete pelvic and rectal exams. For this endometrial cancer, I won't have any imaging studies (CT, MRI or PET) or labs unless I report symptoms or they find symptoms during the physical exam. Yes, we all must be proactive with our medical providers. I have found that when I do this and receive arrogance, ego or pushback (which I have for other medical issues), I decide that is not the provider for me.