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Suspected Endometrial Cancer: Cervix won't open to do biopsy
Gynecologic Cancers | Last Active: Dec 29, 2023 | Replies (98)Comment receiving replies
If it helps to know, I took that pill 3x (twice for attempt at biopsy in office) and once under anesthesia and my cervix still wouldn’t dilate. She said I had scar tissue. ? Going next week to talk about next steps.
Replies to "If it helps to know, I took that pill 3x (twice for attempt at biopsy in..."
I also will be interested in hearing what options you are given.
I bitterly regret not having tried harder to avoid having a D&C with hysteroscopy. Shortly after Thanksgiving I had a CT scan showing that I have extensive metastases in my peritoneum (aka peritoneal carcinomatosis). Before having the D&C with hysteroscopy I had read medical literature suggesting that this procedure was associated with peritoneal spread, but felt like I should trust my doctor. Of course I can't prove that the D&C and hysteroscopy caused my cancer spread, but I think it is a legitimate concern.
I'm really angry, and am planning to do my best to have the use of this procedure minimized in the future, because I believe it is dangerous for some women and that more can be done to avoid it.
My guess is that there should be at least two ways for you to potentially avoid it, not including vaginal misoprostol, which I guess you have already tried. One is that they may be able to do the dilation be then just do to pipelle biopsy (as in the office biopsy), instead of doing the hysteroscopy and the curettage. But what I wish I had really tried fighting for is a liquid biopsy (ie a blood test that looks for tumor DNA in your bloodstream), such as that offered by Grail. This is not standard of care,and I think it's questionable whether the doctors would consider a positive result as acceptable for diagnosis, although I think they should. (These tests are not held in very high regard because they have high rates of false negatives, ie they miss cancers that are present. However they have virtually no false positives, so a positive result should be real.).
I keep getting fund raising emails from the hospital where I'm being (mis)treated, boasting about how they're providing the medicine if the future today. The D&C with hysteroscopy is the medicine of the past, and hopefully the liquid biopsy is the future.
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@jll94, welcome. I look forward to hearing what alternatives will be offered so that a biopsy can be successfully taken for you. What symptoms led to your needing a biopsy? Does your doctor want to rule out uterine cancer?