A radiant life: As luck would have it

When I was diagnosed with endometrial cancer, my surgeon told me, 'Well, if you have to get a gynae cancer, this is the one to have. It shows itself early and we can cure it if we catch it in time.'?

When I was undergoing radiotherapy, even?though I saw a lot of women at the Cancer Care Unit and some of them told me about the brachytherapy they were having to undergo, it didn't occur to me that I had been very lucky indeed. In spite of the length of time it took me to get someone to believe there really was something very wrong, I only needed 'normal' radiotherapy and, as I keep saying, I'm still here!?

Yesterday, I heard about someone who hasn't been so lucky; her endometrial cancer didn't 'show itself early'; it was already far more advanced than mine by the time it made its presence felt. In spite of the swift action taken once it was recognised, there is no really happy ending in sight. Chemotherapy, radiotherapy, brachytherapy; all have been administered. The cancer has been removed, but it was already in the lymph nodes when it was identified, and the patient has been told it will probably return sometime in the next two years.

It's tales like this that make me realise I shouldn't be complacent, believing that 'my' cancer is always curable. It isn't - and this is a cancer that isn't 'glamorous', so the symptoms aren't as well known as cervical or ovarian cancer and are often mistaken for something else (as in my case). It shows, I think, the ?importance of constant vigilance and an immediate visit to a doctor, should any signs appear. And then, if the doctor considers not endometrial cancer but something much less drastic - and we all want to hear that we haven't got cancer whatever this symptoms may be telling us - the importance of insisting on tests and (at least) a second opinion are highlighted, for me, by stories such as this one.

Source: http://a-radiant-life.blogspot.com/2012/02/as-luck-would-have-it.html

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