Hello All,
My beloved Aunt was diagnosed today in St. Louis with uterine cancer that has spread to her cervix. Her gynecological oncologist had all the test results/biopsy findings in today, and he said he believes it is at least stage 2 and probably stage 3 and he called it advanced and mentioned something about there being two types of tumors in the uterus and that being harder to treat and making recurrence more likely.
He said the standard course of treatment is surgery to remove the uterus and cervix, followed by radiation and chemotherapy. But this is all complicated by the fact that my aunt weighs right about 400 pounds, making the doctor very wary of her even having the surgery due to the risk of anesthesia and post-op complications and he told us today he cannot find anyone willing or able to provide radiation treatments for her due to her weight and the difficulty of getting through the tissue to radiate the cancerous cells.
My aunt, mom and sister came home last week after the biopsy and other scans and were very optimistic, as they were told the cancer appeared to be contained to the cervix only and would likely be stage 1 ... so today we were stunned to find it originated in the uterus and is more advanced.
The doctor did not give us much hope at all and sent my aunt home to think about whether or not she wants to risk the surgery, while he makes a few last calls to try to find someone to do the radiation treatments. He actually said to us, WE CAN'T TREAT EVERYONE, which just broke my heart. I'm not expecting miracles and know she's in for a tough fight under the best of circumstances, but she cannot be the only obese person to have faced this and found treatment.
I am just wondering if anyone else has experience in this area and has any advice or guidance.
Have her call Cancer Treatment Center of Amercia in Tulsa Oklahoma or MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Tx.... I bet they know how to treat overweight people. You could call them and find out. I am a patient at MD and I live in Arkansas. They are great over there. They welcome out of State patients.
It is true she is a high risk surgery because of her weight but perhaps she could have a spinal or epidural instead of being put to sleep. There has to be options for her.
Get a 2nd Opinion in a larger City.......... Just my 2 cents........Good luck and so sorry for the diagnosis......... Oleander
I'm so sorry to hear about your aunt's troubles. I would definately get a second opinion. When I had a hysterectomy for uteran cancer, I had a choice of using versaid (not sure of the spelling), which is a type of anesthesia that is an amnesiac, instead of being put out completely. I was going to do that instead of general anesthesia because I was so afraid of being put under completely. I think it's the same thing that is used when a patient gets an endoscopy, which I've had. You don't remember anything or feel any pain.
This might sound like a longshot, but have you ever seen that show The Doctors? They help people in situations like your Aunt's. * email address removed by hb-mod, moderator * I would do that in addition to calling the Cancer Treatments Centers of America, etc.
Last edited by hb-mod; 06-20-2009 at 01:46 AM.
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Hi there. Your Aunt deserves the same treatment as anyone else. I'm sure somewhere a Doctor knows how to treat her well. I'm not small by any means and I just had a laproscopic DaVinci hysterectomy. I don't weigh as much as your Aunt, but most of the weight I do carry is around my middle. It's a risk factor in getting Uterine Cancer by the way, so a heavier woman is what they would expect at least some of the time. I hope your Aunt is getting the help she needs and if not keep calling around. It's unreasonable that her weight would make her unable to treat for cancer. Prayers.
Get a second opinion. I was told by my doc that if it originates in the uterus and moves to the cervix that the chances of treatment are better than originating in the cervix and moving out. Oh, and I'm at least 100 lbs overweight and being treated. I know that is not the same as your aunt, but I blanch to think that anyone would say that obesity plays a big factor in treatment. Anyway, obesity is treatable given enough time.
