Mistrust of Hysterscopy procedure

[missdove]

Hello there,

I have been delaying posting this but my situation is getting to a critical point now.

I am just looking for peoples advice/experience of having a hysterscopy.

I am 57 menopausal, I have endometriosis, Hasimotos Thyroiditis, Fibro and have been on HRT patches for just under 5 years.

2 years ago after having not bled for 7 years I started to bleed its become more regular, and now I get some cramping pains, sexual intercourse funnily enough does not cause me any pain but the womb lining has slowly been thickening, I have been under a watch and wait my choice but they want to get in and do a biopsy to rule out cancer as soon as!!!

Even putting a small speculum internally is very painful, I also have a tilted womb and have not had any kids so it makes it very uncomfortable. They have decided they want to put me out to have the procedure. I have heard so many horrible things, like perforating the bowel, hemorrhage, and if the mass I have is contained cancer that the biopsy could pierce the mass and therefore spread it?!

These are valid fears to me, as I now have quite a mistrust of the NHS over the past few years. I am not an alarmist person by nature I am very grounded and something instinctively is telling me not to have this procedure.

I need to weigh up my options and decide how to move forward.

I feel it would be wise to speak to some of you on here to find out your views on this procedure and any advice is gratefully received.

Many thanks

[Powerwalk2021]

Hi there, I had fibroids and heavy bleeding together with weight loss. specialists wanted a biopsy of the lining of the womb and it was done under general anaesthetic which was scary but felt I had very little choice. During the procedure, one of the many fibroids blocked the entrance to the womb which they had to partially remove prior to gaining access to get a biopsy of my womb. They sent samples of all that was removed to be tested, luckily or unlucky for me, depends on how you look at it, the biopsy results showed my fibroid was cancerous, a rare 1% chance of endometrial cancer stage 2. I was sent to have a CT and MRI scans which shows that it's not spread but needs an operation ASAP. Luckily they caught it in time and following a full hysterectomy and surgical menopause, the cancer has been removed and no further treatment required. I was hesitant about going for the biopsy too, hate needles and the thought of going under general anaesthetic scared me as I'd read a lot of bad experiences online but I had to weigh up my options. I was extremely lucky to have that fibroid block the path or I wouldn't be here today. I feel very lucky to be alive and well, although the surgery was very invasive, recovery was long and going through the surgical menopause has been tough, I don't regret my decisions at all, they were the right ones for me. I'm probably the rare 1% that no one expected but the thought of not going through the investigative process such as having a biopsy, a process of elimination, I would not be here today messaging you. I hope hearing my cancer journey helps in some way, I am lucky not to have any complications when I had the biopsy, perhaps the anaesthetic caused me to be sick and throw up when I came round, not pleasant but I knew to mention it to the surgeon who operated on me to remove the cancer, therefore they chose another type of anesthetic so I didn't have the same side effects. I wish you the very best and hope you make the right decision for you. Take care and look after yourself.

[AlexaMac]

hi, l can only give you my experience, l had a hysteroscopy at age 75 and was not painful, however my womb was ‘closed’ so had to have partial hysterectomy to allow the surgeon to relax the neck of the womb and retrieve samples. I also had a 5 inch ovarian cyst, both ovaries and both fallopian tubes taken during this procedure. I recovered really well due to my anaesthetist exorcising all the gas from my abdomen and also giving local anaesthetic injections to my 3 incisions.

My advice would be do not be afraid to ask as many questions as will make you feel at ease, also keep an up to date diary of everything and take it with you to your consultations,

Wishing you well Alexa 🌸🌸🤗