Reviewer: Zhu Jianqing (Zhejiang Cancer Hospital)
Three years ago, “Fortunately, this is a precancerous lesion of the cervix, not cancer.”
Three years later, “Unfortunately, this time it was real cervical cancer.”
If there were ever a watershed in life, it would probably be at 46 for me. When I reach middle age, my life is more than halfway through, and my sad and happy life begins slowly from then on.
First, find precancerous lesions: Fortunately, it is not cancer
In 2010, I was 46, and it was a bad year.
In one year, my parents who loved me the most in the world died of illness within 5 months. “The child wants to support but the parent does not wait”, I was so sad that I couldn’t help myself.
My son, who has been growing up by his side, has to go to the United States to study for various reasons, and he has double pressures both financially and emotionally.
The following year, a marriage that I had been struggling to maintain came to an end, which brought me a deep sense of frustration.
Under the pressure and pain, I have no way to escape, no one to trust, only one person gritted his teeth and made it through.
When life finally saw a ray of light again, I suddenly felt so tired, so tired, and felt like the strings that had been tight were about to snap…
Image source: Zhanku Hailuo
I think there must be something wrong with me. So I went for a physical examination, and it has been eight or nine years since my last physical examination.
A few days after the full physical examination, I received a call from the hospital, saying that my gynecological condition was not very good (there were no gynecological symptoms at the time), and I needed to do a colposcopy and other further steps. Inspection of. In the torment, I finally got the test results, but it was what I was most afraid of: cervical cancer!
I was really unwilling to learn about cervical cancer, a “women’s health killer”, from the Internet.
My attending doctor saw me in a state of despair. First of all, he comforted me. Don’t be nervous. Cervical cancer diagnosis requires certain procedures. The diagnosis can only be confirmed by the results of the medical examination.
Thank goodness!
The results of the medical examination came out, and the attending doctor told me that I was a precancerous lesion of the cervix, not a real cancer. Although the two were only one step away, it was a huge difference. another step.
“It’s really a close call!” After I was discharged from the hospital after the cervical conization, I felt like I had found a treasure every day.
Second, cervical cancer is really coming: more than 40 days of difficult radiotherapy and chemotherapy
Image source: Zhanku Hailuo
Happy to be happy, but I still have some worries in my heart. After all, precancerous lesions and cancer are only one step away, which is too “close”.
After I was discharged from the hospital in 2010, I strictly followed the doctor’s orders and went to the hospital for re-examination every three months.
In 2013, the third year after getting sick, the doctor will review it every six months. However, things at home and work were all mixed up that year, I was very busy, and I felt pretty good, so I forgot about the review.
That’s it, I didn’t go for a re-examination for more than a year. It wasn’t until 2014, when a friend urged me again and again, that I thought, why don’t I go to the physical examination center for a check-up, just be healthy Physical examination.
Less than a week after the physical examination, I received a call from the physical examination center, suggesting that I go to the hospital for further examination. At this point I had a vague sense that something might be going wrong.
So I went back to my previous attending doctor. Regarding the results of this examination, the attending doctor felt very sorry for me: this time it was real cancer, If I insisted on reexamination, such results would not have appeared. But he also comforted me, it doesn’t matter, we cut it and it’s over. But this time, the scope of the cut is very large, not only to cut the uterus, but also to cut the fallopian tubes and ovaries. Some doctors even suggested that at my age (I happened to be 50 at the time), it was all cut out.
But I don’t want to, so I will discuss with the attending doctor, can I keep the ovaries? Finally, with the efforts of the doctor, the uterus was removed and the ovaries were preserved. At that time, I thought that I could be discharged from the hospital after being raised, but a week after the operation, I received a call from the hospital, and I knew it was broken again.
According to the results of the medical examination, cervical cancer belongs to stage IB1, and postoperative radiotherapy and chemotherapy are required.
That was the hardest 40 of my life so farOver the course of several days, I had a total of 6 chemotherapy and 28 radiation treatments. Every time I go to the radiotherapy table, I am very scared and feel very helpless, because I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, or even if I have a tomorrow.
The regret in my heart, why didn’t I listen to the doctor’s words, why did I underestimate the enemy? Otherwise what is this!
Third, I used to be too “worked”: I want to change the way of living
Image source: Zhanku Hailuo
If I turn the clock back to the years before and after my illness, my evaluation of myself would be one word – “make.”
For example, in 2010, I just had the conization surgery for 3 days. Even if I didn’t do anything, just sitting there would hurt my back, but because of the work, I was stunned. Sitting for hours at a time, I felt my back hurt like it was broken in two when I sat upright.
After the discovery of the precancerous lesions, I was nervous for two years, and I also “reduced” for two years. After the examination was fine, I resumed my previous “death” lifestyle.
At work, I have always been a “desperate Saburo”. For many years, I have basically never slept before two o’clock at night, and only slept three or four hours a day.
Eating is also casual, often eating fast food or socializing outside, and rarely eating vegetables and fruits.
Exercise? Don’t even talk about it. Coupled with the fact that I have experienced many major events in my life in those years, the state of the whole person is really bad.
Why do precancerous lesions find me? Why did the precancerous lesions get cured, but the real cancer came back?
These two questions, the doctor in charge gave me the answer: Any disease occurs, it is a foreign pathogenic factor (for cervical cancer, mainly human papilloma As a result of the game between virus infection) and its own resistance, if the foreign virus is too strong and its own resistance is too weak, there may be problems.
I got sick twice, probably because I was too tossed, and the reason why I “entered the palace for the second time” was probably because of a low immunity, re-infection with the virus, and the development of cancer.
In 2015, I finished all cervical cancer treatments, and this time I don’t dare to “do” it again. I honestly followed the requirements for re-examination, and my life was also “reformed”: maintain a regular diet, eat more vegetables and fruits, adjust the work rhythm, ensure sleep, and go out of the house to exercise more. I also often go to community activities, recite poetry, sing Peking Opera, etc.
Furthermore, psychological adjustment is very important to me. Whether in work or in life, I have always played the role of “strong”. After getting sick, the most unacceptable thing for me is that I have become a vulnerable group, and sometimes I feel more depressed. But in the past two years, I have also learned to adjust myself slowly. I usually read some psychological books, communicate with others more, let go of my burdens, and live a relaxed life.
Now, my son is working in the United States and is very motivated, which is the most gratifying place for me. Now I feel that my condition is very good. After another two years and five years of treatment, my disease will be cured. I may go to the United States to live with my son, or I may stay in China. I have always had a wish. I hope to teach in the hometown of my attending doctor and give back to the society with my little knowledge in literature and music.
Every day now, I look forward to my new life with confidence.
Four. Extended reading
Under normal circumstances, the diagnosis of cervical cancer requires a three-step diagnosis, including:
1.Cytology and virology primary screening: Including TCT (liquid-based thin layer cytology test) and HPV (human papilloma virus) test, mainly It is to take cells from the cervix for examination.
2. Colposcopy assessment: Use a colposcope to pass through the vagina of the woman to observe the changes in the cervix, and then clamp some tissue and send it for further examination.
3. Histological diagnosis: The pathological section taken out under colposcopy is used to determine whether there is a risk of cervical cancer under the microscope.
Cervical cells have lesions, which are precancerous lesions of the cervix before they spread out through the uterine basement membrane. After they break through the uterine basement membrane and spread outward, they evolve into cervical cancer. Preliminary cervical screening can save the lives of the vast majority of cervical cancer patients.
Cervical cancer generally has no symptoms in the early stage, but in the advanced stage, symptoms such as contact bleeding, increased leucorrhea, foul leucorrhea, frequent urination, urgency, and blood in the urine may occur.
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