Cervical Cancer Follow-up Care & Concerns
Cure rates for cervical cancer are fairly high; even with advanced disease they can range in the 30 - 60% range. With many women surviving this cancer, day-to-day quality of life concerns become increasingly important. Surgery and more commonly, radiation therapy (with or without chemotherapy) can cause permanent and semi-permanent changes to a woman's body and organ function. With close monitoring and prompt feedback by both the woman and her health care providers, these problems can be kept to a minimum.
Radiation changes the blood flow in very small blood vessels and, over time can cause tissues to scar-become less flexible, shrink and make them more at risk for bleeding and irritation. With cervical cancer, this can occur in the pelvis, specifically in the bowel, bladder, and vagina. Swelling in the legs (lymphadema) can also become a concern, especially for women who have had both a radical hysterectomy and radiation therapy. Careful attention to diet, fluid intake, avoiding smoking, estrogen replacement (with progesterone, for woman with a uterus), regular exercise, and use of vaginal dilators (a small round cylinder inserted into the vagina 2 - 3 times weekly to prevent scarring and narrowing) can often minimize these long term side effects. A woman should always alert her health care providers of problems or what is/is not helping to help avoid more serious problems or, at least, lessen their effect.
Cervical Cancer
Treatment
