Uterine tumor diagnosis

I know I’m just dropping this here out of nowhere, but I really need to vent somewhere... I found out today that my best friend's mom has uterine cancer. She's currently stuck in a hospital in a small town in Ohio, and they just finished all her tests today. They're sending the paperwork over to a major medical center in Cleveland, and she needs surgery there as soon as possible. We were on the phone just a little while ago, and she wouldn't stop crying—the whole situation is just devastating, and we're all pretty much a wreck right now... I honestly don't know what to do with myself; I haven't been able to focus on studying for days, and it's even worse now that my absolute worst fears have actually come true. I guess I'm wondering if anyone else here has dealt with something similar? What has your experience been like with the big university hospitals in Cleveland?

wearycrane10 said:I know I'm just barging in here for no reason, but I really just need to vent somewhere... I found out today that my best friend's mom has uterine cancer... She's stuck in a hospital in a small town in Ohio right now, they just finished all the tests, sent the paperwork over to the big specialists in Cleveland, and she needs surgery at Mayo Clinic ASAP... We were on the phone just a bit ago, and she was just crying nonstop, it's honestly devastating, everyone is just a total wreck... I don't even know what to do with myself, I haven't been able to focus on studying for days, and especially not now that my absolute worst fears have actually come true... I was wondering if anyone here has gone through something similar? What was your experience like with places like Mayo Clinic?

Hey,

My mom dealt with uterine cancer too.
It kind of dragged on for her since she was 19. Back then, they had to remove her cervix, but I was still born anyway. Then she had a breast tumor, then an ovarian one, and finally the uterine one.
They operated when she was 45 and just took everything out. She was on hormone therapy for about 6 months, but everything turned out okay in the end.

So, what's the exact situation with your friend's mom? What did the doctors say, and what's the plan for the procedure?

About five years ago, she ended up in the hospital where they diagnosed her with uterine fibroids. She was dealing with these heavy hemorrhages—enough that she actually needed a blood transfusion. Back then, the doctors suggested surgery, but since it wasn't an emergency, they told her we could just monitor it. Since she went through menopause right around that time, the fibroid stayed under control; it even shrunk a bit. But lately, things have taken a turn. For about three months now, she hasn't been able to sleep, she’s barely eating, and she’s dropped 5 pounds—which is a huge deal for someone her size at 58. And there was this edema on her left thigh for quite a while... you know, one leg looking significantly thicker than the other. She just chalked it up to work stress and menopause. Then, a week before Easter, she just collapsed from exhaustion and ended up back in the ER, only for them to discharge her again. They basically told her it was just low iron levels and high blood pressure. To them, it sounded like nothing was wrong. My mom is a dentist, though, so she knows enough about medicine to realize something was seriously off. She booked an appointment with a private cardiologist because the main issues were the arrhythmia and this constant, bone-deep fatigue. He put her on some meds to stabilize her heart rhythm. Meanwhile, our primary care doctor prescribed about six different medications, ranging from sleep aids to chewable iron supplements. A week ago, she took a turn for the worse—she couldn't breathe properly and that leg started swelling even more, so our doctor sent her straight to the nearest hospital. They ran every test imaginable, and the final diagnosis? It's a tumor. Apparently, it’s positioned awkwardly, pressing against both her bladder and a vein (which explains the swollen leg). The doctor was blunt: the situation is serious and needs to be dealt with immediately. However, they don't perform this specific surgery at this facility, so they sent all her records over to Mayo Clinic, and they'll likely be the ones performing the operation...

Susan Adams66, I am so glad to hear your mother is doing well. Honestly, I'd give anything to have my own mother healthy again...

wearycrane10 said:About five years ago, she ended up in the hospital where they diagnosed her with uterine fibroids. She was dealing with heavy bleeding and actually needed a blood transfusion. Back then, the doctors suggested surgery, but since it wasn't an emergency, they told her we could just monitor it. Since she entered menopause around that time, the fibroid stayed under control—it even shrank a bit. But for the last three months, she hasn't been able to sleep, she’s barely eating, and she’s dropped 5 pounds, which is a massive amount for someone her size at 58. Plus, she’s had this persistent swelling on her left thigh for quite a while... one leg is significantly thicker than the other. She just chalked it up to work stress and menopause. Then, a week before Easter, she collapsed from exhaustion and ended up back in the ER, though they discharged her again. They just told her her iron levels were dangerously low and her blood pressure was high. To them, it sounded like nothing was wrong. My mother is a dentist, so she understands medical basics and knew instinctively that something was off. She scheduled an appointment with a private cardiologist because the main issues were arrhythmia and constant fatigue. He prescribed some meds to stabilize her rhythm. Meanwhile, our primary care doctor put her on about six different medications, ranging from sedatives for sleep to iron supplements. A week ago, she felt sick again, struggling to breathe, and that leg started swelling even worse, so our doctor sent her to the nearest hospital. They ran every test imaginable, and the final diagnosis is a tumor. It looks like it’s positioned awkwardly, pressing against a vein (which explains the swollen leg) and her bladder. The doctor simply stated the situation is serious and needs to be removed immediately, but they don't perform that specific procedure at this facility, so they sent all her records over to Mayo Clinic, where she'll likely undergo surgery...

Susan Adams66, I'm so glad your mother is doing well; I would give anything to have mine healthy again too...

Look, neither you nor your mom should spiral into drama just yet. It doesn't automatically mean it's malignant. It’s more likely to be benign, as benign tumors are usually what grow to that kind of size. However, the situation is critical because of that vein; if the blood flow gets cut off, you're looking at losing a limb, kidney failure, or worse. That’s why it has to come out urgently. It’s a shame it wasn't dealt with sooner. Personally, I don't get why women who aren't planning on having kids anymore would choose to suffer through these symptoms for years rather than just getting it fixed right away.🤷 It’s like a sponge that just soaks up toxins and expands until something like this happens.
I once shared a hospital room with a nurse who works almost exclusively in a gynecology clinic; she sees this every single day. She told me about a woman who let a fibroid grow into something the size of a toddler's head before seeking help. That woman had surgery, spent ten days in the hospital, and was completely fine after five.
Hang in there, everything is going to be okay.

Angela Wright said:Look, let's not spiral into total drama just yet—not you, and not your mom either. It doesn't necessarily have to be something malignant. Usually, if a tumor gets that massive, it's actually benign. The real danger here is that vein; if the blood flow gets cut off, we're looking at potential amputation, kidney failure, and all sorts of nasty complications. That's why she needs to get this out of her body immediately. Honestly, it's a shame she didn't deal with this sooner. I personally don't get why women who aren't even planning on having more kids would choose to suffer through these consequences for years instead of just fixing it right away. 🤷 It’s basically a sponge that just sucks up toxins and grows until things reach this breaking point.
I was actually talking to a nurse at the Mayo Clinic who works in the OB-GYN department, and she sees this stuff constantly. She told me about a woman who let a fibroid grow until it was literally the size of a toddler's head. The lady had surgery, spent ten days in the hospital, and everything turned out fine.
Hang in there. It’s going to be okay.

Yeah, it’s true. She really should have handled this much earlier, but who knows? Maybe she thought she was in the clear because that fibroid started shrinking for a bit. Now, the priority is getting that surgery done ASAP... Honestly, that vein is what's really keeping me up at night.🙂

wearycrane10 said:Look, it’s the truth—she really should have handled this a long time ago, but honestly, I can't wrap my head around why she sat on it for so long. She probably felt a surge of confidence once she saw that myoma starting to shrink. The most critical thing right now is getting that surgery scheduled immediately. Honestly, it’s that vein that’s really keeping me up at night.🙂

Yeah, that just means she spent a massive amount of time ignoring the warning signs instead of actually going to her OB-GYN for follow-ups. It sounds like a classic case of "ignorance is bliss"—that mindset where people would rather stay in the dark than face a reality they can't control. But honestly, dwelling on how much time was wasted doesn't help anyone now. What matters is the immediate next step: she needs to get this surgery scheduled ASAP, and you need to be her rock. Don't let her spiral into those dark, pessimistic holes, and don't let her spend our phone calls breaking down in tears. We have to keep her head up. Statistically speaking, there’s a much higher probability that this is a benign growth rather than something malignant. Once the procedure is over, she’ll be past the worst of it. In a month, she’ll likely have forgotten all this stress and will be busy planning a trip to Florida. 😉

Angela Wright said:Yeah, which basically means she spent a long time ignoring the warning signs and skipping her OB-GYN appointments instead of staying on top of things. It sounds like one of those classic cases of "if I don't know about it, it isn't happening," you know? But honestly, dwelling on the past doesn't help anyone now. What matters is getting her surgery scheduled ASAP, and you really need to be her rock through this. Don't let her spiral into those dark places or break down over the phone while you're talking. In my experience, there's usually a much better chance it's something benign rather than something nasty. She'll go through the procedure, and in a month or two, she'll be looking forward to a trip to Florida 😉

I don't think that beach trip is happening anytime soon... So, it turns out it wasn't just a fibroid; they found cancer in her right ovary, and that’s a whole different level of heavy. Every day feels like I'm just getting hit with more bad news. On the bright side, she's finally starting to process it—she's accepted that things are serious and that the road to recovery is going to be a long, grueling climb. At this point, it's all in the hands of the doctors at the hospital, and she just needs as much support as she can get...

wearycrane10 said:I don't think our beach trip is going to happen this year... She had a fibroid, but it turns out she's actually dealing with right ovarian cancer, which is a massive blow. I'm getting worse news almost every single day... On the bright side, she’s calmed down a bit; she's come to terms with how serious this is and knows the road to recovery is going to be long and incredibly tough. Right now, it's all in the hands of her doctors, and she just needs every bit of support we can give her...

and her 😢
I really hope they caught it early enough so it hasn't spread, and that the issues were mostly related to the fibroids, because if that's the case, things will be much easier to manage.
Stay strong.