Question:

I'm 51. I had my period in December but not in January. In February, I had a normal flow, and two weeks after I started spotting for about four days; then three days before the end of the month, I spotted for three days. Is this normal? I spoke to my gynecologist and he said this was not normal. I recently had a pap smear and was told that endometrial cells were found. My doctor wants to do a D&C and I'm very scared.  Should I be?

Name withheld

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Answer:

It’s far too early to be expending emotional energy on fear. You’ll know a lot more after the D & C. Even if it ended up that you had endometrial cancer – which is not a foregone conclusion (one study found that three-quarters of women with endometrial cells did not have a malignant cancer) – patients with beginning stages of the disease have a very good five-year prognosis.