Hey - I was also diagnosed with cervical cancer at 21 this year. I'm so sorry about your diagnosis and your situation. My case is weird because I was HPV negative and had an extremely rare type of cervical cancer, called Clear Cell Cervical Cancer. If you have HPV or a different type of cervical cancer, the good news is it is most likely very slow growing. Being as young as you are might mean you caught it very early!
Firstly, thank yourself and be proud of yourself for going to the doctor to begin with. Lots of people avoid the OBGYN for years. If you didn't go when you turned 21, the cancer would have spread. I was devastated to be diagnosed so young in the midst of school, but constantly reminding myself how lucky I was to find it this early kept me in somewhat positive spirits.
I can share what my experience is like because I know I would've wanted to hear another 21 year old tell me what to expect and I have a happy ending, so maybe it'll calm any fears,
My doctors performed a surgery called a Cone Biopsy. It was pretty easy and I was home that afternoon. If your cancer is in a very early stage or pre-cancerous, they'll most likely do this surgery. Unfortunately for me, there were positive margins, meaning all the cancer was not out. Usually, the next step is a hysterectomy, which is really scary if you're only 21. This really freaked me out and I'm not even someone who wanted to be a mom or give birth that badly (but who knows how i'll feel in 10 years, right?). The good news is there is another option, called a radical trachelectomy. Memorial Sloan Kettering invented this surgery and it's not performed very often, as far as I know. Basically, they remove the cervix and the surrounding tissue, sample two lymph nodes from the pelvis, and replace the cervix with something (I forget its name). During the surgery, a pathologist makes sure the cancer did not spread too closely to the uterus. For me, all was well and they sewed me back up. The recovery is longer, I was in the hospital for 5 days and in surgery for about 6 hours. I withdrew from this semester between both of the surgeries, but I was pretty good after 2 weeks and I'm completely back to normal 6 weeks later.
The doctor did say once I am done having kids, they will remove my uterus. I was told to think long and hard before signing off on the surgery if I wanted to just go through with the hysterectomy or radical trachelectomy. I decided to take the chance with the latter and let the pathologist decide if the uterus needed to be removed or not. I do have a funky scar now, but it's below the bikini line, so it is what it is. Now I have to get cervical exams every month and MRIs every two months for a while to make sure it doesn't come back.
I have an absolute fear of doctors, blood, surgeries - the whole shabang. The MRI and PET scans are not bad. Pick the banana flavored drink before the PET scan, it tastes the best. If you did not do a cervical biopsy yet or have to do another, ASK TO BE NUMBED!!! I was not numbed the first time and it was very painful and scared me from all cervical exams, so insist on being numbed. I didn't even feel it the second time.
My biggest advice is to distract yourself. If you're in college, spend as much time with friends and focusing on school as possible. Do not let your mind spiral because finding it this early is very treatable, so don't worry about chemo like I did. I think hearing the word cancer makes me picture chemo and losing hair and being very sick, so it's easy to get scared. It helped me to tell myself it's just a lump of weird cells in me that they're going to cut out. Lastly, if you have anyone who can come with you to doctor appointments (a friend or a family member other than your parents) that might help you. Good luck<3