My histology report says that the tumour was removed en bloc and that the tumour didn't appear to be exposed. So a couple of things, which might seem silly and I have asked my CNS but haven't really got a clear answer other than "the tumour cells were a large size" - to be honest this has added to my confusion even further, because are they not all large? Is that significant? When I did ask that, I just got told "they were what they were - exactly that, large."

If the tumour capsule was in tact and the tumour completely excised, how can there be any concern about further (potentially microscopic) spread? Because surely all of the ovarian cancer was confined to within it? I guess that's a general question that applies to any situation rather than just mine.

Does the fact that I had a biopsy matter? I know my gynaecologist said that she doesn't do biopsies because of the risk of leakage but my biopsy was done to ascertain where the tumour was coming from and so done before I was referred to gynaecology.

After a clear MRI and the decision to not proceed to a further staging operation, it looks like my ovarian cancer will be staged as probable 1A. What can I expect in terms of further monitoring moving forwards, or will there not be any now? If there is, will be it blood tests and/or scans etc? The last time I asked a nurse, she said that it's likely that there would be no monitoring unless I called them to say I had symptoms. However, a different nurse told me that I could expect regular blood tests and scans every few months and see the gynae-oncologist every 3-6 months. So that I know what to expect and advocate for, it would be helpful to know what is normal and "expected" please, especially in my situation.

Thank you.