Hello johno4385,

The joys of modern technology - it's great that despite you working abroad, you are managing to speak every day to your partner using social media video calls! I am sure it brings her a lot of comfort to be able to share everything with you. I am sorry to hear though that the chemotherapy treatment is proving difficult. If she is based in the UK and needs to talk to someone or has any questions about her treatment, do give her the number of our nurses which is free 0808 800 4040 - she can reach them Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm.

We have some information on our website about the stages of cancer which you can read here and which I hope you will find useful.

It's nice of you to do all this research for her and to be so supportive. I am sure your presence and your caring attentions - even if you cannot always be there physically - are really helping her at the moment.

Best wishes,

Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator

Hello Johno 4385,

Thank you for posting a question. I am one of the nurses and Lucie our moderator wondered if we might be able to give you some information about stage 3c ovarian cancer.

As you probably know the stage of a cancer refers to the size of a cancer and if it has spread. A stage 3 ovarian cancer is one that has spread beyond the ovaries. This spread can either be to the lymph glands in the pelvic area or to the peritoneal lining outside of the pelvis. The peritoneal lining is a sheet of tissue that covers the abdomen. If the cancer has spread to both of these areas this is still a stage 3 cancer.

Stage 3 can be divided in to a, b and c. This refers to how big the cancer deposits on the peritoneal lining are. With a stage 3a  cancer they are very small but with 3c some of the deposits are bigger than 2cm.

I can appreciate that this technical information does not really tell you very much and it does not have any impact on the treatment that is given.

In terms of outlook we do have some general information this for women with the various stages of ovarian cancer here. But this is only general information and cannot say what will happen to your partner. Some women with stage 3 ovarian cancer could live for many years, but sadly not everyone will live for this long.  So it is difficult to predict what will happen to an individual person. Living with this uncertainty can be difficult.

I hope that this answer is of some use. If you have any other questions please do get back to us.

Kind regards,

Jean