I was diagnosed with Cancer in March and although we knew it was Cancer its still a shock to be told it. I have had 2 chemo cycles now and have my 3rd at the end of the month. I would love to chat about the chemo side affects to anyone..
2nd cycle of chemo over and done with and i'm back at work till it starts all over again next week! My hair's all gone now - its actually a relief to get it over with and quite liberating somehow, got a wig and lots of scarfs etc. Feeling a bit tired and having the runs gets you down but hey ho could be worse.
I'm sorry I don't seem to post as much as everyone else,I never seem to know what to say but enjoy keeping up with everybody is at with their treatment and its good to know you're not alone in all this and that other people understand. I wish all of you the very best and John I don't mind a man posting on here either.
Thanks for that, I do feel that I'm imposing on a girlie chat sometimes, but then again I know that we are all here to try and help each other in some way.
Great that you're managing to work, I thought that Mary was responding well to chemo but there's no way she would go back at the moment. Glad that you're coping well with the hair loss too, and don't worry about how often you post, just chip in whenever you want to.
@Everyone - Great news today! Although Mary missed treatment last week (cycle 4b) because of an infection, she went for cycle 4c today and also had a blood test and saw the doctor (normally only has bloods and clinic at the start of each cycle i.e 4a, 5a). She had told her consultant at the start that she wasn't interested in hearing stats etc, just tell her what she needed to do and when she needed to do it. The doctor today clearly knew nothing about this, and told her that her CA-125 levels just after surgery were 677! Today they were 48, and the normal level is 35!! Wow! I know we shouldn't be too complacent about it, but that was really good to hear and has given Mary and all of our family a real sense of optimism. The doctor also said it didn't matter about missing last weeks treatment as she was doing so well.
Funny thing was Mary said to me "why didn't they tell me this before?" clearly forgetting that she had opted not to be told!
I kind of feel bad talking about how well Mary is responding when I know some of you are having a bad time. Even while she was having treatment today she saw two ladies having an immediate bad reaction, very scary! So we know she is very fortunate.
Hello to you all-ladies and gents. I have been reading your posts and wanted to wish you all the very best and pass on my admiration. I have been recently diagnosed with a granulosa cell tumour- a type of ovarian cancer which like me is slow growing and lazy- luckily! I have had a TAH and ovaries removed which ends this phase of treatment so all I need is monitoring every 3 months. Now comes the shameful bit... I have been grumpy, miserable and full of self pity. I could blame it on losing both parents in the last 18 months but I think I also lost perspective so thanks for the reality check and your bravery. Good luck and best wishes.xx
Welcome to the forum and thank you for your kind words.
It seems to me like you have been through a lot, so please do not feel shameful about being so down, anyone would feel the same. I hope that having a chat with others on here will help you in some way, it certainly has been helpful for Mary and I. I don't know anything about granulosa cell tumours, do you have to take any meds? are they planning to give you any treatment? Or is it all dependant on your 3 monthly checks?
I hope it all goes well for you, and that you keep us updated.
Best wishes,
John
PS - Sorry for taking so long to respond, I have been waffling quite a bit lately and was trying to give one of the ladies a chance to speak. But I think some of them may be having a hard time with side effects at the moment.
I went for an ultrasound yesterday and everything seems to be O.K. I am seeing my Consultant on Thursday and I am going to see if I can have my ovaries removed as a precaution, being overweight (I do try but it is difficult) and having had breast cancer twice gives me an 80% chance of contracting ovarian cancer and I want to minimise my risk, if I have my ovaries removed I go down to 1% which I can live with, I really don't want to face this terrible disease in the future if I can avoid the same. Hope everyone is doing O.K., love to you all x.
I went for an ultrasound yesterday and everything seems to be O.K. I am seeing my Consultant on Thursday and I am going to see if I can have my ovaries removed as a precaution, being overweight (I do try but it is difficult) and having had breast cancer twice gives me an 80% chance of contracting ovarian cancer and I want to minimise my risk, if I have my ovaries removed I go down to 1% which I can live with, I really don't want to face this terrible disease in the future if I can avoid the same. Hope everyone is doing O.K., love to you all x.
So pleased that the ultrasound went well. It sounds a bit drastic opting to have your ovaries removed, did a consultant give you those stats? I didn't realise that the risk was so high, if that's true I can understand why you would make that decision. Good luck for Thursday.
@Eileen - Welcome back! glad to hear you have settled in already, and that your partner is realising already that he made a BIG mistake! It's been a bit quiet around here, I hope everyone is ok.
Mary starts cycle 5 on Thursday, she is two thirds through now and still doing well. She started to get the numbness in her fingers and toes a couple of weeks ago, the oncology nurse said it's not an issue at the moment, the time to mention it is when she has trouble doing up buttons. Nasty carbo this week, I hope her arm doesn't get infected again. It seems to be going really quickly now, just hope she can hang in there through the last 2 cycles.
