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..
I to have ovarian cancer diagnosed in Jan 2009. I had 3 lots of chemo, operation, and another 3 lots of chemo.
The main problems I had with the chemo were gross taste in mouth and nothing tasted like it should, neuropathy of fingers and feet, these got worse with each chemo, but taste improved after about 6 weeks, fingers and feet improved but I still have neuropathy in my left foot (and right but only when I walk!). Hair loss - very slow to grow back and now have corkscrew curls! Tiredness but only realised how bad once I returned to work!
Most of the complications I had with chemo have been rare ones but then I only got diagnosed with ovarian cancer due to a rare autoimmune disease! I developed arterial bloods clots (aortic settling in left Femeral artery) just before my 4th dose, had daily blood thining injections but still developed another clot 5 days after the 6th dose! The onchologist/haematologist aren't sure if its cancer or chemo related and they don't seem to have personally come across it before so please don't worry about it!
I would be interested in hearing about plans for followup when you get that far.
Morning, I joined this site yesterday, I have battled breast cancer twice and I am now waiting to see a Consultant to seeif I have got ovarian cancer, I went to my GP 's surgery with a water infection and mentioned to this lady doctor who I have never seen before that I had breast cancer in the past, she examined me and said that she wanted me to make an appointment at reception to have my bloods taken and she wanted me to go for a kidney function test and also a scan of my ovaries, I nearly fell off the chair, she is worried that my stomach is swollen, I came home and cheked on the other symptoms associated with ovarian, I do have indegestion, back pain andI want to wee a lot more. I am in shock, I am forty-eight years old. The nightmare continues.
I came off HRT about the time of the op and never went back on it, it was another risk faction in blood clotting which as you know I have problems with anyway! Since that I have continuious hot flushes but fortunately nothing else and as I know they will go within mins I have learnt to 'ignore' them. Sorry no experience of other forms of HRT so can't give you any advice will have to wait for the other ladies to input. Hope you find a treatment that suits you soon
It is strange, I thought I needed my blood pressure tablets increasing but my BP was normal so the nurse thinks it's hormonal. I will wait for other feed back.
Mary had her chemo on Thursday. We saw her Professor and he has decided to cancel her last 2 treatments! He is very happy with her progress, all of her levels are where they should be and the tumour markers are now normal. He could see no benefit in putting her through 2 more treatments, especially as she is getting increased issues from numbness due to the Taxol. He told her he doesn't want to cause her any permanent damage and will see her again in 3 months. We also told him we were anxious about going to Turkey in July, he told us to go, he could see no reason why we should cancel.
It was a very emotional day, a lot of tears. A mixture of relief and anxiety, we're not sure how we feel but it is certainly a weight off of our shoulders right now! Having listened to other people's stories on here, we are of course anxious that it will return. But for now, we have Mary's 50th Birthday party to organise, then a nice Turkish holiday to look forward to. (I will take your advice on the insurance Jackie).
Thank you so much for you support over the last 5 months or so, it is appreciated more than you know. I am keeping everything crossed for you all, I hope that you too will have some good news soon.
It shows that the light is at the end of the tunnel. A very long one I know but it gives us all hope and as you say this site has given all of us so much positive thoughts and has helped us through dark days.
I hope you get your insurance sorted out and I am not sure what sites you have checked out but cruk has an insurance company I think or some cancer site has.
Enjoy you both deserve it... John you are a wonderful man, can we mold you and have one please...Mary you are a very lucky lady..
Thank you all for your kind words, you are very kind. Of course I will carry on posting, if I can share something that may be of help to anyone then I will.
I took Mary out for a nice meal last night to celebrate, and we got quite emotional again talking about the past six months. Tonight our daughter is cooking us a nice steak meal and her boyfriend has bought a bottle of pink champagne.
I hope that the chemo has done it's job, we'll find out in 3 months no doubt. Stay positive all of you.
Haven't posted on here in a while. John your news is so fab really made me smile! Hope you both enjoyed your meal and champagne!
I have my last Chemo tomorrow and I can't wait to get it over and done with! It's been a struggle the last few months, but I'm so nearly there. Have a scan in 4 weeks and a check up with results in 6 weeks. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
Good to hear from you, I know you had been struggling with the chemo and I was getting concerned about you. So glad that you have reached the final hurdle, I am certainly keeping everything crossed for you, I hope that you have positive news very soon.
The meal and champagne went well, although I ended up cooking the steak and vegetables myself, and cleaning up the kitchen afterwards! Our daughter did make a nice apple crumble though and bought her Mum a nice bouquet of flowers, so I'll forgive her for that
Hang in there Sarah, I know you can do it! I'm glad that our news made you smile, may it also give you some inspiration for the next few weeks.
Thank you Grumpy, we had a very nice weekend celebrating the end of Mary's chemo.
I was just searching the forum for "neuropathy" and came across Eileen and Sarah's posts back in February. Mary seems to be getting quite a build up of this now, particularly in one foot. A small price to pay maybe if the chemo has done it's work, just wondered if anyone had tried anything to relieve it, or has any advice.
