Ovarian Cancer

Hi,

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..

Parents
  • Hi ladies

    I just want to wish you all a Happy and as Healthy a New Year as possible - bring on 2012.

    Its good to drop in and see what others are up to - scan and more treatment (fingers crossed!) in January for me.

    Best wishes

    Sue x

  • Hello everybody, may I join you and introduce myself?  I opened a new thread on this subject the other day in the "introduce yourself" section, but I really wanted to get onto this site.  I  am 67 yo and live in Essex, UK and have recently been diagnosed as having tumours on both ovaries, plus some areas on the omentum and outer bowel.  However, my hospital MDT  wants to ascertain whether my ovaries are the primary site or secondary to breast ca I had 15 years ago before planning my treatment, so I've just had a biopsy and await results on 22nd Feb.  I found your site about a month ago and was both heartened by all your posts, and at the same time scared - not of the treatment particularly but the outcome.  Some days I feel that I won't get through this, other days I think "No, you won't get me, you (expletive deleted!)"

    The last post on your site was 28th Dec, I have been checking, so I hope you are all getting along OK

    Best wishes, Hazel. X

  • Hi, John,

    So sorry for Mary - at the moment I'm feeling the same, and it's b..... awful!  Hope we BOTH feel better soon!

    Love Hazel xxx

  • Hi, Sharon,

    Sorry to hear about your results and the awful, wasted day.  Please do as Jackie says and get in touch with PALS, this is not good enough.  I just wish some of these people would have the humanity to put themselves in their patient's position!

    Good luck,

    Love Hazel xxx

  • Hi John and Haze

    beginning to look like I'm just lucky with the nausea and vomiting, which is a good job because i hate feeling sick, to the point I have avoided alcohol since being sick at the age of 17!!! John, get the bracelet, my view is its non invasive than therefore can do no harm and if it works great.

    Haze do phone the team, you need to drink and they may be able to control it by different meds like they've tried with Mary.

    John, the insurance, my god they do take us for a ride don't they! I find one of the main problems with this cancer thing is not being able to plan ahead. I think its something we are all really used to doing and it all adds to the uncertainty when we can't. Gem will certainly cause different effects to the carbo/tax, but I suspect that Mary still has this on board (its not that long she she had the carbo/tax is it?) so the gem is hitting her already battered system. I had my second lot of chemo 8 months after the first and found it far harder going than the first or so far the 3rd.

    I was suprised when after 1 dose of carbo/dox my platelets fell, I had been chemo free for 18 months so didn't understand why they had dropped as previously it had only happened the once and not to the point where chemo was delayed. The onc said that chemo was accumulative and length of time between treatments made no difference

    John have you looked at getting Mary on any of the trials? you have never mentioned any previous medical history so if the cancer is her 'only' disease process she may be suitable, my blood clots and location exclude me! not a lot of trial activity in the backwaters of Norfolk! if you think it might be suitable there are links on this site which tell you the trials available and what they are looking at.

    Ginger is also supposed to be good for nausea, but Haze and Mary you both NEED to drink or you will feel even worse.

    Stomach feels better today (still don't feel quite right but mild pain not severe) though I have to confess I'm reluctant to move around much in case it comes back! that's bad as I'm not normally a physiological type person but its so crippling when I get it I just can't help worrying it will come back.

    Hope today is a better day for you all

    Love Jackie xxx

  • Thanks, Jackie, you are so helpful!   I have forced myself to get up today and had a slice of dry toast and cup of tea - drunk VERY slowly.  So far it has stayed down,  but still don't feel quite out of the woods yet!

    May try John's travel sickness bands when I can get out again.

    Hope your stomach pains don't get too bad again!

    Love, Hazel xxx

  • Thanks, John,

    I did see your suggestion and had a look, and as I said to Jackie I will get the wrist bands when I get going again, and try them next time.  Haven't tried it with finger pressure yet, with my luck I'd probably press the wrong place and make something else go wrong!

    Thanks again,

    Love Hazel xxx

  • Hi, Laura,

    So sorry missed your chemo on 20/03, hope you weren't too bad afterwards?  Your next will be on 10/04, is that right, then only one more after that?  So, nearly finished!  I have a long, long way to go yet, and can't say I'm looking forward to any of it, but needs must, I guess.

    Thinking of you,

    Love Hazel xxx

  • Hello, Sue,

    How are you doing, not heard for a while.  Hope all is well and you've managed to get out in the sun while it lasted!

    I am suffering the 4th day of post-chemo horrors, hope to be better some time tomorrow!

    Good luck,

    Love Hazel xxx

  • haze44 wrote:

    .  Haven't tried it with finger pressure yet, with my luck I'd probably press the wrong place and make something else go wrong!

    LOL@Hazel! ...and my work colleagues were saying "gonna share the joke then John?"

    Mary was a little better today but still feels really washed out. I hope she is better tomorrow as it is our Pearl annniversary, wow! where did those 30 years go?? I have bought her a big bouquet of flowers and hid them in the garage, I'll leave them in the lounge before I go off to work in the morning. We'll go out to a nice restaurant if she's feeling up to it, otherwise we'll do whatever she wants.

    I hope you feel better tomorrow too Hazel, thanks for cheering me up just when I needed it.

    Best wishes,
    John

    x

  • Hi Jackie,

    re chemo - Mary got about 8 months out of the carbo/taxol although they cut out a couple of taxol treatments at the end because of the neuropathy, the Prof said he didn't want to turn her into a cripple (not very pc, are you still aloud to say that?). I think she recovered really well apart from that and our social life was back to normal so most of the chemo must have been burnt off, so I'm surprised by what your onc said but he probably knows more about it than me

    The other thing that I swear worked well for Mary last time around was the liquid iron formula, but she hates the stuff and doesn't want to take it this time even though I think it will give her a boost. I think it tastes ok personally but as they say, you can take a horse to water....  BTW she hates ginger too LOL!

    Don't get me started on Mary's medical history, they have trouble carrying her file at the hospital LOL, but probably nothing that would effect her having a clinical trial. Let's just say that she has suffered from an extremely rare condition called Maffucci Syndrome since she was about 5, and has had a lot of ops over the years to manage it. I am convinced that it could have been the trigger for her cancer but nobody can confirm that. I may talk to Mary about clinical trials but she may become suspicious that I think her condition is worse than she believes it to be, difficult one.

    Glad you're feeling more comfortable, long may it continue!

    Best wishes,

    John

    x

Reply
  • Hi Jackie,

    re chemo - Mary got about 8 months out of the carbo/taxol although they cut out a couple of taxol treatments at the end because of the neuropathy, the Prof said he didn't want to turn her into a cripple (not very pc, are you still aloud to say that?). I think she recovered really well apart from that and our social life was back to normal so most of the chemo must have been burnt off, so I'm surprised by what your onc said but he probably knows more about it than me

    The other thing that I swear worked well for Mary last time around was the liquid iron formula, but she hates the stuff and doesn't want to take it this time even though I think it will give her a boost. I think it tastes ok personally but as they say, you can take a horse to water....  BTW she hates ginger too LOL!

    Don't get me started on Mary's medical history, they have trouble carrying her file at the hospital LOL, but probably nothing that would effect her having a clinical trial. Let's just say that she has suffered from an extremely rare condition called Maffucci Syndrome since she was about 5, and has had a lot of ops over the years to manage it. I am convinced that it could have been the trigger for her cancer but nobody can confirm that. I may talk to Mary about clinical trials but she may become suspicious that I think her condition is worse than she believes it to be, difficult one.

    Glad you're feeling more comfortable, long may it continue!

    Best wishes,

    John

    x

Children
  • Me again!

    Had to look up Muffecci syndrome as I'd never heard of it and I couldn't have that! Interestingly found this ' Maffucci syndrome is associated with a higher risk of CNS, pancreatic and ovarian malignancies' so looks like you suspicions could be right (not that it helps)

    Jackie

  • Jackie,

    I am worrying about Eileen too.

    I looked up the Maffucci Syndrome as well, interesting, but poor Mary!  No wonder John says she's a wonderful woman, with all that to put up with all her life and now this!

     

    Hope you're feeling better - I've just chanced 2 slices of toast and a chicken cup-a-soup.  Went down well, let's hope it stays there!

    Love Hazel xxx