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,

I left home at 9am and got back at 7pm - God, it is such a long, boring day, even though I take puzzles, book, mags etc.  I would rather listen to Radio 4 but the reception is appalling in there!  It's so tiring too, although you are sitting on your bum all day!

I've taken one of the new anti-emetics already, and am wearing the wrist-bands you recommended, so fingers crossed!

I hope Mary stays well enough for your little trip next weekend - something nice to look forward to, and away from this interminable rain we're having now there is a hosepipe ban!

It has gone quiet on here again, hasn't it - I guess everyone is too busy with their problems, so wish them all well xxx

Love to you both, Hazel xxx

Hi Hazel,

What a long day you've had! Yes it does get boring, fortunately Mary got away just after 2pm today, that's the earliest so far. Hopefully that will give time for the steroids to wear off so that she will be able to sleep. This is week B, so hoping that the new anti-sickness tabs will do the trick again this week, and of course I hope your's do too. Glad you invested in the wrist bands (I haven't actually bought any yet), trouble is if something works for you, it'll be difficult to know what it was - but it doesn't matter so long as it does!

Yes we are really looking forward to our Portugal trip, hoping that Mary will feel well enough to go and with a bit of luck get some sunshine, have hired a car for £60 and the hotel is only £29 per night b&b!!! (both can be cancelled). We were laughing about the hosepipe ban too today, doesn't it seem ridiculous?! Mary is really missing her garden at the moment, I'll bet you are too.

Re Radio 4 - May I suggest you download some podcasts so that you can listen at the hospital. Do you have a small laptop or an mp3 player of some sort that you could use for this? or perhaps an SD card in your mobile phone? Here is the link if it helps - http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/podcasts/

Best wishes,

John

x

Hi Everyone how are you all doing. i was ment to start chemo today all arranged at

hospital last week then i get a letter on wed to in thurs to see my oc they have looked

at my scan again and have concided surgery so now i have to go to another hospital

first for a full body scan [which is furthur away] then if the tumour is only in the place

i can have surgery if  thats what i wont, i was all for it until they said there would be

a risk because where the tumour is its very close to blood vessels and could be

coplicated..there going to discuss it more with me when they get the scan back.

really dont know what to do now my family are split with what they think i should

do.HELP!! any advice would be grateful!

take care all sharon xxxx

Hello, Sharon,

Sorry to hear of your complications and setbacks.  My advice would be to try not to panic so much at this stage, but to wait and see what the scan results show.  Then when you discuss your options with the hospital team take someone from your family with you so that you can all decide together, or ask for more time to decide.

Let us know when you've had the scan results - I'll have everything crossed for you.

Love, Hazel xxx

Thanks for the tip re. podcasts John, I'll have a bash at it, though not sure if my phone will do it.  Can only try, I guess!

Hazel x

Thanks Hazel. for the advice think maybe your right not to panick to much till ive had the scan

but just wont results like now! you know what i mean id prepared myself for chemo today now

its all change!. take care sharon xx

Sharon,

Yes, I know - maybe I was a bit too hard on you, it's easy to get wound up about things, I do it myself.  Hope I've not upset you too much?

Hazel xxx

Hi Sharon,

Well your hospital certainly seem to be making this hard for you yet again! After all of the waiting they have put you through they are still undecided about the best course of action for you - almost making you decide for yourself what to do!

Hazel is right, you should take someone with you to the consultation, preferably a family member or a good friend. It is always good to have an extra pair of ears and someone else to ask questions, and DO ask questions it's very important. Start writing down your concerns now so you are prepared at your next meeting, talk to your family to get more ideas about what you should be asking. And if it works better for you, get them to ask some or all of the questions.

I asked a lot of questions at Mary's last consultation, her onc was all ready to rush off but I told him I wanted to ask a few questions before he did. We both felt a lot better after the discussion and I will make sure I have more questions for him at next clinic.

Good luck Sharon, you must get this sorted.

John

x

Hi Hazel,

Hope you are doing ok post-chemo.

If you need any help with the podcast stuff, let me know. Hopefully if you have a memory card in your phone, a music player and a hands-free headset, it should be possible. You would need to download the podcasts to your PC, then copy the files to your phone using your USB data lead, normally you can just drag and drop the files without installing any special software. Hope I'm not teaching you to suck eggs LOL.

Mary doing well at the moment, so keeping fingers crossed for Portugal on Thursday.

Good luck,

John

x

Hi All

just wanted to wish you good luck with your holiday John, hope you both enjoy it.

Best wishes

Jackie

xxx

Hi All

just wanted to wish you good luck with your holiday John, hope you both enjoy it.

Best wishes

Jackie

xxx

Hi Everyone how you all doin im still waiting on a pet scan just

wont to know whats going on.

John. Mary have a lovely holiday well earned id say!

take care all sharon.xxxx

Thanks Jackie & Sharon,

Just off to bed, have to be up 3am! Will let you know how it went when I return.

Best wishes to everyone,

John

x

Have a lovely break, both of you!

Love Hazel xxx

Thanks Hazel,

Not a good start, boarded the plane and was told there will be a 1.5 hour delay due to Portuguese air traffic control action! Hence I have switched my smartphone back on. Due to take off at 8:10 now, not sure why they made us board knowing this. Oh well never mind, not long now.

How did the new anti sickness measures work out in the end?

John

Hi, John and Mary,

Hope you've arrived safely by now and can get messages!

Enjoy yourselves, anyway, hope it's sunny!

New anti-emetics only marginally better, in that nausea just as bad, just no actual vomiting, and whole thing lasted one day less!  Still, guess I have to be grateful for small mercies!

Scan tomorrow, so fingers crossed.

Love, Hazel xxx

Hi everyone have not been in touch for quite a while not since I had my radiotherapy last October.Well I was pleased with the results even though the side affects were worse than I expected.Felt really well for a while once I got over them but by Feb the lymph glands were up in my left groin!! Not charmed with that.Have been ticking over since but have other problems now won't go into them suffice it to say it seems to be spreading downwards.See my oncologist Monday she rang me and said they may do some more radiotherapy and I can try another chemo.Hey ho here we go again!!!.Dont know what I will decide one good thing is she always gives me (and everyone else )the choices in writing so you can go home and think about it and consider side affects etc also every patient has a personal oncology nurse you can ring between appts if you have any queries hope everyone is ok I will keep in touch and let you know how I get on.  Maisie x x x

Hello Maisie,

I haven't met you before, but I wish you good luck with your meeting today with your oncologist!

All the best,

Hazel x

Hi hazel as I expected I have a choice radiotherapy or more chemo have opted for chemo as I can have localised R T later if the chemo doesnt deal with the vaginal cancer .Problem is I have to choose between having just carboplatin on its own or carbo and /taxol.I didn't have the two beforehand kept my hair as I did with calyx.Dont know if it will be worth losing it and having worse side effects. I am trying to find some statistics about results and if the two drug combination is any more successful than the one but I am not having much luck!!!! Thank you for your kind thoughts    Maisie x

Hi Hazel,

Just got back from the Algarve, the weather wasn't great but it was a nice break and we were forunate to be given one of the best hotel rooms with a panoramic sea view! Mary was absolutely fine while we were away, thank goodness! Starting cycle 4 after clinic on Thursday.

Sorry to hear there's not much improvement with the nausea - I guess the wrist bands didn't help either? How did the scan go? (I am guessing it was a CT) Did you get the results?

Hope all the other ladies are ok, still no word

Best wishes,

John

x

Hi Maisie,

Welcome back, and sorry to hear of your continued troubles.

I believe that Carbo/Taxol is the first line treatment for ovarian cancer, but not to say it is best for everyone as people may respond better to other treatments. Mary had a Japanese dose-dense regimen of carbo/taxol (first time around) which worked well in trials. Mary got about 8 month out of it but unfortunately had a recurrence in January, so is back on chemo, this time Gem/Carbo. You may want to read my thread about it by clicking this link >>>> http://cancerchat.cancerresearchuk.org/message/28186#28186 and maybe discuss the option with your onc.

Main side effects of Taxol for Mary were hair loss and some neuropathy (some of which has remained in her toes).

Best wishes and good luck,

John

x