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 Hazel,

I hope all goes well with the op, I know it's a tough time for you right now especially with also having Roy's issues to deal with. My lasting memory of Mary's big op is not so much the pain she suffered from the surgery, but more so the pain from the trapped gas. So my advice to you would be to find as many remedies as you can pre-op so that you're prepared. Mary had peppermint capsules and charcoal capsules which I got from a well known health food shop, which did give her some relief. Some people say peppermint tea or cordial is good. I wish I had known about this pre-op as it would have made things a lot easier for her.

Mary quite tired after a busy weekend socialising, it's caught up with her. Booked hire cars for Orlando today, so another step closer.

Take care,

John

Hi Maisie,

Glad you got you're treatment sorted out, hope it works well for you. Good luck with the conference, let us know how it goes.

Best wishes,

John

x

Maisie, thanks for your kind words, and hope all went well today with chemo, and that the carbo does the trick!

Love Hazel xxx

Hi, John,

Thanks for your advice re. the peppermint, will certainly take it on board.

My poor Roy has had a cardiac arrest caused by a bad chest infection after his hip operation, to add to our probs, but is now making a little headway, thank God.

Love to you and Mary, and to everyone else  -  thinking of you all!

Hazel xxx

HI Hazel,

Oh dear, what a lot you have on your plate right now, poor Roy. I do hope your fortunes change for the better now and that your op goes smoothly, and you are welcome to the advice - It's always good to be able to offer help in some way.

Mary had chemo today but it was borderline as her neutrophils were so low - she has looked very tired over the past week. We have 3 weddings to attend this month, one each week starting this Saturday. So we will have to see how it goes and try not to over do it.

I hope we hear from the other Ladies soon.

Best wishes,

John

x

Thank you John, I will be back here when I can, things pretty bad at present.

Love to Mary, hope you both enjoy the weddings, I know you'll take care of her!

Love Hazel xxx 

I'm sorry to hear that Hazel, thinking of you and Roy and hoping that your situation improves soon. Take care of each other and I look forward to hearing from you when you are in a better place.

John

x

Hi John chemo went ok ,not feeling brilliant if I am honest ,very fatigued much worse than I expected but I will cope !!!.The conference went well, got a really complimentary letter and flowers from them ,quite unexpected but very nice .Regards to Mary hope she continues to do well.   May x

Hi hazel I am surviving ,! Good you are keeping positive my thoughts are with you and your husband Take care .  May x

Hi Everyone,

Just checking in to see how you're all doing - it has gone very quiet on this thread.

Mary has her last chemo next Thursday (5 cycles) as her onc wants her to be off of treatment 3 weeks before we go to Orlando. She will be re-assessed when we return, blood test and CT scan, and he is looking to see if there may be any suitable clinical trials to offer. Apart from being tired, Mary is feeling ok and we are off to another wedding tomorrow (3rd this month).

May - I hope that your chemo is still going well and you're coping better now, so glad that you got some positive feedback from the conference.

Hazel - I hope things are ok with you and your partner, I was quite concerned about your last post.

Best wishes to everyone,

John x

Hi Everyone,

Just checking in to see how you're all doing - it has gone very quiet on this thread.

Mary has her last chemo next Thursday (5 cycles) as her onc wants her to be off of treatment 3 weeks before we go to Orlando. She will be re-assessed when we return, blood test and CT scan, and he is looking to see if there may be any suitable clinical trials to offer. Apart from being tired, Mary is feeling ok and we are off to another wedding tomorrow (3rd this month).

May - I hope that your chemo is still going well and you're coping better now, so glad that you got some positive feedback from the conference.

Hazel - I hope things are ok with you and your partner, I was quite concerned about your last post.

Best wishes to everyone,

John x

Hello everyone-I have read all your posts and would like to join in-I have gained a lot of comfort from reading about other people's experiences and you all seem like a really nice group of people.

My name is Anne and I was diagnosed with stage3c ovarian cancer(one ovary and lymph node involved) in January 2012.I had debulking surgery in February2012 and have just had 5th chemotherapy dose-last one due on July4th.I have also got a 2cm cancerous tumour to kidney and am seeing the urology consultant about that this week.I am aged56 and have been married for 26 years and have a son aged 25 and a daughter who is 13 so as you can imagine I have found my diagnosis and prognosis very distressing at times.

I have found chemotherapy quite a struggle (I hate needles as well!)but am focusing on being able to spend quality time with my family once it's over and have booked 2 weeks in Spain at the end of August which I am really looking forward to.My friends and family have been very supportive and I am trying to live as normal a life as possible but sometimes I feel very frightened and lonely .As I have said I have found following similar experiences helpful and would also be more than happy to help other people through what can be very tough times.

Hi Anne,

Welcome to the forum and of course you are most welcome to join in. At the moment it has gone very quiet on this thread and I suspect some of the ladies are having a difficult time right now.

I am glad that reading some of the posts has helped you in some way, it is a difficult thing to come to terms with. Strangely enough though it seems more difficult for our friends and family to come to terms with and they sometimes do not know what to do or say. As for Mary, she has just told everyone to treat her as normal.

Mary stopped her chemo 4 weeks ago so that she would be able to go on our family holiday to Orlando - we leave on Thursday, so I will not be around on the forum either for a couple of weeks. Mary is feeling well at the moment, so hopefully the holiday will do her the world of good. It is important to have things to look forward to, so good for you booking a Spanish holiday.

Mary will have a blood test and CT scan when we return, then we will discuss what happens next. May I ask what chemo you have been on?

Best wishes,

John

x

Hi everyone how all doing i avnt been on here for a while.a big welcome to Anne

therse always someone to have a chat to or a moan! best site ever.well ill fill

you in with whats happening with me i was ment to have chemo again a month

ago then the day before i get a call from hospital to see my consultant change

of plan no chemo im having surgery to remove a lymph node.so im just waiting

tfor that letter to be dropped through my letter box!.even though im very nervous

anyone had this op?.just wont to get over with.

Hi john, Mary glad things are ok with you

have a wonderfull holiday.

Big Hugs to everyone

take care. sharonxxxxxx

Hi John and Sharon and everyone,

John I am on 6 sessions of Carboplatin/Paclitaxel given at three weekly intervals-I was incredibly ill after 1st dose but although I still have severe nausea,fatigue etc it's nothing like the first time-as you can see from the time I am writing this sleep-or lack of it-is a big problem for me and has been since diagnosis.I am sure you and Mary are getting really excited about your holiday-I hope you have a fantastic time and enjoy every second of it-there is nothing better than a complete escape and change of scenery -problems get forgotten for a while.Your travel insurance must have cost a fortune!!I am using EU card in Spain and insurance which doesn't cover cancer due to ridiculous costs.

Sharon I had a lymph node removed during my initial debulking surgery so am not sure about what the operation entails when done separately but do let me know how you get on.

The hardest thing for me is the effect this has had on my daughter -we are very close indeed-and her unhappiness fills me with a terrible sadness.At the moment she is quite involved with preparations for Race for Life which gives her a focus.I am close to my son as well but he is at university so is not at home all the time.

I avoid hospital cancer support groups and try to live as normal a life as possible but it is lovely to feel part of this group where you all seem to be lovely,kind,supportive people.

Love to everyone

Anne X

Hi Anne,

Mary had Carbo/Taxol first time around and responded very well to it - only issue was the Taxol left her with a lot of neuropathy in her toes, so she couldn't have it this time. Instead she had Gem/Carbo, but again she has responded well with very little side effects, she seems to be surprisingly tolerant of chemo fortunately.

Re Travel Insurance, yes it can be very expensive, we were quoted a minimum of £1000 and most companies wouldn't insure at all. Mary's consultant advised her to stop her treatment 3 weeks before travelling and to take out a policy excluding pre-existing conditions. The thing is, it's the chemo rather than the cancer that can make you suddenly acutely ill, so you have to do your own risk analysis. We cannot afford to keep paying thousands of pounds in travel insurance, so we have to make an assessment that she feels well enough to travel. Fortunately, she is feeling very well right now so we feel the risk is very small.

Her consultant also advised her to have her treatment around her life, not her life around her treatment, and he is very flexible with this. So do look forward to your holidays, they are very good for you.

Best wishes,

John

x

Hi Sharon,

Good to see you back, sorry to hear your chemo has been postponed for surgery - always a worry, but I'm sure it'll be fine.

All we can do is follow the advice of our consultants and hope it all works out for the best.

Good luck and best wishes,

John

x

Hi John,

I agree about travel insurance and have decided to take the risk -my consultant has only recently agreed to me booking a holiday and I feel so much happier having something to look forward to-I am someone who always liked holidays and travel a lot before I was ill.

Spent this morning with urology consultant regarding small kidney tumour-have been very stressed about it but fortunately it just needs to be monitored every six months at the moment which is such a relief as I don't think I could take any more bad news at the moment.

Mary's consultant sounds really nice-I have had to point out to mine that my emotional needs were not being considered.Like Mary seems to I try to continue to see friends go out for lunch,shopping etc but am being a bit more cautious at the minute as only one more chemo to go and I do not want to get an infection!I just wish I could sleep more.

Anne x

Hi Anne,

Yes, Mary's consultant is very good, he is the top man at her hospital so she is very fortunate to be under his care. It sounds like Mary has a similar problem as yourself, she also has a small tumour on the kidney which they were trying to shrink with chemo - the CT scan in July will obviously show if there has been any progress.

When we booked this holiday, we thought that Mary was cured. Then she came down with a serious kidney infection at the start of this year and found out later that this was caused by the tumour. I thought we may have to cancel the holiday, but she has made good progress so keeping everything crossed that she'll be fine while we're away. We have lots of attractions booked (including swimming with dolphins!), I just have to make sure she doesn't over do it. Don't get me wrong, I do worry about Mary but she is determined to do the things she really wants to do - the term "life is too short" feels so true for us now.

I do hope you manage to get some sleep, Mary found that taking steroids too late in the day would keep her awake but that was only on chemo days. Perhaps a hot milky drink may help.

John

x

Hi John

Another sleepless night!Like yourselves my husband and I are trying to make the best of things and enjoy the present.This should become easier I hope when chemotherapy ends.I find living with uncertainty very difficult.

My renal tumour is apparently a separate cancer not related to the ovarian cancer.It is within the kidney and shouldn't spread outside the kidney-hence the monitoring at present as it is slow growing-unfortunately cannot be treated by chemotherapy so I may have to look at other options in the future.I am trying to put it out of my mind and focus on the ovarian cancer.The urology consultant was fantastic-very understanding and reassuring.

Hope Mary continues to stay well-it sounds like she will and you both need and deserve what sounds like a fantastic holiday -I do envy you swimming with dolphins!

Did Mary put any weight on during chemotherapy?I am finding that despite the awful nausea my appetite has increased and I do have to be very careful not to go too wild-I normally eat a fairly healthy diet.Is Mary going to swim wearing a wig-I hope you don't think that is a stupid question or that I a m being too personal-it's just that I want to look normal on my holiday and have two identical wigs and was going to keep one on when swimming and wondered what other people did.I wear a wig at all times and a hat in bed !!!

Thank you for listening to my nocturnal ramblings,I am going to have another attempt at sleeping.

Regards

Anne x

Good Morning Anne,

I hope you managed to get some sleep in the end. Please ask anything you like, that's why we're all here I think - to share information and experiences and hopefully help each other along the way.

Mary did not lose her hair this time, it's the Taxol that does that, Gemcitabine is not as aggresive but the consultant said it was too risky to give her any more Taxol because of her neuropathy. However, last year we went to Turkey for a week post-chemo and she had bought online a selection of bandanas to wear.

She does have a wig which she wore a lot at first, but eventually only wore if we were out socialising. Generally she would wear a hat or a bandana when we were out, at home and in the garden she didn't bother covering her head at all in the end. She felt that she was covering up to make others feel more comfortable rather than thinking about her own comfort. It's a big thing psychologically for a woman to get over though and everyone does what feels right for themselves.

Mary did not have any issues with weight gain, her appetite was up and down really. She was very tired last night, we were entertaining over the weekend - friends over till late on Friday then Father's day bbq on Sunday, now I'm worrying that she has overdone it. I probably drive her mad keep asking if she's ok.

I hope your treatment and progress goes well for you.

Take care,

John

x