My mum was diagnosed with 3c serous ac high grade last June '18. She had 6 rounds of paclitaxel & CBDCA. During her treatment she had bad luck with the tumour blocking her intestines resulting in her having colostomy, which later collapsed so she had ileostomy done. This resulted in delays of her treatment, but finally this Jan she had the debulking & Hipec done. All cancer removed but small lesions on her intestines. She was due to have more chemo to treat it, but the doctors decided to delay it as after the first chemo and operations she was severely malnourished, and they were worried she will not pull through it. She has seen the oncologist every month since then with CA 125 levels stable. However, early June her CA 125 levels doubled. The oncologist ordered ultrasounds with other two doctors (a bowel specialist and gynecologist) who confirmed the treated areas were clean and in their view the illness is in remission. The oncologist said despite that, the increased CA 125 levels indicate activity and she wants to see mum in Sep and resume the chemo again. I asked for PET/CT scan to confirm, but the doc said that ultrasound is enough at this stage, and they will do PET/CT is Sep. She said as mum had PET in Dec and CT in March, she is worried about the liquid patients need to drink for the advanced scans as they can impact kidneys, so Sep will be the right time. She also said the CA 125 levels are not critical and the lead time is normally 3 months so no need for her to see mum before Sep, unless mum wouldn't feel well. She said she wants my mum to have a nice summer, relax, get stronger and then they will give her chemo to hit the cancer hard.
It all sounds reasonable, but then I was thinking why are we waiting for the cancer to awake before chemo? What if it spreads too much by Sep? They worked so hard to remove the tumours so why let them grow again? In my head Im thinking that the sooner they start chemo, the better chances mum stands. What is your view, have you gone through similar situations? Should I be pressing them to start sooner? Shall I get a second opinion? Grateful if you could share your views and experiences. Thanks!
