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Reoccurrent Ovarian Cancer

cjb2
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My wife had received the news that her ovarian cancer that she was originally diagnosed with at the beginning of 2024 has returned. The oncology doctor had given her the news that the cancer had reactivated in most of the sites but it had also formed in news sites but it is still contained within the abdomen and has not spread outside of that. It is about 6 months since she had finished her chemotherapy treatment in her first line treatment and the doctor has advised that she needs to restart a chemotherapy as soon as possible. She had returned to hospital during the course of this week because her abdomen had started bloating significantly and had also received treatment called paracentesis which had removed the fluid (ascites) from her. In going forwards, she is going to receive Carboplatin again along with another drug called Gemcitabine which is an agent that destroys the DNA of the cancer cells quickly. It is too soon to say as to whether this will be successful but the doctor has not given her a prognosis at this stage and will assess it as her treatment progresses. After this treatment has finished, she has been told that she will be put on a PARP inhibitor which should a suppress the cancer in the future.

It is having a devastating effect on her mental health given that this has not been good over the past few months and this was perhaps the worst news that she could have received that the cancer has returned. I am not quite sure as to how she is going to be in the weeks and months ahead but it is a plainly obvious that she feels that this condition will eventually get her even though I'm trying to convince her that she has got to try and be positive in going forwards. Unfortunately, she still blames her GP that the early stage symptoms were not picked up and seeing that it was misdiagnosed for IBS which she had also suffered from as well. It is very difficult to suggest as to whether this was missed when she thought that she had similar symptoms a few years ago but that is something that she will never know and has to deal with the situation as she has got at present. I was wondering if anyone else on this forum has been through this and how they had managed to cope with being told that their cancer has returned and they have to go through the whole process again of treatment and hoping that they can keep it at bay for longer.

  • Hello cjb2,

    I'm sorry to hear about your situation. I can only imagine how disappointed your wife is that the cancer has come back and I'm sure members on Cancer Chat will reach out to you. When cancer returns, it can have an affect on wellbeing and it's natural to feel at a loss, as the idea of another round of treatment can be daunting. There is support out there for you both and we have guidance around mental health and cancer and where you may be able to access support. There is also advice on looking after yourself and loved ones with cancer in the family, friends, carers and cancer section. If you'd like to speak to someone about this, our team of cancer nurses are available on the free helpline 0808 800 4040. Lines are open 9 to 5 Monday to Friday.

    I hope this helps in some way. No doubt you'll be there every step of the way to support her, which will mean a great deal to her and I'm wishing your wife all the best in her treatment.

    Moderator Anastasia

  • Offline in reply to Moderator Anastasia

    She had gone into hospital at the end of January where she still remains in there to date mainly because she has had a rapid build-up of ascites which have been drained once but have come back again. I think that she is going to have what they call a 'tap' (to drain off the fluid) for this to remain in place until her chemotherapy starts at the end of Feb 25 which the clinical nurses have described would dry it up. Unfortunately, she is unable to eat much at the moment as she keeps bringing it up and is on and off a drip. It is a bit of a sad situation but the good news is that the ascites fluid did not seem to contain any micro-cancer cells and she has also not been given a bad prognosis either. It is also unfortunate with the hugh grade serous carcinoma ovarian cancer that it will continue to be treatable i.e. she will need to be monitored and treated for the rest of her life but there maybe a drug out there one day that could effectively provide a long term remission and keep it at bay for a long time.

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