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Mum just diagnosed with Ovarian cancer

Janec1981
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My mum who is 61, got diagnosed on Sunday with cancer. I took her to A&E in Essex with a swollen abdominal area and pains. After some blood tests and scans and being in hospital over the bank holiday weekend we have been told it’s ovarian cancer which has spread. She is having a staging scan today or tomorrow to see how much it has spread, but they mentioned it looks like it is in the abdominal lining so possibly stage 3 or 4. She is quite breathless and I am hoping this is down to the large about of fluid build up pressing on the diaphragm, and not because the cancer has spread to her lungs. The hospital have not spoken about options and treatment yet, they say they have to have a board meeting to discuss options. We are very upset and worried.

 

could anyone offer me any hope?? 

Thanks Jane x

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    I’m sorry I missed your post and that you find yourself here but you are among friends. People who know what it is to be scared. We’ve all been there whether it’s for ourselves or for those we love. It’s ok to be scared. It’s what makes us human. It’s how we cope that makes us who we are. So yes you’re scared but your mum is being looked after. She’s started on the road to a treatment plan.It’s usual that cases are discussed. This is where several experts both doctors and nurses and radiologists get together to put a treatment plan together. Unfortunately they only meet at most once a week but waiting for patients and their relatives seems endless. The waiting is the hardest. When you know the full diagnosis and the treatment plan you are better able to cope. I know it doesn’t seem like that now but all of us further along this unwanted journey know that is what happens.

    Dont forget there are always people on here who will listen. We are not doctors so can’t give medical advice but we know what it’s like from first hand experience. As for me I’m working towards my final treatments for womb cancer but I’ve done the waiting, had two major operations and countless tests but I’m still smiling.....

    Im sending a virtual squeeze from my hand to yours.

    Sundial

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    Hi Janec,

    I am really sorry to hear about your mom. Exactly two weeks ago, my wife (47) and I attended the hospital for the results of a CT scan - at this point her abdomen was badly swollen, and crippling her - we were told that she probably had ovarian cancer which had spread. My wife was then admitted into hospital immediately for abdominal fluid draining. She was in hospital for a total of 6 days, but that was due to understaffing (quelle surprise), the fluid draining could have been done the next day if the hospital had been properly staffed. Not that I blame the hospital. The staff were fantastic throughout.

    Rest assured, since my wife has come out of hospital (they drained 10 litres of ascitic fluid in the end), the breathlessness has subsided. I'm sure that your mom will undergo the same procedure, and will be a lot more comfortable afterwards.

    Like yourself, when my wife left hospital she was also told that there would be a board meeting to discuss options. I should imagine that this is standard hospital procedure. We will find out what those options are this Friday, now that the biopsy results have come in. It's a very, very worrying and dark time, and can also feel incredibly desparate and lonely... but please know that you are not on your own, and that you've come to the best possible place for support. Please feel free to add me as a friend and PM me if you ever need to talk on a more private level.

    And I can offer hope. I have spoken, since joining this forum just a few weeks ago (feels like a bloody lifetime, but there you go), to women who were diagnosed with late stage OC several years ago... guess what? They're still around! I know! They've been talking to me!

    I send you, and your mom, all the very best wishes for the future! 

    L&H

    Mark

    XXX

     

     

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