Heads a mess

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My husband (40 years old) was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in October. He started chemotherapy and of November. In December whilst in cycle 1 of chemo, he had a severe reaction and it looked like we were going to lose him as he went into kidney failure.

Thankfully in the a new year he came home, however after a routine appointment it was discovered the Chemo has caused heart failure so he’s now under the care of a cardiologist

in February he has an operation to remove the tumour from his leg. They’ve fully replaced his knee and part of his femur. The surgeon went well and surgeon is confident he removed it all. They sent the tumour off for testing and they said it showed the chemo had killed off 30% of the cancer cells. We thought this was positive given he didn’t even finish a full cycle

However, yesterday the oncologist was pessimistic about this. Whilsts she’s said the aim Is still to cure she said as so little of the cells was killed off the survival rate for 5 years is less than 50%

this has broken me and I don’t get it, how can that be? The tumour os out so surely any remaining cells will go when he re starts chemo? (Different chemo to what he had previously)

has anyone had anything similar

frantic10 over 1 year ago

Good Morning Riddle, my heart goes out to you and your husband, I have been where you are now, not exactly the same reasons, but that feeling of overawed with the whole situation, not knowing what to think, cant process anything because you are only just surviving yourself and of course so much more that goes with it. Ive only been diagnosed a month, so everything is new still Mine was also totally unexpected and the news very bad. Absollutely nothing they can do, its already spread -, probably only had it since christmas. and they gave me a year if I manage to go through all the treatment - chemo and radio. The way I dealt with it, looked at it and thought Im going to push through, I am going to be strong for my family who are all devastated and going to show them I will do betterr than that - and my motto 'i am going to live forever, and I have to be honest and say sometimes I dont feel like that but I try not to dwell and soon come out of it 10 to 15 minutes. Things change so fast dont they,

Running along side this, my husband who's suffering with long covid. its been going on 14 month is suffering like yours and has neaarly died 3 times. The stress was unbelievable, I hope you have a good supportive family and network of friends. I'm a good listening ear, and if you want to talk more pm me or on here whatever makes you comfortable. My chemo starts in a fortnight and I am going to be in more and need to keep my brain active too. Wishing you all the very best and fingers crossed this is just another blip on the journey. It is a million times harder as the support and carer, than the person going through it. Jill

Pete or Stan over 1 year ago

Hey Riddle,

Sorry to hear about your situation.

I don't know anything about this specific cancer, but in general there are different types of cancer - both in how quickly they grow and how much they spread. Surgery, radio and chemo are all tools that can remove the cancer cells - but none of them is perfect.

The oncologist is saying that the plan is still to cure. So maybe try two things for now... (1) Focus on the positive - there is a real hope there - if there wasn't they would say so. (2) Focus on getting through day to day at the moment - rather than worrying too much about the future. When we were in a similar situation a few years ago, we found it helpful to make plans to do some things that we wanted to do. The hospital can schedule treatment around other plans.

I know that is hard. It will take you some time to regather yourself. In the meantime, make sure you are looking after yourself as much as possible. Being a carer is hard work and it's a marathon.

Big hug...

Pete

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