Age 86 - Chemo or no chemo?

Hi Everyone

My mother in law has been recently diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer, she has been offered Carboplatin - 5 or 6 rounds l can't remember right now. 

She is 86 and not in the best physical shape to start with, she has been unable to walk any distance for some time, and lost a lot of robustness a year ago when she had multiple clots in her heart which the doctor said should have killed her, but she defied that!  However, she has never regained the capacity she had prior to this, she is fatigued and does not really leave the house, and most, if not all of the daily living tasks are undertaken by her husband.  She made it to M&S the other day by being driven and walker, but had to cut it short and return home, which completely wiped her out.

She has been told she is likely to have only a few months without treatment, but the oncologist has told her she could get much more than that with chemo and possibly up to 6 years, which seems a bit fantastical and unlikely, but that's what was said to her and her husband.

She has been in a lot of pain and that is currently being managed with morphine.  She is currently unsure and feeling highly anxious about making a decision.  She has been booked in for Chemo to start in 3 or 4 weeks, and told to take her time and to just let them know if she is going ahead or not before the first appointment.

It is not her first experience of chemo, she had a large aggressive neck cancer removed in extensive surgery, and follow up chemo/radio in combination.  She has been clear of that for about 10 years and this is now an unrelated cancer.  Prior to this she said, never again, but now she does not know which way to go.

I think the prevailing opinion in the family is that the chemo will just make her ill for the remaining time she has left, which is understandable, but we have no expertise or experience in making this judgement.  It would seem ovarian cancer can respond exceptionally well to chemo, and even if she can not tolerate the whole course she may still get some increase to her outlook.  Her doctor has said she may feel ill for 3 days with each round.

So l am seeking some other peoples experiences with elderly, quite vulnerable ladies and how well chemo was tolerated, and what the results were in terms of decreasing pain and ongoing quality of life.

I have read "Efficacy and Safety of First-line Single-Agent Carboplatin vs Carboplatin Plus Paclitaxel for Vulnerable Older Adult Women with Ovarian Cancer", JAMA Oncology, Vol. 7, No 6 and it would appear that functional status is more of a factor than age, but that is not brilliant in her case.  

My husband is flying to the UK from Australia next week to spend a month with her and support her in whatever she chooses, so we are seeking as much knowledge as possible in case she asks our thoughts, and right now, l really don't know, only she knows how much fight she still has left and how much she might be prepared to endure from the chemo.

So, good or bad experiences, please share.  Thank you for taking the time to read this far.