Surgery/Recovery/Treatment

Hi Shelly , my name is Janet and I am in a similar position to you but in a different order!  I had 6 chemos first, carbo/docetaxel cos I was allergic to taxol! It worked really well , shrunk my tumours from 5cm to 3cm and has stabilised it ready for my surgery on 20 th August, so it’s good that you are having the chemo cos it will mop up anything lurking around.  I am having 2 extra chemos after surgery just incase there are any minuscule cells lurking around.  But the chemo made me feel so much better, i was   Aching and felt drained for about a week , but then was back to a better normal! Omg 5 hours surgery! Hope I don’t need the toilet!  Take care and keep us posted , there are a few of us on here in Similar position to you who i am sure will reply.

have a great sunday

love and virtual hugs

Janet

Hi Janet, Lovely to hear from you. Great news that your chemo has shrunk the tumours and your ready for your surgery. You will be asleep for the whole time and the pain relief after it helped a lot. I had my catheter in for 2 days but the day after surgery they had me up on my feet and walking a little. I am not sure the reason my surgery was first? I will keep you updated on my progress and i hope you do the same with me. Take care, keep well  and have a lovely Sunday.

xx

Hello, I am going through the diagnosis and tests.  I have just had a catscan and have been told that they are going to operate on me first and will do biopsies when operating.  Like you, I don't know why they are deciding to operate first. I am meeting them tomorrow so will be one of my first questions. But can I ask you did you have a large mass?  Mine is huge, 30 cms !  My head's in a whirl and don't know whether to be pleased that they are taking it out first or not.  I have already had a hysterectomy years ago but left my ovaries in.  I have been told that this is coming from the ovaries.  Pleased to hear you're feeling so much better now.

Hi There,

All i was told was that they could see a fatty lining with stranding on my omentum from CT scan and that until they went in to carry out surgery they were unsure where else it could be? At the MDT meeting all consultants were agreeable that this was the right course of action to take. It wasnt until OP was done that i was told the disease was in an advanced stage and that further treatment would be required. My consultant also told me that i may have the BRAC 1 or 2 gene and should be tested also for this. Please try not to worry until your surgery you are in safe hands and these guys know what they are doing and i hope you heal well and feel better soon. Please keep in touch to let me know how your doing. Good luck and best wishes for your surgery.

Shellyp x

Hi Shelly,

I was diagnosed in January this year after ultrasound and CT scans and had a staging laparoscopy biopsy before any treatment. This confirmed stage 3c high grade serous ovarian cancer and the consultant said that if they had operated upfront they would have been removing part of my bowel as well. I had four cycles of paclitaxel, carboplatin together with avastin (should have been after three cycles but covid intervened), then surgery after a six week break. I have just completed the remaining two chemo cycles. A CT scan has shown no sign of any residual disease and I will be continuing on the avastin as maintenance therapy for around a year.

Like Janet, I have felt so much better since chemo started and I have been very fortunate to not suffer much with side effects. Just writing this all down is amazing me how quickly the treatment has gone by when, at the beginning, it seemed like a very lengthy process stretching ahead of me. The best advice I can offer is to take one step at a time!

Best of luck with your recovery from surgery and for your chemotherapy.

Best wishes, Nell xxx

Hi Shelly,

I was in the same boat as you Feb 2018 ( debulking surgery followed by chemo). 
I had a post chemo scan July 2018 which showed NED ( no evidence of disease or remission as it used to be called). 

You’ll do this! It’s not easy by any means but it’s worth it. 
Hope it all goes well for you. 
Lynne xx

As someone has already said, try & take one day at a time x

Hi Lynneth

Glad to hear you are NED, its very morale boosting to hear from someone 2.5 years down the line.  Sometimes I find the Ovarian charities are a bit overwhelming with their stats and information, its good that they are getting their point out there but doesn't   help when we find ourselves going through treatment.  Can I ask, do you have 3 monthly CA125 and CT tests?  

Have a good weekend, I am back in shielding for 14 days before my  debulking operation now -  oh well at least I cannot go and sit with the thousands on the beach catching CV19 -  thank goodness! 

Love 

Janet

xx

Glad I’ve helped in some way. I’m on another forum for ovarian cancer which has many who have survived for many years after first diagnosed even after 2-3 recurrences ( one particular lady is still here after 12 years - she brings so much hope to others). 
From the Summer 2019 my CA125 slowly started rising so in Nov I had another CT Scan which showed a couple more lesions. In Jan 2020 I had more debulking surgery. Both my surgeon & oncologist believe these were from my first diagnosis ( rather than a recurrence). They couldn’t be 100% sure so treating them like a recurrence. Therefore I‘ve had 6 cycles of carbo only. I’ve since had another scan showing NED again & have been put on a PARP Inhibitor ( Niraparib ) which my body is slowly getting used to. 
It’s all fun & games but necessary to help survive this awful disease. 
Take good care all & all the best for your forthcoming treatments. 
Lynne xx