Hello everyone,
a little bit about my journey so far if you don’t mind.
all started 10 months ago when I was given a blood test for ca 125 as my I s was getting worse. The results were high and initially this was dealt with swiftly as the go said I could have ovarian issues. I was given an internal and stomach ultra sound and was told everything was ok. I was then sent for a follow up blood test in case it was a blip and this got lost. I was sent for another blood test and the results were still high (about 3 months had gone by now). I was then sent for a ct scan and was told they wanted to investigate further so was sent for a punch biopsy. I was awake during this and the surgeon said he didn’t think it had worked and it turned out he was right as he couldn’t get a good sample. In January 22 I had a laparoscopy biopsy. 2 weeks later after hearing nothing I telephoned and was told over the phone by a nurse that I had cancer. I said was it ovarian and she said no then came out with the phrase ‘ low grade mucinous carcinoma of the peritoneal within the gastro intestine’ .
This meAnt nothing to me and she tried to find out but she said it was really rare and she didn’t have any further information. Nearly 6 weeks on I have had no letters , no telephone from anyone and if it wasn’t for the fact that I made a right pest of myself phoning every day for 10 days that I got further info.
i was told as it was not a gynae issue the team had batted it to colo rectal team at my local hospital. After numerous phone calls to various teams and consultants secretaries I was told by one secretary that my cancer was so rare it had been discussed at a MDT that I will be referred to Basingstoke hospital which is about 2 hours from where I live. I then had to keep chasing again as the consultant needed to formally sign me over to Basingstoke and it took a few more phone calls by me to confirm this has been done.
That was this week. Now I am in no way a medical person and I have still not had any letters or feedback from anyone apart from the nurse so I still not 100% sure it is actually peritoneal cancer or not but I am currently feeling overwhelmed with anger at the slowness of things happening and the fact no one actually tells me what is going on. I have had to tell my family as up to now I was keeping it secret but I only tell them bits and just want somewhere to talk about this as it’s totally all encompassing at the moment. I do not know what any treatment may look like and have been googling things which has really scared me like the cytoplasm reduction surgery which totally sent me into an emotional free fall.
so that’s it. Lol. My story so far. If anyone may possibly have something similar I would really like to hear from you
Thank you
Thanks Wendy - yes I have recovered well from the surgery. I must admit I was quite frightened before the operation as I had never had major surgery before but the team were great. I'd never thought of imagining the cancer as being in a coma - it's a good approach! Marjorie x
hi ice maiden I feel what you are going through My story started april this year I was bleeding and had an app at hospital where the took biopsy of uterus The doctor said I had a cyst on ovary but not to worry about it was nothing!! 2weeks later was told they hadnt taken enough tissue and that result was inconclusive waited another2 weeks for more biopsies to be done 3 weeks lthey came back clear But they sent me for ct scan in July that apparantly came back ok Was offered coil for bleeding I said no rather have hysterectomy Fast forward nov they couldnt completr hysterectomy as they found cancer in peritoneum So more biopsies were done Found out last week I have primary cancer in colon which has spread to ovaries and peritoneum and now been transferred to another department for the primary cancer MDT meeting today so waiting for outcome Its certainly been a rollacoaster ride this year Karen
Hi Bridie. I had 3 rounds of chemo then the debulking surgery then four more chemo. I started on Avastin in May and got quite a lot of side effects so my consultant delayed it for 1 treatment then gave me the option of continuing. I have had three more rounds of Avastin but am again getting lots of side effects so cancelled my last session. I speak to my Consultant on Friday and am seriously considering discontinuing the treatment. Have you had any side effects from the Avastin. Side effects are (really bad headaches, very weak legs so can't walk far, feeling sick all the time, constantly exhausted and weight gain). I would love to know how you are dealing with it.
Healing thoughts.
Hi Elizabeth I am seeing oncologist tomorrow to talk which chemo I am having Will let you know the outcome Karen
Hi ElizabethB! I have been very fortunate so far - the side effects of the Avastin have not been too bad. I am very tired and have had mild back ache. I have not (touch wood) had any bad headaches. I have put on a bit of weight but it's not excessive so for the moment I am continuing with Avastin I have been told I am limited in the number of sessions of Avastin I can have so I am not sure what happens once I have reached my limit. Has your oncologist mentioned "parp inhibitors"? I understand that is another "maintenance therapy". Good luck with it all, Marjorie
Hi Marjorie. Thanks for your reply. I have spoken to my Con sultant and he has agreed to delay my next treatment for another 3 weeks until I see him face to face. If the problems get better then we have to make the decision whether to carry on or not. If the symptoms do not improve then it could be something else so I will have to have more tests. My Avastin treatments were for 12 months which he said would delay the return of the cancers for about 9 months so I have to decide if I want to feel unwell during treatment or acccept the consequences of stopping for a better quality of life. No he hasn't mentioned parp inhibitors so I will have to look that up.
Like you I don't know what happens after that, I suppose they just monitor my bloods to see if the levels rise again.
Hopefully your symptoms will not get any worse. Have a great christmas and stay positive. Lorna
Hi Karen, how did you get on the your meeting. I was on a mixture of Carboplatin and Paxilitacel. I started to lose my hair after the second session so got my daughter to shave it off. It has now grown back very wavy which it wasn't before. Have a great Christmas and keep positive. Lorna
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