Hi I was diagnosed in March after going to gp in Jan.I had 25 fractions of radiotherapy and I stayed in hospital for it as I had abscess on my ovary which made me really ill .I got home end of June and had a CT scan,I had to chase them up for the results as noone got back to me even though I messaged my cns 3 times .I eventually emailed my oncologist secretary and he called me back to say they want me back for another scan as it's showing a couple of small nodules on my lungs which he wants to check wether it's from the infection I had in hospital or if the cancer has spread.
I was told I am stage 3c1 and it's not curable only controllable but haven't told me how they are going to control it.I am on morphine capsules and morphine liquid and my gp has just increased the capsules strength as I was still in a lot of pain.
My scan is in the next 2 weeks but my oncologist isn't calling till Xmas Eve so I feel like I'm being left to just get on with it .
Any idea how they will be controlling it?
Hi Lozza
Am so sorry that you are not getting the information from the hospital that you need.
I hope that your scan goes ok and I wonder if your GP would be able to intervene once the results are back and speak to the consultant. During my treatment my GP was able to contact my hospital direct and it can sometimes move things along. To wait until Christmas Eve is too far ahead to be worrying.
Stage 3c1 is where the cancer has spread into the pelvic lymph nodes.
I do not know your individual circumstances but generally where cancer is more advanced and it is not always curable then controlling the cancer is the next aim. For some people this may mean treating all the visible cancer and getting into remission and for others it may be to stabilise the cancer.
I think for you the important thing is the CT scan. The nodules that have shown on your lungs could well be from a recent infection. If they are from an infection then they may well have reduced or gone from the last scan. Whereas more concerning nodules would likely to remain- either way the CT is to monitor them. It will also influence the possible treatments.
The treatment options will depend on your own circumstances and wishes, and also what treatment you have already had. As you have already had radiotherapy- this is not normally given to the same area twice. Chemotherapy may be offered. Some ladies are offered immunotherapy and sometimes a combination of the 2 treatments. There are also targeted therapies. For some ladies hormonal treatment may be used. For some people surgery can be used.
I would imagine that after the scan that your results should go before an MDT meeting and they will look closely at your original diagnosis, genetic bits etc to see for you which treatment would be most effective.
I think the best thing to do would to be to speak with your GP and see if they can get some answers for you, before Dec24th. Even if it is some provisional answers, you need to know before then. Ideally your CNS/consultant should be doing this but for me contacting my GP did help.
Do give the Macmillan Support Line a call if it would help to speak to one of the nurses.
Jane
