Scan results encouraging. : Had results of scan... - My Ovacome

My Ovacome

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Scan results encouraging.

11 years ago•12 Replies

Had results of scan after a fraught 2 months of rising CA125. Amazingly very little change to tumours. No treatment till at least after Christmas. So relieved. Looking for things to get up to in next 3 months. Xx

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TillyTiptoe

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11 years ago

Great news enjoy your three months love x G x

wendydee11 years ago

Good news, indeed! May you continue to feel well and enjoy reasonable health until well after Christmas

Love Wendy xx

11 years ago

I think we all know that feeling of anxiety followed by relief.

Really pleased you have had good news

Anne x

citrine11 years ago

Glad to hear this. Enjoy a well deserved break.

Love Mary xx

Whippit11 years ago

whoo hoo this is indeed good news and I'm so delighted you're going to make merry and celebrate this reprieve. xxx Enjoy your chemo holiday. xxx Annie

MaggyH11 years ago

That's great news, hope you really enjoy the next three months, and many more too!

Love Brenda x

11 years ago

Hello, Scarletina, we haven't met online yet, so please excuse me if I make any mistakes. First of all, I would like to tell you a story based on my own experience: I was diagnosed four years ago and treated with surgery and then chemotherapy, along the NICE guidelines at the time. I was stage 3c with grade 3 cells - only slightly better off than you, although I was more than ten years younger when I was diagnosed. Because I think of my age, my then surgeon and oncologist decided, in their joint wisdom - that the details of my diagnosis, treatment and prognosis was - in their opinion - so poor, that the details of my condition were effectively drip fed to my husband and me. It was a bleak day in midwinter - 28th of December when the oncologist told me that I was actually stage 3 and not stage 2, which was what the surgeon had implied. Fortunately my husband was with me, because he always takes the entire Christmas New Year period off. The oncologist went on to say that my prognosis of surviving 5 years was 30%, not the 60% we had assumed based on the surgeon's remarks, which were made to me in a hospital corridor, when I pursued him shortly after my surgery whilst I was still an inpatient...

My husband and I then went into what we call a tailspin... Our optimism nosedived, and we began immediately to explore our other options, which included private care because of my husband's then group policy, which included me.

So, we visited our GP when the practise opened after New Year. Our GP, who became more or less a personal friend, sat us both down and said that, since it was 11am, he was on his morning coffee break, would we mind joining him for a cup of coffee or tea? Puzzled, we asked for a cup of tea, and, whilst we waited, our GP ran thru' our my computerised records and printed off copies of several. Once tea was served, after a brief pre-amble, he told me that I was in fact stage 3c, since two lymph nodes had been involved in the tumour - the surgeon had told me that the lymph node biopsies were clear!!!! He then handed me copies of the surgeon's & oncologist's letters, along with the pathology report, the hospital discharge notes, the records of 2 MDTs, etc.. We left after thanking him profusely, we were, all three of us shaking our heads.

Sorry, I type at over 100 wpm...to cut a long story short, when we asked for my CA125 result, with great trepidation, we discovered that it was actually 3! So, given that we had already rung round the various cancer centres, after a conversation with Nurse Ruth Payne (Ovacome advice line) we rang back the clinic we had chosen for our second opinion, and were told by the secretary and then the oncologist himself, who called back to confirm what his secretary had told us, that, because I had had such an excellent response to adjuvant chemo, no oncologist or gynaecological surgeon in the entire world - we were at this stage considering cashing in our assets to fly to America if need be - would advise more treatment at this stage. A transatlantic call confirmed the same thing, unless, as they said, someone wants to try to make some money from you because there are a few of them around in the USA.

Now, four years later, paradoxically my CA125 has remained at the same low level, although over the years I have had a couple of scares, both innocuous, as it turned out.

My second story is simply this. When we met into the next appointment, pre-armed and furious, we got sent to the hospital's cancer care centre, which is run by one of the big cancer charities. There we met the ironically named specialist clinical nurse Faith Xxxxx, who introduced herself as that, sat us both down and again served us tea, which she made herself. The first thing she said, was, it is very good indeed that your CA125 is so low, because in my experience, that alone indicates that you will go on to have a good remission, which might last for the rest of your life. The next significant remark she made was that she personally had two ladies who were initially diagnosed at stage 4, both of whom remained well and alive ten years later. Neither had initial surgery, because the cancer was so advanced. One went on to have surgery later, after a good response to chemo. That lady, she assured us, has never recurred since, although she still has check ups. The other lady had had three or four courses of chemo over the years, but she is also doing fine.

That CNS has now retired, but she still volunteers for MacMillan. I have met her several times since, because she lives in a village quite close to me. Her two stage 4 survivors are still alive today, so am I, so are many others. Statistics are just statistics. Hope remains, and although it can be a real mental and emotional battle to maintain it in the early stages, it is that, rather than prognoses that is our best crutch as we endure the cancer 'journey'...

Once again apologies for the long ramble. I hope I haven't bored the pants off y'all. Now off to walk the dogs and then get to work. Very best wishes, Cxxx

11 years ago

So good to hear! Now relax once more, enjoy the end of summer without worrying about chemo!

Love sue xxx