Decision,s

[valo]

I was diagnosed in July, had perforated bowel so they thought I had bowel cancer. After more biopsies it was found to be stage 4b ovarian cancer I ve. had 4 chemo,s and recent c t scan has showed reduction in size of mass. I was then seen by gynae / oncologist and given option of major surgery to debulk tumour or more chemo. Because my quality of life with chemo is good after a few days I have decided to carry on with chemo as it appears to be responding and will be reviewed after another 2 treatments have I made the right decision??

[TinaB1]

Hello Val and welcome to our friendship circle. I'm sorry you find yourself in this position. I'm not sure if you've made the right decision but you did what you felt was right for you. Have you the option of having surgery later? Xxx

[Lily-Anne]

If you feel it was the right thing then you need to be completely happy with your decision. I will say that there was a trial recently which is the basis of my treatment for recurrence which supports surgery followed by chemo, however it does depend on the spread I believe. Have you spoken to your oncologist about what they would do if you were their loved one. What do you want from chemo? What does your oncologist want from chemo? Surgery is exhausting and major surgery has been much more tiring than last time so it is a balancing act.

LA

[babsclunn]

Hi val welcome to our family

I was stage four advanced on diagnosis was told surgery not an option but had 6 chemo sessions then mass had reduced quite a bit so they went ahead with surgery had surgery 18 month ago and at moment still no evidence of disease X

If you feel better by just having chemo finish the chemo then see how things are after all the best for your treatment babs

[Hidden]

Well you can revisit your decision when chemo is over and then see if surgery is still an option, I am no doctor but I imagine a good chat with the oncologist would help you make the necessary decisions. I would suggest your contact your Macmillan Nurses and the Ovacome Nurse to see if they could offer you any medical advice or hopefully you have a gp you can relate to, It is a hard call but maybe stick with it for now. Surgery can be daunting but I have got through it before chemo. It is difficult if you have never had a hospital stay before in that you dont have the freedom to get up and leave the hospital for a few days. However you learn to go with the flow and really its not that bad. You have pain relief post opp and the worst thing was being asked to go to the loo which was an impossibility when you were on liquids only. Wishing you the best in your last two chemos but do revisit your decision

[valo]

Hi all thank you for your replies, I'm new to this but have found you all to be helpful I do feel I have made the right decision for me but will review the situation following next C T scan. Here,s hoping. All best wishes for new year

[Lyndy]

Hi Val

I was in a similar position to you following 4 cycles of chemo and I questioned the surgeon about whether or not to go ahead with surgery at this point. He said that the purpose of the surgery was to make the final two cycles of chemo more effective. Apparently once the larger bulky bits of cancer are gone the chemo does a better job of getting rid of the bits they can't see. So I went for surgery. I am not saying that you should but that you have asked a really useful question...ask your surgeon what he/she thinks. Xx

Lyndall

[Hidden]

stage 4 here...9 weeks of chemo as they could not have operated immediately.

then lap. debulking, which was optimal, followed by 9 more weeks of chemo. and i am 68 and now in remission. a wild ride, this past year, but here i am.

i would suggest you seriously consider, and / or find out why both are not offered you.

( i am in u.s.)

[valo in reply to Hidden]

Thank you all for your time and replies. I am seeing oncologist tomorrow so have a lot of questions