Hi, this is my first post. My mom aged 57 has recently been diagnosed with stage 3c/4 OC. She currently lives abroad and her oncologist there has advised 6 cycles of Taxol/carboplatinum chemo weekly and then surgery. We shared her reports and scans with consultants at Royal Marsden and they suggest 3 cycles of chemo followed by surgery and then 3 more cycles of chemo.
We are now confused as to which is a better approach. We want to get her surgery at Royal Marsden.
Thanks in advance.
Hi There,
There seems to be many ways of doing this. For example I had the op first then the Chemo but I have heard of it being given boththe ways you mention above. I supppose whatever your mum is comfortable with should be what you do. Best wishes xxx Trish
I think I would agree with Trishley, it is up to your Mum ultimately. If your Mum is happy going with the plan she has already then support her. However if she wants to come to Uk for treatment that is okay too. All Oncologists vary even in a City area about treatment options but you must do what your Mum is happy with ultimately. It is great ye are co ordinating in Royal Marsden for her so it does sound as if she would be prepared to come back and have treatment there. Kind regards
Hi Thank you for your reply. My mom is ok with anything that gets good results. Judging from your posts it seems that all approaches seem to get the same result. I am confident that the surgeons at Royal Marsden would do a good job.
Had my surgery 6/7 hours and chemo at the Royal Marsden, they are absolutely wonderful there, wishing your mum the best of luck x
I think it depends on the cancer and tumours as to what approach they take. Usually chemo before the op helps to reduce the size of the tumours and get the cancer under control, so at least they both seem in agreement about that.
My mum was diagnosed with stage3C 2.5 years ago and is soon to start her 4th lot of chemo. Despite some symptoms of the disease she is very well and doing everything she wants to do. A positive mental attitude and a defiant outlook goes a long way in this journey. As does a good support network of people who help you make the right decisions about treatment (I do a lot of research online for my mum).
Depending on where your mum lives the cancer treatment abroad can be amazing. Personally for us we moved mum from a local cancer centre to the Christie as we felt that the treatment options were much greater and the doctors' understanding of the disease was much better at a specialist centre. Not to mention the positive attitude of the doctors at the Christie.
Hope your mum's treatment has the best possible outcome.
Hi Bethtaylor87
I too moved to The Christie for the same reasons you give! You mentioned cancer treatments abroad - have you any information about treatments in France. We have a property there and could move there easily. I am low grade serous.
Gwen
Hi Bethtaylor87
I too moved to The Christie for the same reasons you give! You mentioned cancer treatments abroad - have you any information about treatments in France? We have a property there and could move there easily. I am low grade serous.
Gwen
Hi Gwen. The Christie has been fantastic for us so far, best choice we made was to move from Preston.
I don't have any specific knowledge about cancer treatment in France, but I think it is quite good there and it is one of Europe's leading research centres. I think the way healthcare works in France is within the local districts and each district is different. My mum and dad looked into briefly as were considering moving out there, but they couldn't make it work. Something to do with losing your UK residency if you live there permanently I think.
Hi Bethtaylor87
Yes The Christie has been brilliant with me - I am a Mancunian anyway although I wasn't under the Christie initially. Do you know where the research centre is in France and what it is called? I suppose you could take up residency in France but then split your time between the two countries - just going back for your treatments!!!
Gwen
Hi ShamilaS
I was stage 4 at diagnosis and had 4 chemo to reduce the tumours and get rid of the pleural effusion I had. This made surgery really effective as they took everything visible. I was told that having surgery after cycle 4 made the last 2 rounds of chemo work better to mop up any microscopic deposits without having any larger mass still there. I was NED after the 6th chemo and now on Avastin. Best of luck to you and your Mum. Lyndall x
Everyone's treatment is different. Some have surgery first, some have 3 chemo, surgery then more chemo and others have 6 chemo and surgery after, some don't have surgery, I don't know how the doctors decide which one you are. It all depends on the size of the tumours I guess.
It also rather depends on where your mum wants to be, if she wants to return to the uk then having treatment at the Royal marsden is no bad choice. I have only read good things on here about that hospital.
I have had 4 chemo and now await surgery on Tuesday. It is to shrink the tumours before the operate.
Either choice it's chemo first for your mum by the sounds of it so I would think it's more of a choice where she wants to live while going through chemotherapy.
It is a tuff time so the more support she can get would be better for her, but ultimately it's her choice.
I hope she is doing well, and it sounds like she has support, so good luck with everything.
Mandy,xx
My wife was PPC 3C grade 2 at diagnosis. So depending on the speed of the spread and the situation of the tumours, it's best left to the docs to decide " when surgery'. She had surgery first and chemo therafter being grade 2. Wrt the place of surgery it's best to get the treatment where the patient feels most comfortable, for eg familiar support systems. Wish her bests.
Naimish
Hi! I was diagnosed with Grade 3C ovarian cancer in January and have had 6 sessions of chemo (Carboplatin and Taxol) and will have debulking surgery in early June. I gather treatments vary according to oncologists, but as long as your mum is happy and the treatments are successful, that's got to be good. Where is she receiving her treatment? Take care. Jeanne
I have 3c ovarian cancer..im in canada..I had 3 rounds of carboplatin and pacitaxol before surgery..then scan to see shrinkage..operate and probably after 4 weeks give another three.,, most important is they gey as much out as possible during surgery, chemo has less to fight ..if they get it below 1 cm...good job but they wont get it all ...chemo may help get rid of small nodes but it usually comes back...ddepends on disease spread and the persons own system..start juicing..keep immune system strong as you can..
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