A Catch up...

[lesrouge]

HI all- I don't know if you remember me, but I'm the husband of a young lady who was diagnosed with Germ cell ovarian a number of months ago.

I thought I'd give a little update as to what happened. Especially for women who might not have read too much about this on the web- as it's incredibly rare.

Firstly, she had surgery to ascertain what type of cancer she had. We had a weird period of "wanting" it to be a certain type, as by all accounts it reacts to chemo especially well. It was. It was germ cell.

Again, just in case anyone else is diagnosed with this. She had a mature teratoma and an immature teratoma. This makes up 2% of all ovarian cancer cases.

We were told that there was an 80% chance of cure.

She then had surgery followed by the BEP regime of chemo. That was three days of chemo, followed by two weekly top ups. That cycle was repeated three times.

Nothing could have prepared us how tough that was. Apparently the regime she was on is usually taken by men who have aggressive testicular cancer, and we were often told it reduces big strapping men to tears.

Suffice to say, it was very VERY tough. Ending up with a week's stay In hospital because her blood levels were so low.

It was, frankly, minging. But, we got given a scrap of paper by a specialist nurse that told is her AFP levels (this is a marker for germ cell cancer) had reduced significantly, to normal levels in fact, which means the chemo IS working.

Not a sure thing that she's out of the woods, but an excellent indicator that she's getting there!

But, she's now rang her "end of chemo" bell at Clatterbridge hospital, and we're waiting on a scan next week, with results the week after that. Waiting is a nightmare. When someone is being treated it feels like something is being done, and we had less sleepless nights. Now the "what if's" have creeped back in.

Finally- just wanted to remind people that I'm doing a half marathon for Ovacome (for a bit of Karma!) if anyone would like to sponsor us?

justgiving.com/fundraising/...

Keep fighting girls!

p.s. I also sent an absolute rollocking to a stupid American site who had a set of diabolical "statistics" that didn't tally with anything else that was on the web. Please be very careful about what you read. Listen to your doctors.

[Choski]

I do remember your original posts and unfortunately couldn't offer any advice, plus then saw your posts on another site where I think you connected with others.

So pleased to read of your wife's progress, chemo can be a really hard journey for some and it's hard for our partner to watch us suffer.

Waiting for results is also hard, the dreaded Scanxiety rears its head and that brings different coping issues. You do feel as if you are on your own and you need to find a way of coping - not easy.

Fab that you are running for OvaCome,

All the best to you both

Clare 💐💐💐

[Hidden]

Thanks for the update. Sounds enCouraging. Good luck!

[Hidden]

I am glad your wife has finished treatment and hopefully the scan will prove it has all been worthwile, It does sound drastic but if it beats the odds then it is worth it, A low 125 is a good indicator of success so try not to worry. I think this is about the time you both need to look for support centres or groups near you. Ask at the maggie centres for direction to service that may help you. It would be good for both of you to speak with someone outside the family circle and it does help

[Ivster]

I also got diagnosed with germ cell ovarian cancer too, but I'm 44 and that's uncommon for someone my age. I hope your wife feels better soon