Hello ladies,
I am posting this message on behalf of my mother. She is 73 years old and was recently diagnosed with OC (in Dec 2011) - stage 4, grade 3. I live in England but my mother lives in France (we are both French). A friend recommended this website and I have found all your posts/messages both very informative and heart-warming. You are all AMAZING women.
Bizarrely, I have not found any such support group or website for OC in France.
I am very close to my mother and I'd like to do what I can to help - all be it sometimes remotely- and part of this involves getting information from other patients... I have a few questions which I thought I would post.
I have spent time with my mom in December and January and am planning to spend more time with her in March.
All of this happened so very suddenly....
Background:
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My mother's cancer seems to have grown without many symptoms - she was only concerned about a cough that did not go away over the past year or so - until December 2011 when the ascites developped in the abdomen , along with a pleural effusion and pains in the ovaries. After a couple of scans, she had emergency surgery on Dec 22nd during which both ovaries/falopian tubes/omentum were removed. Surgeons also took a lot of biopsies/samples to be analysed as they found cancerous nodules in the intestine and around many organs.
Since surgery, she had to have her right lung drained as the pleural effusion had filled up with liquid and 1.75 litres of liquid were taken out. She also has an irritating cough with some mucus.
She is now having chemo. Plan is 3 cycles of 3 weeks with chemo on week 1 and week 2 of each cycle. and week 3 "off". She has just completed the
second cycle today. When the third cycle is completed in march, the surgeon might consider another operation if the existing tumours have shrunk and it it worth operating. There is some hope in that the CA125 has dropped from 267 to 138 after the first cycle of chemo...
CYCLE 1:
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week 1: carboplatin/taxol/avastin
week 2: taxol
week 3: no chemo
After cycle 1, her CA125 dropped from 267 to 138.
CYCLE 2 and CYCLE 3
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week 1: carboplatin/taxol (stopped avastin)
week 2: taxol
week 3: no chemo
My questions
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1 - LUNGS: has anyone had the same effect to their lungs as my mom has ? Did they get any specific treatment for the lungs and /or cough? My mom is really bothered by her constant coughing. Has anyone had their mucus analysed?
2- AVASTIN: the oncologist in France stopped giving AVASTIN after the first week of chemo on the basis that maybe it was too aggressive for my mother's tumours and might generate an hemorrage - has anyone been given that information ?
3 -PAIN & DETOX: my mother has pains in her abdomen and around the diaphragm which seem to be cancer related. I have found some information online about using near infra-red lamps to deal with pain. The infrared lamps would help reduce inflammation and help with bood circulation. Has anyone heard of this?
In a similar way, has anyone heard of having a sauna which would make you sweat and thus de-toxify?
All your comments are welcome!
Warmest regards to all
... I can't help but think that my mother's cancer has made me even more aware of how wonderful some people are.