Possibly back, but relieved for now

[ssjmichael]

Hi, I posted a little while ago about my mom Norma, who had her CA-125 jump up to over 1,000 (from 97 six weeks prior). She had a CT scan last week, and while it isn't good news, it's less scary than I thought.

The scan found one enlarged lymph node somewhere in the chest, as well as a tiny bit of fluid in her abdomen. The doctor said it's possibly a recurrence, but they'll need a little bit more info to prove that. They plan to do a biopsy of the lymph node, and possibly another scan in 8 weeks. So she's in a "watch and wait" mode I guess. My mom has no symptoms whatsoever right now.

I have been worrying 24/7 before getting the results, so although the scan wasn't clear, I'm also relieved that there was no definitive masses or anything like that, or any fluid in her lungs, which is how the disease presented itself originally.

Her doctor said if/when there's a recurrence she'll treat her with Carboplatin/Gemzar and Avastin. Has anyone had this particular combo for a 2nd line treatment? It seems uncommon compared to using Carbo/Caelyx or Carbo/Taxol.

Thanks,

Michael

[Lyndy]

Well I’m glad it was semi-good news Michael, interesting that they may biopsy the lymph node...they are obviously not sure what it is.

On the Gem/ Caelyx issue I think (others will say if I’m wrong) that Gem is disappearing as a treatment option soon. Maybe they want to use it while it is still an option?

Any way best of luck to you and your Mum xx

[ssjmichael in reply to Lyndy]

Yes, I think they want to be sure it's cancer rather than starting chemo prematurely, I guess. Lymph nodes could become enlarged due to an infection, etc.. Last year one of my mom's lymph nodes had some sort of activity, only to be gone by the next scan, so who knows.

I did ask the doctor why Gemzar over Taxol, and she actually seemed open to doing Taxol instead, if that's what we wanted, but her main concern are the side effects like neuropathy. My mom tolerated it very well the first time, just some hair loss, and discoloration of nails, so I think she could do okay on it again. Will have to research Gemzar, as I had mostly been researching Caelyx as the other alternative to Taxol that they may have chosen.

Thanks for the reply!

[Yoshbosh]

I’m on carbo/gem/Avastin for second line treatment, and I’m finding absolutely fine. Better than carbo/taxol anyway! How long has it been since she finished her first round of treatment? My oncologist and I discussed having taxol again, but my recurrence was at 10months, although I held out for a bit on ‘watch and wait’ and I wanted a bit of a gap before having taxol again.

Hopefully your mom doesn’t need to worry for a good long while yet.

Vicki x

[ssjmichael in reply to Yoshbosh]

Thanks for the reply! My mom finished her first line February 2016, and had Avastin maintenance till February 2017.

I gave her L-Glutamine powder a couple days before treatment which I think helped ward off neuropathy. She also was given dose dense treatment, getting the Taxol weekly for 18 wks.

[CallmeMum]

Hi lovely,

Gemzar is a bit of a tricky one some people do fantastic on it others not so well. My special person was awful on it she thought the world was going to end ( no exaggeration) but it got her dormant again so not to worry there she did reoccur 6 months later and was on Caelyx and is now on Niraparib which is an immunotherapy drug x

[Neona]

Reasonably good news and there is a plan of action in place.