What exactly is ovarian cancer?

[getgrumpedon]

As my bio states, my mum’s partner (my step mum) has just today, about 1 hour ago, been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She has been vomiting for 3 weeks straight and she went to the GP and they arranged a doctors appointment in feb, however she started having brown vomit and my mum called NHS direct, my mum’s partner had to (somehow) drive to the hospital, when they realised it was serious, she was put in a resuscitation chamber and then had a scan, the doctor phoned my mum and told her what it was.

I am 20, I live with my mum and we look after each other, we have both been through trauma and we have both suffered abuse from my mum’s ex partner. When my mum started meeting up with her current partner, I could see the life in my mum come back to her and although I was very cautious (I had only just come out that I was getting abused by my mums ex partner) I have slowly warmed up and coming out of my shell to her, for this to happen to her now, all I feel is regret for not opening up sooner and empathy because I couldnt imagine being in her position, alone in the hospital, bad news, no one can visit because of corona.

I want to know, this may sound horrible and blunt, but i need to know, is her chance of survival high? Is there a lot of treatment to help her? will she be able to return to her normal life? I have a huge fear of death, aging and the future so for something like this, it is effecting me badly, I am currently bed bound feeling sick. Please, anyone, can someone tell me what will happen from now?

apologies for the long post, hope everyone has a good day.

[Lyndy]

Hello... what a terrible shock for you just when you were getting close. I know that you want answers now but it might be best to slow down a bit until you have more information from this lady’s medical team. A good source of information about Ovarian cancer are the UK charities Ovacome and Target Ovarian... please don’t be tempted to google any old site because there’s a lot of scary and out of date information on the web.

There are lots of details which will emerge as you get further into this journey... which type of OC, what grade and stage but if I tell you I was diagnosed with stage 4 high grade serrous in 2015 and I am still here alive and kicking.... hopefully that will reassure you that there’s life after diagnosis. Take care xx

[getgrumpedon in reply to Lyndy]

You don’t know how much this means to me, me and my mother were so so relieved because of this, thank you so much...!

[fair-rosamund in reply to Lyndy]

I was admitted to hospital in first lockdown vomiting bile salts and not able to drink even. Initially was diagnosed as ovarian cyst but on surgery grade 3 ovarian cancer a well. It's awful for you not being there for your mum, but she is getting the care and treatment she needs and you can best help her by looking after yourself. First priority for clinical team will be to ensure your mum is stable and then they can discuss options. Maybe ask if next of kin can be involved -hospital allowed my husband in for that. And remember that Macmillan and others are first relatives as well as patients and can support you. Hope that in a few days you will now more and can plan next steps.

[getgrumpedon in reply to fair-rosamund]

Thank you very much, this reply means a lot...How are you feeling now after having surgery done?

[fair-rosamund in reply to getgrumpedon]

I'm doing much better than I ever expected. Now on niraparib and Covid vaccination later today. Hope it goes at least as well for your mum

[delia2]

Hi. It is very shocking to get this diagnosis but there are many treatments available (not pleasant but life saving). This is an opportunity for you all to become closer because your stepmom will need support during the next six months. Take care. Xx

[Sue-333 in reply to delia2]

It's a terrible shock for the whole family to get a diagnosis of cancer, I remember it well for my daughter, sister and son, my thoughts are with you. I was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer in 2007. Since then I've had surgery twice and chemotherapy 3 times, not nice but life saving and lots of help and support from very caring medical staff. After 13 years I'm still here and well. Everyone is different but take heart, there is hope, there are good treatments these days. I would highly recommend that you phone the support line of Ovacome, It's there for relatives as well as women diagnosed with cancer and you can talk it through with them and get good, reliable information as well. Wishing you all the best

[March2017 in reply to Sue-333]

13 years wow! Gives everyone so much hope , well done you 😊

[OvacomeSupport Partner My Ovacome Team]

Hello getgrumpedon

Thank you for your post. I can see that you've already had some helpful replies from other forum members. We're here to support anyone affected by ovarian cancer, including family of those diagnosed, so please call our Support Line on 0800 008 7054 or email [e-mail] if we can help with something or if it would help to talk anything through.

I can also see from your post that you've had a lot happen in a short period of time, so I wanted to check whether you're getting specialist support? If you need additional support, you can talk to your GP about services that are available locally. We can also research services in your area, if that would be of help to you? If you would like us to do this, please contact us privately, as we will need a some information from you so that we can find suitable sources of support.

You may also find it helpful to get in touch with Hope Support, which is a charity that offers support to people aged 11-25 when a family member has been diagnosed with illnesses including cancer. You can call them on 01989 566317 or find out more about other ways to contact them at hopesupport.org.uk/support/

If there's something further that we can do to help or support you, please do get in touch with our Support Service.

Best wishes

Julia

Ovacome Support