Why have they booked this 'extra' chemo?

[MarionL]

I think I've been thinking too much today and just need to know if anyone else has had this please... My mum was initially told she would have 3 rounds of carboplatin, then surgery then more chemo. I saw the consultant with her after the first rounds of chemo and she basically said it hadn't cleared as much of the cancer as they wanted and they wanted to do 3 rounds of carbo/taxol before operating. She seemed very definate that they would operate straight after this. When mum went for her third lot the doctor she saw told her that even though she has an operation date booked, they would book her in for more chemo 'just in case'. Is this what other people have found? Maybe I'm analysing too much but I've now got it in my head that maybe her blood tests have shown something but they haven't told us yet? ie maybe her CA125 is rising again? Mum has got 2 scans booked this week so we'll find out next week whatever - just wondered if anyone else had experienced this? Thanks for reading!

[cathysal]

Hi Marion

I'm not too sure - do you mean they would book her in for more chemo to take place after her surgery - if so, this is what I had too, although I only had 4 chemos before surgery and then 3 afterwards. I think they give the chemo after the surgery to 'mop up' and deal with anything that's left.

However, if they intend to give her more chemo before the surgery, I don't really know about that as I didn't experience this myself, but I'm sure someone will be along shortly who can help.

I hope it all goes well for your mum.

Cathy xx

[wendydee]

The nurses on the Ovacome helpline will be able to answer this, I'm sure. Ring 0845 371 0554 and leave a message. They usually get back to you fairly quickly but they only work in office hours.

I think it's quite common now to use chemo until they think they have a better chance of having knocked out as much of any possible tumour as possible, ........ not sure how well informed I am though

All the best

Love Wendy xx

[Flyhigh]

Hi Marion,

My mum was originally told she would have 3 rounds of chemo, then op, then 3 more chemo. A similar thing happened to us in that she ended up having 4 chemos before her op. This was mainly down to scheduling in the op. After her 3 chemos they did a scan - by the time they had looked at the scans and agreed that they would operate a couple of weeks had gone by so they gave her one more dose of chemo and then scheduled her op for a couple of weeks after this. I wouldn't worry too much about it if I were you - I think it's quite common to have 4 chemos first. If you are still worried though, call your mums clinical nurse specialist - I found they were really helpful at questions like this and it's so important that you put your mind at rest so that you can support your mum as much as possible. Hope this helps, all the very best to you and your mum x

[RuthPOvacome]

Hi Marion, I am one of the support line nurses at Ovacome and I am sorry to hear about all the confusion you are experiencing. Do please feel free to give me a ring on 08453710554 so that we can talk things through

Best Wishes

Ruth