83 year old Stage IV

[mishtel1]

Hello Everyone,

My 83 yo mother was diagnosed in December with Stage IV ovarian cancer that has spread to her lungs. She was debating about chemo and surgery but just had her first round last week. She feels tired and can't eat much and had one day of "flu" like symptoms but that's it. She is considering not continuing because she is afraid she will never feel "normal" again.

I was wondering if there are any community members close to her age that have gone through this and what she can expect. Also what your opinion is of actually having the treatment at this age.

[GwenHP]

Hi mishtel1,

One of the things about chemotherapy, is that after a couple of cycles you figure out the rhythm to it. There are going to be certain days that you will know that you won't feel well, but they you start to bounce back. Each of us experiences chemo a little differently, but there are some tricks to the trade in dealing with some of the side effects. You mentioned your mother was tired. One of the things that may help her is getting up and moving. I remember having to argue with myself to get up to go get the mail, but like many people I found that if I just got up and moved I felt better. Walking and staying hydrated are key steps she can do to help mitigate some of the side effects.

The decision to do chemo or any other form of treatment is a personal one. Each of us has to weigh the pros and cons and what we value in our lives. She might want to continue with a couple more cycles just to see how it goes. It is certainly appropriate for her to discuss her personal perspective with her doctor and discuss all the options available to her - including what would happen if she chose not to do chemo and surgery.

Thank you for being there for you mom.

[Choski]

At any age Chemo can be hard for some and very ok for others but it is doable and can give great results - many, many no evidence of disease results are given at the end of chemo no matter the stage.

This is quite a quiet forum and I post on the OvaCome forum also through Health Unlocked which has many many ladies posting and responding every day, we are all ages, stages, tyoes of ovarian cancer and different grades.

I'm sure you will get more replies if you also post there.

I'd say do the chemo and at the end if it you DO feel normal

All the best

Clare