Surviving

[manumezza]

Hi, my mom 74yo, still full of life, has been diagnosed ovarian cancer serous tipe high stage 3C. A shock for all of us and my dad too. She had surgery and now is having chemo (had 3 out of 6 taxol + carboplatinum and also bevacizum for about 22 times in total) - a lot of pains and now frequent “depression” moments. She is in great fear, and we are too despite telling her we need to fight and stay positive and despite keep on giving her as much normality and optimism as possible. I am now so frightened and frustrated and feel in need of hearing positive successful stories to share with her, as she lost a friend for this 2years ago and keeps on saying this bad cancer is not letting you survive. Plus how is recurrence at 3c stage? Experiences to share? Many thanks to all of you for any support you may share.

[Beachperson]

Oh darling I'm so sorry for your pain. I was diagnosed with stage four three years ago last month. I am still in treatment but asymptomatic. I travel. Throw dinner parties. Walk miles every week. I am doing exactly what I just to do. I'm 66. There is so much more treatment out there for your mom and new drugs all the time. Cancer care is amazing in this day and age.

Sooo many women on this site will tell you the same. We are all living our best lives and look forward to all our tomorrows.

There is a silver lining to everything. Sometimes you just need to seek a little harder. Your family is in my prayers

[Gemimablackvelvet]

Good Morning! Firstly manumezza I’m so sorry your mum feels the fear and hopelessness I felt when I was diagnosed at 74 in May 2018 after a 5 month delay with treatment. I had carboplatin then a hysterectomy and 3 more chemos. I felt fine and hopeful after a week or two but the fear and depression never really leaves you. I had a recurrence after about 7 months and was terrified they wouldn’t treat me again. My 3 tumours were massive but after 3 months Carbo/Caelyx the tumours reduced by 50% . Presently I’m going through my 5th cycle. Although it’s tough it’s doable. Tell your mum to cry when she’s down and howl if it makes her feel better. She’s having the right treatment and regardless of our age we can still live with the big C. It’s no good telling us to enjoy life because we can’t 100% but I’m living a better life now and my family and friends positivity get me through it. We are not going to die for a long time yet so keep having the treatment and don’t think about recurrence because if it happens you’re treated again with something different. Aim for 80yrs like I do there’s a good chance we’ll get there.

My love to you both

Angela xxxx

[Steitlk]

My mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, stage 3c in 2006, at 73 years of age. She did 18 months of taxotere. 9 years later she did 5 months of gemzar. Then in 2019 she moved from California to Tennessee and started getting her care from university of Tennessee, which is a research/ teaching hospital. Her doctor, Larry Kilgore found a cluster tumor in her abdomen area which could not be treated with chemo or surgery. Her starting ca125 was 1050. Since she did well on chemo, he thought she’d be a good candidate for a pill called rubrica. Her first ca125 after starting the new med showed a small uptick. The one she just had, after 3 months on this pill, shows that number plummeting. My mom is 87 and a vital senior citizen. So take heart, there are other options out there. I myself have the same thing and am being seen at the university of Colorado. I did not respond to treatment at all as my mom has. I grow tumors even with chemo and in May 2019 landed in the hospital with a tumor pressing on my colon which resulted in a colostomy. To make things more interesting, within 3 days of having the sutures removed, I developed a large grapefruit size tumor under the colostomy. I’m in a study for patients with ov cancer with chemo resistant cells and am taking a special kind of chemo pill. In just 4 weeks my ca125 went from 312 to 183. I’ve never had that much of a drop in such a short period of time. I wish I had had all my cancer care there from the beginning. I just started my 4th year since diagnosis. I do charity work and attend church regularly. That takes my mind off my diagnosis and I have lost all fear as a result of those two things. Take heart, she can make it.

[manumezza in reply to Steitlk]

Thank you for your message and your stories. I wish you could continue on an improving path. My prayers are with you and your mom.