Apart from feeling tired and  not motivated to do anything much chemo has been relatively kind to me except for weight gain ( others lose weight but not me) from the steroids I think!!

I am keen to find a drug trial. As I live in Darwin this will be an obstacle to overcome if I am successful.

If anyone has any ideas regarding  dealing with  a reluctant bone marrow or potential drug trials I would be most appreciative of your advice. Best wishes from Sunny Darwin

I am Anne and I recently had a surgery and will start chemotherapy this Thursday. I want to try to get support from you ladies who know what I am going through. It has been a tough 5 weeks for me after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer stage 1c. I try my best to see the light in this but sometimes I feel so sad and alone and mostly scared now that treatment will start. It is nice to hear inspirational stories from all of you and I pray that my treatment will be kind to me . Appreciate any helpful tips that I can do before I start this Thursday .

Thank you. 

So, good luck Nicole!

My 90 year old mother has been diagnosed with large cystic mass 18 cm x 10 cm , ovarian cancer.

We have drained 2 litres of ascites, which shows cancer cells, there is no cancer to any other organs present. Her CA125 is at 1860 which is very high

Wondering if anyone has undergone surgery to remove a mass this size?  What age are you , complications etc.  Doctors have conflicting information . its a slow growing mass and advice is Chemo will not be affective.  recommending surgery followed by chemo .

Can anyone help please??

thank you

Wondering if anyone has any experience of going from treatmeant at a public hospital (e.g. Peter Mac), then getting surgery done privately (to avoid longer wait times publically), then going back to public for ongoing treatment? Would the public doctors have a problem with this?

A bit of background: my mum was diagnosed with 3C OvC in June 2017, received carbo/taxol chemo and had debulking surgery (went from CA125 in the 3000s to single digits), then recurred with spots on the liver after only 5 months NED. Since recurring, she's had tamoxifen and then participated in a Durvalumab (immunotherapy) trial. On scans it appears that the cancer hasn't spread anywhere except for the liver, but there is a new spot on the liver so she has been kicked off the trial. Since it's been over a year with minimal spread they're willing to consider surgery to remove the liver spots, which mum is very keen to do. Everything in the public system seems to be going super slowly lately and she hasnt had any treatment since early June. They still haven't made a surgery date despite agreeing to it weeks ago, nor have they agreed to or put her on any alternative treatment in the interim.

We're super keen to get her some treatment asap, which is why we're investigating getting the surgery done privately. Just not sure if that will cause issues with her treatment at her private hospital down the line. If you've had experience with this kind of thing please let me know. Any experience of advice would be most welcome as we're getting pretty anxious to make a move. Thank you!

After my chemo I had severe and chronic pain. I was finding it difficult to walk, get up from my seat or the floor etc. I have recently started acupuncture and am working with an exercise physiologist to help improve my strength and stamina. It's only been a few weeks and I am already noticing a change for the better in my symptoms.

Diagnosed 12 March - First chemo 15 March

Feeling ok so far

Now that I have started my recovery journey I am ready to start finding out more

There must be so much to know

Where to from here ? An suggestions. I  can come to Melbourne.

Just saw a post from Karen and Sirin and Helen! Yay we are all still here. I am now in Massachusetts receiving treatment with the Dana Farber in Boston. Yesterday I had my infusion of Avastin, CA125 11, all numbers excellent but magnesium – 1.4 (range 1.8) so I started a magnesium oxide 400 mg supplement today. 21 days previously I had an infusion of magnesium. I swam today. Breakfast: organic pancakes with organic maple syrup, blueberries, bananas; cup of black coffee. Lunch: salmon/mixed lettuce/carrot/cottage cheese salad; green tea/lemon/ginger. Dinner: black bean soup/onions/garlic; spinach/basil/cilentro salad; Ritz pita crisps with white sharp and pepper jack cheese slices. Later: dark chocolate and apple slices.

I was so curious about people’s lives when I was first diagnosed 10/13/2016. This is why I share such detail. How were people living. Well I am living quite well thank you very much.

Anyone else find they make comments not appreciated by the infusion nurses? I am taking a sign next time and not speaking with them – just say thank you on my sign and that I am in a silent retreat. This way I will not get their attitude and they won’t get my nervous chatter they apparently don’t appreciate.

The joys of cancer one day at a time.

Healthy Now Sandra

Just wondering if anyone here has had HIPEC Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy - hot chemo in the abdominal cavity) for OC that's spread?  I'll be having cytoreduction surgery and HIPEC at the Peter Mac sometime before the end of the year, and am wondering if anyone has tips for getting through it better, and for recovery?

Take care

Lucy

Chemo took it's toll on me, I had 2 blood transfusions, 2 infusions of magnesium and a platelets transfusion. Not to mention putting on 12kg from the steroids.

Due to my other conditions my oncologist kept a close eye on me with blood tests every month and a follow up with her monthly. Since finishing chemo I have done a number of exercise programs including the Cancer Council's Enrich program and I am currently doing Active Survivor twice a week. So I was just starting to feel back to my normal self and everyone was commenting how well I looked, plus my hair had finally grown back enough to have it cut into a style.

As I said before my oncologist has me see her monthly, so my CA125 was 12 then 13 4 months in a row, then 21 then 35, she told me that that in itself wasn't a problem but we would continue to monitor it. Then just over 3 weeks ago I experienced pain in what I would call my 'Muffin top' area, it wasn't bad pain but continued for a couple of days and then intensified on about the 4th day. I instinctively knew something was wrong so I rang the cancer centre and pulled my appointment with the oncologist forward a few days. I had a blood test and then went to see her hoping that she would tell me I was suffering from a case of Stupidity and Paranoia. My CA125 was 48 and when I told her my symptoms she said that it looked like my cancer might be back! It was a year to the day since I saw her for the first time and 6 1/2 months since finishing chemo.

I had a PET scan and I have 3 spots 10mm in size near my liver and gallbladder. She said we will do another 6 rounds of just the Carboplatin every 3 weeks depending on my bone marrow and then I would be taking a drug called Olaparib (I'm BRACCA 2 positive) but I don't know what happens from there.

I would really appreciate to hear back from anyone who has similar experience to my mum or anyone who has had Caelyx chemo and can give us some tips about what to expect

Thankyou

But then I had the same pain 4 or 5 times after that. During this time I kept thinking it was something I'd eaten. Then my sister was getting married and I got busy. The last time it happened it was in the middle of the night and freaked out because this time I couldn't blame food allergies. I went to my regular GP who felt my stomach, sent me for urgent CT scan, blood test and ultrasound. Turns out I have a 12 cm complex cyst. I had surgery on 30 August 2018 to remove it. It's going to be 3 weeks on Thursday, 20 September 2018. I'm going to have my first chemo session on 21 September 2018. I'm a bit scared and I'm wondering how bad it'll be.

I'm 35 years old, no kids or partner. My mum and sister are my rock. I'd never had an operation in my life, and boom! The first operation I have is this one. Really sucks. But my doctors say they are looking to cure me. I'd be grateful to hear other people's experience with chemo. I'll be given 6 rounds of chemo, each session will be 3 weeks apart. The drugs I'll be given are called Paclitaxel and Carboplatin.

I lost our thread.

I will not have chemo or blood work till June 15, 16.

Longest I have been without treatment since 10/13/2016.

No blood stick this Friday either - thrilled about this.

Going on a church retreat this weekend.

Very unhappy at work - my contract was not renewed and I suspect these people are the tackiest on the Earth when it comes to managing foreign teachers.

Day at a time with this roller coaster.

Enjoy your short trip.

Sandra

My name is Kanwal, I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in Dec 2016. I had 3 cycles of Chemo then surgery debulking/ hysterectomy and then again 3 cycles of chemo.

My CA125 at the start was 192, which which stayed in one digit after surgery. I have been having 3 monthly checkups. In March my CA125 was 6. In June it went to 24, so had PET Scan which resulted in reoccurrence in abdominal lining (peritoneal). Gyno/onco said that it is Chronic.

I'm back to Chemo for 6 rounds, already completed round 1.

Is there anyone going through similar situation? I need some reassurance and guidance. I'm worried.

Thanks

I’m Julie and I’ve been diagnosed with Stage 2c ovarian cancer

It’s about three weeks since I made the appointment to see my GP, two weeks since I first spoke to the gynaecological oncologist and one week since my surgery. It’s weird how it’s all happening so fast, but some days seem so slow

Thankfully, the surgery went well, recovery has been mostly good and prognosis is positive. I’ll start chemo in a few weeks.

I’m 37 years old with two kids under 5. All my fears and concerns centre around them. So far, they’re coping well. We’ll just take each day as it comes and try to prepare them for the chemo journey ahead.

This website has been very useful and reading through your stories has been both informative and calming.

Thank you!

I’m starting chemo again tomorrow as it’s been 5 weeks since I had surgery. Hopefully I won’t have to many side effects this time round. My hair had started to grow back so I’m hoping it won’t fall out again, not much I can do about it if it does. But I have been using a shampoo to stop hair fall so who knows. I’ll try anything once or twice. Not looking forward to stating chemo but looking forward to seeing all the oncology nurses they do make the day much more pleasant. My ca 125 level has come down to 20 (when I was first diagnosed it was over 2000) so I’m hoping that will drop more. Doc was pleased with results because I have responded really well to everything so far. Anyway on a different note I would love to hear where everyone is from and how everyone is doing. I’ve noticed a lot of people haven’t posted anything for a long time and I’m curious as to how they are going. Maybe one day we can all meet up for a cuppa. Anyway I’ll let you all know how I go With chemo. Dionne

I was diagnosed with Stage 3 ovarian cancer in August, 2014. I had a radical hysterectomy and omentum removed. This was followed by 6 cycles of chemo and Avastin. I had a recurrence in May 2016 and had another round of chemo. I became allergic to carboplatin so went on to cisplatin. Treatment was successful. I've had another couple of rounds of chemo since then.

I am now currently on an oral chemo called Cycloblastin and keeping fingers crossed that it has a positive effect.

Life is still good with this nasty disease. One of my daughters got married in Feb 17 and my other two daughters are getting married, one in May and the other in June. I've got my dancing shoes ready! But I'm hating the impact this is having on my beautiful family and friends. Hard lessons to learn.