Coping with ovarian & peritoneal cancer

Hello
Thought I'd update you all on my progress.
After three cycles of Carbo/Pacl chemo I will be having surgery
March 6. Complete Hysterectomy, Salpingo-Oophorectomy with HIPEC-CRS
Recent CT scans show decrease in tumors and my CA-125 is down to 245 from 1994
So there are positives happening
I'm relieved to be moving forward with surgery, but also very apprehensive and full of anxiety.
I wasn't happy to hear I will still be needing chemo after surgery.
Hopefully there is a happy ending as some point.

@ford1929 This is good news on your progress. with this reduction in size of the tumors and decrease in CA-125 numbers. March 6 is coming up soon.

Approaching the surgical date with apprehension and anxiety feels about right to me. As I think about it, this was the same for me as I approached my surgical date as it was an unknown. What would the surgeon find? What would pathology show? Would I need more treatment after the surgery? All those unknowns are anxiety-provoking. Here is what I learned. Once I was in the hospital and prepping for surgery I found myself surrounded by people whose job it was to take care of me. I didn't have to do anything other than allow them to do just that. Accepting their care was like a sedative for me. I felt calmer because here I was ready to do it!!

I wish for you compassionate and caring providers. Your skiing may be attenuated for this season and I hope you will find yourself back on the mountains in 2027.

If I had ski in my screen name it would be Ski Fischer. With the exception of one pair of skis that are Rossi, all of my cross-country skis are Fischer. But then naturegirl says it all for me. What is your favorite place to ski?

@naturegirl15
You are correct. I need to relax and have faith in my care team. Which I
do.
I ski Smugglers Notch VT

Jean

Hi, Ski Rossi. Welcome to our group! I was diagnosed with stage 3c, primary peritoneal carcinoma, HGSC, nearly two years ago. This is a journey, so be patient. If you had to pick a time to get this disease, this may be it! There are lots of new treatments in the works. Do not believe the statistics you read online. Many more options are available these days, even to those of us (like me) who have so far tested negative for all helpful genetic mutations. I received the same treatment as you (no Avastin), but I was given seven rounds of chemo prior to surgery and then three rounds after, to try to reduce the burden for surgery. I also had weekly treatment with the Taxol (instead of every 3 weeks), as I was told it might be easier to tolerate and would be just as effective. (Plus, for me they had to substitute Abraxane for the Taxol, as I was allergic to the binder in the Taxol, but the Taxol and Abraxane have the same active ingredients). We are all different. I had no real ill effects from chemo and never skipped a session. You will find lots of chemo tips online. Mine are to ice religiously to avoid neuropathy (I had three sets of Sussi mittens and footies I got off Amazon took in a cooler to chemo along with thin white gloves and socks to use as needed). I was told to eat a plant-based diet, which mostly kept my nausea at bay, and drank a lot of “green juice.” Eating oatmeal every day, taking 2-4 prunes, eating lots of fruit and taking sennokote as needed warded off constipation. And of course exercise helped with everything! You sound like you are physically fit, so that will go a long way in helping you fight this disease! This isn’t a path I would have chosen, but two years on I am doing well and feel blessed by the journey. I wish the same for you!

Hi, I have Stage 3 high-grade serous carcinoma, and I think my doc said it's possibly primary peritoneum in origin. (Need to confirm at next appointment, diagnosis day was a blur. ) I was quickly scheduled for additional chest CT scan, a port surgery and started chemo a week after diagnosis. I gave blood for a DNA test the same day as my diagnosis becasue my mom had breast cancer. My plan is 4-6 rounds of carbo/taxol and then "debulking" surgery. One round done! I'm 51 and am otherwise healthy.