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Chemo is finished: Now what?
Now that the chemotherapy is finished what's next? I will receive a targeted therapy. Does that mean chemotherapy does an incomplete job at eradicating cancers? Do any of these treatments do anything for the long term? I seems to me that it is all a crap-shoot. It seems to me that to often there's a recurrence after all the treatment is finished.
That leads me to keep looking for more ways to ward off cancer because I don't believe the standard treatments are effective on their own. I haven't heard that they will cure me. I have heard the intent is to cure and another oncologist said you could be one with a good outcome, but no one said this is a proven path. They don't have better options for me.
So i continue to look for cures or at least to keep cancer growing slowly. It makes me vulnerable. Vulnerable that I'll fall for some snake oil salesman's pitch. Oncologist know very little about the rest of our bodies. When i ask a question that i think was caused by the poison I've been taking they send me back to the primary who won't deal with it because they don't want to interfere with the the effects of the poison being pumped in me.
I have had a very negative view of the healthcare system. After being diagnosed with both Crohn's and cancer my opinion of our healthcare systems is even worse.
Its a problem.
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That sounds scary
I wholeheartedly agree with your perspective, Denise, regarding medical doctors and healthcare. After searching for answers for my abdominal pain following my hysterectomy due to uterine cancer, I have now consulted with a naturopath doctor.
The previous specialist told me, "You're a mystery," as all the tests came back normal.
He prescribed me an elixir for ulcers, but last year's colonoscopy showed no signs of stomach ulcers. My naturopathic doctor suggested that the nerves in my stomach might have been damaged during the surgery, which could explain my slow stomach emptying.
I have lost faith in doctors. Often, they seem to have no idea what is happening. I will continue to advocate for myself, and I know you will do the same.🌟
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1 ReactionSorry for being mistaken about the trial. I do still think you're getting the best that's available from modern medicine. So am I, for all the good it's doing me. You want a cure. I want a cure. But all we can have is the best they can do with what's known now.
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4 ReactionsI'm not in a trial. I'm getting herceptin which is an her2 targeted therapy. I don't think there is any other options for me. There's just so little research and so little anything being done for the cell line that I have. It almost always comes back. It's only 10% of uterine cancers, but it causes 40% of the deaths. Not great odds.
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1 ReactionStatistically, people who receive chemo, radiation, etc. have fewer recurrences than people who don't. But of course, many people have a recurrence despite having chemo etc., myself included. Having chemo and vaginal brachytherapy after my hysterectomy was still the right thing to do. With the benefit of hindsight, I should have had external beam radiation too, but not doing it was also reasonable. And there's no way to know whether that would have changed the outcome.
I'm curious what you think should have been better about your treatment. From my perspective, you appear to have received the best that modern medicine has to offer plus more, since you're on a clinical trial that might help while probably having minimal side effects.
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4 ReactionsI experience the same as you with my cancer care team when I bring up all the side effects from my chemo and now my immunotherapy, they tell me to see the family care doctor or other specialists, I think about it often if it is really beneficial to go through immunotherapy for another year, it may delay the recurrence, no one knows- I'm thankful I survived the surgery and the 6 difficult rounds of chemo with good results-
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