Chemotherapy - what to consider?
Hello everyone,
I hope everyone is doing well.
I am 48 years old and had surgery on Sept 6th where they found cancer and they did a hysterectomy. I had a follow up with the doctor at Princess Margaret yesterday and he recommends 6 cycles of chemo. This is all happening fast and I am unsure if so many things. I have stage 1,c, clear cell. There was so much information from the Doctor but he said the my cancer is rare and can be aggressive and there can be a recurrence. He said chemo may help some but I go back and forth on what to do ...or take no chemo.
I have anxiety and I am afraid of throwing up and of hair loss and some of the other side effects.
Do I take both drugs (carboplatin and taxol)?
It is effective if I take only carboplatin?
How do others make their decision?
What things should I be considering?
Thank you,
kittycat
I hope everyone is doing well.
I am 48 years old and had surgery on Sept 6th where they found cancer and they did a hysterectomy. I had a follow up with the doctor at Princess Margaret yesterday and he recommends 6 cycles of chemo. This is all happening fast and I am unsure if so many things. I have stage 1,c, clear cell. There was so much information from the Doctor but he said the my cancer is rare and can be aggressive and there can be a recurrence. He said chemo may help some but I go back and forth on what to do ...or take no chemo.
I have anxiety and I am afraid of throwing up and of hair loss and some of the other side effects.
Do I take both drugs (carboplatin and taxol)?
It is effective if I take only carboplatin?
How do others make their decision?
What things should I be considering?
Thank you,
kittycat
0
Comments
I just turned 57 years old. I had my surgery November 2, 2016. Once the pathology report came in a month later, I was told the same thing I needed 6 cycles of chemo carboplatin and taxol, I was diagnosed with stage 3C very aggressive. The doctor stipulated how important it was for me to receive the chemo. I agreed, I had to have a picc line installed in my left arm for the chemo to be administered. I was also concerned about the side effects. The nausea is controlled very well with the medications they will give you. Make sure you take them as soon as you feel it before the vomiting begins. You will feel fatigue rest if you have to. Take naps. One side effect that lasted my entire chemo was my sinuses were always congested, I took care of that with sinus rinse. You may get discoloration on your hand and toe nails, for this you can wear nail polish to cover them. I also had weight gain, since I had lost 14lbs after the surgery it balanced off. Besides the weight my worst side effect was the hair loss. I bought 2 synthetic wigs and a real hair one before my daughter shaved my head on new year's eve. The hair falls out and thins out so it is better to just shave it off. I wore the wigs anytime I left the house or had company. I also wore scarves and hats. You really will get used to it. For my eyebrows I learned to draw them on myself every morning, not so bad either I got really good at it. I wore makeup when I wanted to. My chemo ended April 13, 2016. My hair is growing back full, it is still very short will take a long time to get back to my length, as for my eyebrows they were not growing back fully, so I decided to get permanent makeup. I had them done last week and very pleased with that decision. I wish you all the best and make the decision that is right for you, but remember you can overcome anything you just have to learn to work with it. Good Luck!
I have received many rounds of carbo and taxol chemo with a debulking surgery. I have found that it helped me. I did not have too many severe side effects. They will give you steroids and anti nausea to counter issues. I think you should discuss it with the doctor and others around you. Write down your concerns and take them to the doctor or your GP if you have one. Ask them. I have had a recurrence. Recurrence is common with ovarian cancer in general. Good luck and keep chatting in the future.
Drink Water! Be sure you are well-hydrated before your treatments and drink what you can afterward to help your body flush the toxins. I noticed a big difference between the times I was well-hydrated and the times I wasn't.
Senokot became a good friend of mine. I constipate easily and the drugs you take will cause constipation. Water, fibre and Senokot....
I had a nap every morning and one in the afternoon for the first four days or so after treatment. As they went on, the fatigue became more pronounced. I would hit a brick wall and just had to lay down, not necessarily sleep, but lay down, warm and toasty, close my eyes and chill out for a while. Hubby would remind me every day to lay down for a while. The body needs time to heal and fight the assault that's going on with chemo. Listen to your body. Don't try to be a hero and push yourself beyond what your body can handle.
You can do it!
I am interested in your treatments because it seems that the American and British support forum members have such a wide variety of chemo drugs being used.
Do we Canadians have the same options?
I have had nine cycles of Carboplatin and Paclitaxel as front line treatment.
How are you feeling about upcoming CT scan?
If you have received a copy of By Your Side, which is a guide we publish for women recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer, there is a section on page 41 that has a list of questions to ask the doctor regarding your diagnosis and treatment recommendations. If you do not have the book, you can order it online at
http://ovariancanada.org/living-with-ovarian-cancer/support-resources
If you do not have By Your Side, let me know and I will post these questions here for you.
Day of the treatment was ok, just tired (they gave me benadryl to prevent reactions).
It is post treatment when the side effects showed up. Joint stiffness was my side effect - I felt like "Rusty the tin man"
Movement, such as walking and light exercise seemed to help.
@UnPickNot
@Teddybear
@Soni
@pattiezee
Wondering if you can share your recent experiences with Cisplatin - asking for a participant in our in person support group?
@Tracy you can find more information on chemo and treatment by entering those words in the search bar located at the top right - above the orange New Discussion Bar.
There is so much information on the site and there are also 6 pages of discussion topics.