4Th Stage Ovarian Cancer

Hi I am Laura and my mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer 2-11-05. She went to the hospital thinking she had pneumonia. Come to find out that she had cancer at first they said lung caner and she had one year to live. Then after a ct scan they told us she had ovarian cancer in stage 4. Chest tube were put in and it was very painful. They took 3 liters out of her chest cavity. It between the lining and the lung. Super glue stuff was put ion to adhear the lung to the cavity wall. We have started chemo. They said it wpold dry up the fluid. Well here we arae again. Mom is inthe hospital with another chest tube and this time they got about 1 1/2 liters. They are going to put a different kind of super glue in and hopes it stays. Mom will not let them put in another tube. We have no one to talk to to tell us if this is common with this stuff or not. They also put in a med-port and no one but the oncology nurse knows how to access it. I am getting upset because they are doing all this to mom. We take her there pretty healthy and she comes home sicker than when when she arrives. I would like her to go to a different hospital but she does not want to because of the drive for my dad. He is still trying to cop with all this. He treats her like she is going to break at any moment. It has been hard on all of us. The internet is the only thing I have for info. We need help with questions and the emotional side too. 3-18-05 is our second chemo this should be good with a chest tube in. We are hoping she does not get too sick with this treatment. She didn't the lasat time. We have one more after this then they will ct her again and debulk her. Basically a total his. It is a mess.

Dear Laura,
I just wanted to reply to your message. I didnt' have ovarian cancer. I had stage 3 endeometrial cancer. I was diagnosed 5 months after my mom passed away from colon cancer (which it turns out, is related to endeometrial cancer). That was back in March of 2002. I am still cancer free.
In your message it seems like you're concerned with emotions, etc. I know EXACTLY what everyone is going through. It is the scariest thing you can go through. However, I truly believe (and so do my oncologists) that a strong will to live and a belief that you can beat this horrible disease is one of the most important things to your cancer free recovery.You MUST ALWAYS have a positive attitude.
My treatments consisted of a total hysterectomy, 7 rounds of a very strong combo of chemo (6 hours each time, every 3 weeks), 27 rounds of radiation and 3 internal radiation treatments. It seemed like each step was worse then the last, you feel like you're in this by yourself, but the support of family friends and even people that are going through the same thing prove different. It becomes a very close knit group of people. I found that it really helped to talk to whoever would listen. A lot of people don't know what to say to you, so they don't say anything at all, but it's important to get out your feelings. They have cancer support groups that might help. You and your family won't feel so alone. The important thing is to NEVER give up!!! I used to find it helpful to scream at the top of my lungs while I was driving myself to my chemo treatments (which I insisted I do. I was lucky enough that I didn't get sick from any of my treatments--which I strongly beleive had to do with a positive attitude.) I would scream 'you might have beat my mother, but I'll be damned if you'll beat me!' It really helped me get get in the right frame of mind....determination.
I don't know how much this helped you. If nothing else, it is to tell you that you're not alone in all of this, all your feelings are NORMAL, and to never give up...keep fighting. I also found it helpful to try and keep my routines as normal as possible...doing the same things that I always did, if possible. I hope this helped some. God Bless, and I will pray for all of you. Love, Laurie

Hi Laurie' Thank you for your support. Mom would like to know if you had a medeport also. She was told this was the way to go. All her veins are in bad shape due to a previous injury. All her doctors are positive about her treatment but we are the ones questioning them. They do not see a lot of this in our area. We live kinda rurual. So if this is what they did to you we would like to know. If so were your veins spidering where the port is. Did you have goood and bad days. We sure appricate your support. Thank you for writing back. Laura & Mom

Hi Laura and Mom,
When I went to my treatments, they suggested having a medeport put in, but I really didn't want it. My veins were Ok so I just had them put the intravenous whenever I went for my treatments. I do know that many of the other people at the treatment center did have the ports, though.
You're very welcome for the support. Remember, we're all in this together. Whenever you want to write, please feel free to do so. I don't always go onto the website. Good luck, and please let me know how you're doing.

Love, Laurie

Hi Laura and Mom,
When I went to my treatments, they suggested having a medeport put in, but I really didn't want it. My veins were Ok so I just had them put the intravenous whenever I went for my treatments. I do know that many of the other people at the treatment center did have the ports, though.
You're very welcome for the support. Remember, we're all in this together. Whenever you want to write, please feel free to do so. I don't always go onto the website, so if you want to contact me direct, my e-mail is LJD5117@aol.com. Good luck, and please let me know how you're doing.

Love, Laurie

Hi Laura and Mom.
I just re-read your response, and realized that I didn't respond to your question about good and bad days. Yes, sometimes the treatments (mostly the radiation ones) were hard to get through. I think it's because I had to go every day Mon-Fri. I was back to work when I was going through the radiation treatments, so it was a little rough, mostly emotionaly. I remembered to do everything the oncologists told me. I remember them telling me that I might get numbing in my feet, so when it happened, I was freaking out. I still have numbing (I forget now what they call it), but I can deal with that. The doctors and nurses are all very compassionate and understanding, which helps whenever you have a question. I hope this helps you. If you have anymore questions, please ask...anytime. Love, Laurie

You may want to contact the Cancer Treatment Centers of America to help your mother. They have several centers. The one located in Zion, Illinois is called the Midwestern Regional Medical Center. There is a Dr. Williams there who may be able to help your mother. May God be with you all. I have stage 4B uterine cancer and I have been a patient of Dr. Williams since 7-03. The cancer center uses several disciplines to help their patients.

Hi Laura,
I was just wondering how your mom is doing? Did she do ok with the port?

Laurie

Hi Laurie, Well mom has the medport and it is stupid as far as I am concerned. They are haveing trouble making it work. It will take fluid but you can not draw from it. It is still very sensitive even after 2 1/2 months. I feel they should of used a central line. And here is the kick in the pants the only ones who really know how to acess it is the oncology nurses. IV thereapy relly doesn;t have a clue and when they try to acess it they stab mom about 4 times so I think this procedure is a waste. And trhis time at chemo Mom had a reaction to the Dioxel. I think she had a little seizeure. She passed out and it took a little bit for her to wake up. I did good thios time I did not cry. I did the last time she passed out. I may be getting use to the ongoiong stuff that is happening to her. The neighbor just lost his bout with cancer and she was determined to go to the funeral but I would not let her because of all the sickness that all those people would have, like a cold or the beginnings of the flu, she was mad at me. I think she just wanted to go to see how the end would be. The neighbor had beeen fighting for about 4 years now with a type of lukemia. He was in for stem cell trasplant. I am not sure I did not ask a lot of questions his wife is devestated right now. So that is my update of mom. We go the surgeon next week and then another5 round of chemo. Oh yea the CT she had done says the cancer has shrunk about 30%. So that was really good news for us. Well things to do and I am glad I can chat with you. Laura

Laura,

Is your mom at Cancer Center Treatment of America?

Thanks

Sharlene