Stage 4 Ovarian Cancer - I Would Like Advice - Help - Whatever

I was diagnosed last Jan with stage 4 ovarian cancer that had spread to the lungs. They removed 6 liters of fluid from abdomen & lungs. I was on taxol & carboplatin till May 22. I have neuropathy in hand and both feet. Sciatic nerve damage & heart problems. I had a echo done and saw the cardiologist. I have leaky valves, fluid around the heart. I will have another echo done in a couple weeks to compare. I had a CT scan done at my check-up last week and they found nodules back on my lungs that I had had before and they supposedly went away and are now back. My thought is that they never went away to begin with but now they want me to do chemo again. Suggest Doxil or Gemzar. I am seriously thinking of an alternative medicine. Went to a Greek treatment seminar yesterday and it sounds pretty good. Of course, my gyn. onc. does not give me much of a survival rating. I am only 43 so feel I should have lots of years left. Is there anyone who is in my same boat or similar that would like to respond to this or know of someone that might be able to give me any advice?

Hi there, Whether you continue with chemo or not, it is always good to look into alternative, or in this case, complimentary. Start with this book: Beating cancer with nutrition by Patrick Quillin. There are many good books out there... do a search on Amazon. Read, and try out a few of their suggestions. All the best, Joanna

Thanks. I will do that. Do you have cancer too? I bought a book at the seminar. It is really quite interesting. It tells about the foods you should eat too. I also bought a cookbook fom them. Have any of you heard about the Alivizatos treatment? Know of anyone that has? Thanks again.

Yes, I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Ovarian cancer in May 2001. No, I have heard of Alivizatos treatment. Can you share that with us? According to research there are so many kinds of food that may benefit cancer patients, and I for one don't see any harm in trying them out. If you can list out 10 of the recommended food, I will do the same. Just reading a book can help cancer patients.. how? By taking our minds off the cancer. I read that somewhere. So read, and put what you read into practice... hope to hear from you again... Joanna

As far as I am concerned, you are right on track. I would suggest including some form of exercise as well: walking is a good one. Add some self-massage, deep breathing and stretches.. you can do them while watching tv or just before bedtime. Thanks for sharing, and do post from time to time to let us know how you are doing. Hugs, Joanna

I was diagnosed with Stage IIIC Fallopian Tube Cancer last year, and just this
year, after my first failed chemo therapy - Taxol/Carbo - also discovered the
book mentioned by Patrick Quillin. It's excellent and I've made a radical diet
change incorporating all he suggests. Especially, eliminating ALL SUGAR!!
His theory about sugar is that it is a cancer feeder. Eliminating all sugar was
not only an daunting task, as you must read every label, it's everywhere, but
so-o-o-o difficult if you love it as I did. My second round of chemo - Taxotere -
taken after beginning Quillin's nutrition plan last March and beginning his
suggestion of the Immunopower vitamin supplementation, was very tolerable.
I did not experience fatigue or any nausea, and to the surprise of my doc, no
hair loss!! I even believe that the diet change and the vitamins contributed to
my quick comeback after recent surgery for two additional tumors (overlooked
during the first surgery). I was supposed to be in the hospital for one to two
weeks and was released the morning of the 4th day after surgery!! Can't say
enough positive about Quillin's ideas for building your immune system by diet
change, vitamin supplements and exercise. I like the idea that he isn't saying
to heck with traditional medicine, just that at the same time it's imperative that
we who have cancer build our immune system to counteract chemo's
apparent tearing down of our immune system. My additional "recipe" for
beating this cancer is a strong faith in the God of hope.....our Lord Jesus
Christ..! I'm confident I could not have made it this far without Him. My
thoughts and prayers are with all who've been diagnosed with cancer of any
kind. Warmest regards, Sandy L.L.

Dear Shel, I too was originally not given very good stats for beating this
cancer, and determined to find another Gyn oncol. who was more positive
about getting me into remission. I went for 5, yes 5, 2nd opinions and found
Dr. Beth Karlan at Cedars-Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Center in L.A. met my
every need!!! All other Docs had great credentials and were from great
hospitals, UCLA, UCI, UCSan Diego etc. but insisted on looking at the doom
and gloom statistics. I wasn't interested in these, and searched til I found a
Dr. that thought like I did. I liked her attitude and her positive determination that
she would do everything to get me in remission. My kind of Doc, and I highly
recommend that you search until you find a doctor that thinks outside of the
box and doesn't put you into those statistics. No Doctor has the right to play
God.... there is only one God of the universe and He alone is responsible for
the number of days we've been given in this life. My prayers are with you.
Sandy L.L.

Thanks for your thoughts. I am glad you are all doing so well. I have ordered the book which should be here sny day now, and I also ordered others that I am reading. Alot of them talk about cutting out the sugars. They say about the red meat and dairy products too. Even buying eggs from farmer than in a store or any processed foods. What can you eat? What vitamins & minerals do you take? I am a member of curves and try to stay active so don't think I have a problem with excercise. The diet will be the hardest. How do you do it? I love my milk & cheese. Of course, I live in Wisconsin. I am also a meat lover. It is about my only craving. Can you guys give me an idea of what to make for meals in a week and snacks? Do you drink only water and juice? One book I am reading now says about cleansing out the body with coffee enemas and drinking water & juices for a given number of days before doing anything else. Did you do that? As you can tell, I am dumbfounded when it comes to this sort of thing. I need help to do it I think. I go in tomorrow for my other echo and will see the cardiologist on Tuesday and my Dr. up here on Thursday. I have my appointment with my gyn.ono. in the cities on Nov. 3. My Dr. here says not to wait that long so will have him refer me to Mayo for another opinion and maybe to the U of M? I need to get better!!! I would feel fine now except for the neuropathy. Did either of you experience that? It is awful!!! I like to hear what the stats are just to give me a goal and something to shoot for to see if I can break the pattern. I want to make good stats! What I like most is to hear real stories from people like you who are going thru alot of the same thing. Anyone with cancer is a big help for me. I can learn from them and they understand some or all of what I am going thru. Some are worse than me and some better. I just love the true stories. I have a big family. 6 sisters and my father that are supporting me thru all of this along with nieces & nephews,cousins, etc. My husband & daughter are really scared. I love spending the time with my 6 yr. old grandson. My mother died of cancer back in 1982. I don't want to also. Her Dr. said back then that 1 out of 7 would get it and I am the middle one of 7 and my birth sign is cancer. Go figure. I am really anxious to hear more from anyone. Please keep the info coming. I love to hear it. Keep the positive attitudes. My prayers are with you all!!!! Shel

Hi, I did not see any responses to your last letter of 03 and wanted to see how you are doing? I was diagnoised with OVCA stage 3 last September and after surgery and 6 rounds of chemo (carbo-taxol) I have been luckily cancer free since 2/04. Still worry everytime a checkup is coming up which will be end of this month. Please let us know how you are and what has happened in your life since you last posted.

I am sorry it has taken me so long to get back here. Life has been really hectic lately. Daughters wedding and husband getting burnt and in the burn unit, almost loosing son in law twice and me going thru chemo again. I had chemo of carbo and taxotere. My Ca125 went back down. My last treatment was the beginning of June. I went back for my checkup and it is again starting to rise. She (gyn/onc) has now given up on me.

I really would like to try something else that may work. I had a chat session with someone from CTCA and it sounded really hopeful but I did not get any of the information she was going to send out to me. I wanted to get in touch with someone that has gone there and see if it had done them any good with stage 4 but never got the list for that either. They said that my insurance will not cover it but I feel that if I get a referral from my Dr. here, it would work. He is the only one I have left. He is a family practice Dr.

A girlfriend of mine who was an RN in Seattle said that alot of places don't like to mess with stage 4 ovarian cancer patients and I am getting that feeling also. She also has said that if it were her, she would go to the Cancer Care Alliance. If all that either of them would do is exercises and diet, I can do that here at home. I am just so confused and don't know where to turn anymore. I just wish someone out there would help me steer in the right direction. Not sure what else you want to know or what kind of questions you may have. Just ask and I will try to answer. Hope you all take care.

Shel