On 6/1/2008
maggieRN wrote:
Hi All!
I just found this site and have read the wonderful messages people have left, so I thought I could share and benefit from your experiences. My name is Maggie, I'm 27 and my Mom was diagnosed with PPC last june of 2007. She was diagnosed when she was having shortness of breath and was found to have a pleural effusion of 2 liters. The next few days in the hospital were very scary! The fluid came back positive for malignancy and we were off from there. We met with an oncologist and oncologic-gyno. She underwent rounds of chemo (Taxol and Carboplatinum), before having surgery to remove a large portion of her omentun and total hysterectomy, then another three rounds. At her time of diagnosis I believe her Ca-125 was in the thousands and currently I am happy to say it is 9. However on our last 3 month CT she has a mass near her Colon which is borderline on a PET scan, so we go for surgery this monday june 2, to have it removed and sent to test the mass for malignancy and tested against several diff. chemo meds. Although her CA-125 didn't rise it could still be cancer of a different sort which my god I hope not!
I just thought I'd share my experience with you and get some feed back! We are also looking into some trials with different types of chemo using heated meds washed into the abdomen. I am also a nurse which actually makes this even more difficult because I feel being in this field robs you of some of your optomism. I know we can fight it though!
Maggie RN
Hi Ladies
Hope everyone is doing well. Twithers , I hope your Mom's situation is improving..I will keep you in my prayers. I saw my mother recently for a long weekend at a family reunion. She looked great and seem to feel great as well. She was set to have start the topetecan last week but told me that the doctor thought she looked so good and felt so good that they wouldn't do the chemo yet. Her number was up a bit but it's still under 50. I am a little freaked out but don't want to be a downer when she is happier than can be to not do it. I talked to my stepdad on Fathers Day and he is a bit concened as well. They are concerned about the cancer in her chest area but I guess it's not growing . I thought the point was to attack things quickly. Maybe they are waiting until she gets back from our family vacation in July so that she can fully enjoy it. I do feel that she has faired pretty well in her fight against this cancer. They found it early and so far her doctors have done well to keep her this well for 2 years now. So I have to trust that they are doing whats best for her. Maggie, I had read that you mentioned the heated meds. I know my mother received both doxil and taxol in her first rounds of chemo after debulking surgery. They were given to her through a port directly into the abdomen and then she was tilted around to distribute the drugs. Don't know if they were heated or if this is the same procedure you were commenting on...I can ask. She responded well and was in remission for over a year. Ca125 has been as high as 1800 and as low as 12. REcently a man I know through work has been diagnosed with a rare and inoperable malignant brain tumor. HIs situation is grave and he is having radiation everyday. Now he is in hospital due to abscess's in his legs that need to drain and has developed pneumonia, it's only been 2 months. And so I thank God that I have the time i have...even though I know the inevitable outcome. Mom tells me that the doctors have assured her that we can play this chemo game for a long time. I hope so, but I'm scared for her to have to deal with the pain etc. of it all. Good bless you all.