CancerCompass message board discussion started by Cinemafusion on 3/6/2008 http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,21734,0.htm Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://backend.userland.com/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ She has stage 4 ovarian cancer. Has done very well with the treatments and was taken off taxol/carboplatium 8 months ago after her ca score dropped down to a low of 5.  She opted for the maintenance of taxol for a year.  I had heard good things about this treatment and was hoping it would give her a long remission but recently her ca 125 score has elevated from 6 to 11. We are waiting for this weeks score. Her doctor is asking for a cat scan for two reasons. One is the elevation of the score and two she thought moms stomach was a little harder then usual. Possible sign of a new growth I guess. I'm nervous because she is still on the maintenance treatment of Taxol yet her score has incresed rather quickly I would say. 6 to 11 is a big jump.Has anyone else had their score elevate while on the 1 year Taxol maintenance?  She did well on the Platinum drug and I would assume they would treat her with that. However the downside is she hasn't had any rest because of the yearly treatment of Taxol (even if it's a lower dosage)I'm nervous that if in fact this is a recurrence, her body might not be ready to take on a stronger dosage of chemo so soon. I guess she wouldn't have a choice. Has anyone been in this same boat? I hope everyone is in high spirits and doing well in their treatments. Thank you,Joe Cinemafusion Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT hi! please keep us posted: i didn't have the maintenance taxol altho i would have wanted to, but i live in europe &they don't do it!  my ca-125 is also on the rise, slowly albeit which is stressing me out big time! is the schedule once a monthfor 12 months? harriet Harrietg. Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT Yes it's a once a month treatment with a lighter dose of Taxol. Mom has been doing fine with the dosage. No real side effects with the exception of hair loss but that doesn't seem to bother her. So her quality of life has been real good.  Her score had dropped to 5 or 6 after the initial carboplatium/taxol.  It stayed at that level through the first 5 months of the maintenance period. These last three months it has increased to 11.  We haven't recieved the latest score yet but she will have a cat scan on March 24 or 25....just before her next chemo session.  I'll keep you posted as to what happens and what the doctors say. Hope you are doing well, I know it can be a scary thing to see the score rising but always have faith and hope. I've seen many women have a relaspe of cancer and then the go into remission for a long time. Have no idea why?   Cinemafusion Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT Mom went in for her chemo and the cat scan came back. Spots on her liver and lungs.  She will start on Gemzar and Carboplatin. Not sure yet how long, just got off the phone with dad. Thinking maybe 6 months of treatment.  The insurance chemo didn't work but has worked for some. She didn't have any adverse effects while on it and her quality of life was good. So I think it was worth the risk for her and maybe for others. Hindsight is always 20/20 and had we known this (insurance chemo) wouldn't work, it would have been better for her to have 8 months off chemo.  she is now going to start back on a heavier dose of chemo and I'm sure that is going to be hard on her.  Hoping she will do as well on Carboplatin this time as she did last time. During that time she was also taking Ginger. Three tablets a day with 5% ginerol in the tablets. That also didn't keep the cancer away. (i see a lot of threads on if this works or not, thought I would share what mom's experience was while taking it) Cinemafusion Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT