questions

jess
I imagine what doc is saying is that she has floating cancer cells in body - maybe due to surgery or otherwise. We probably all have this. The chemo is given to us to kill those floating cancer cells.

Your mother's treatment plan is pretty standard - that's what I got. Radiation may be recommended too.

I suspect your mom has grade 3 cancer - which I also have. It's the very aggressive type.

Please try to stay calm and go with your mom to her appointments so you can learn and ask the questions she may forget. Keep copies of records. Chemo will not be as bad as she may think. It's amazing what progress there has been in treatment.

Please give your mom a hug from me. Mary Ann

Sorry your Mom is having to go through this
Number one thing is do not go searching the Internet because most of the stuff is old and the current studies use information from 90" and early 2000, and there is new technology now. I have a grade 3 type cancer Carcinosarcoma, which is a uterine cancer. The tumor itself in the uterus was stage 1A but the pathology report stated that 2 microscopic cells was in one lymph node so the cancer got upgraded to stage 3C. I had 6 rounds of chemo (carbo and taxol) that were spaced out every 21 days. The worst I got was joint pain and fatigue about the 3rd of 4th day. Oh and my taste buds got bad. Food taste bad for a few days then it gets ok again. . I started chemo treatment in May 2011 and it went through Aug 2011. I have passed the 1 year mark and I am NED. Your Mom should always have someone go to the dr with her as a second set of ears it good. My big thing was to try and have a positive attitude, sorta like OK I have cancer let’s take care of it, do what I have to do and move on. It is easy to let everything get to you and there will be some bad days but with faith in God, loving family and friends praying for you, it is doable. Good Luck and keep us posted. trish

PamSun said:

Tx and questions
Hi Trish, I had robtic surgery on July 23, 2012 where they removed all female organs and many lymph nodes. It was determined I had stage 3 including one lymph The treatment plan is using Carboplatin and Paclitaxel 3 cycles every 3 wks total of 9. Also, radiation external a later internal. Followed by 3 more cycles of chemo. I am in the process of trying to get another opinion as this seems like an over amonunt.
I am disappointed that I was not told about the sensitivity test! Have you heard of any blood test done for this?
It was nice to hear your positive words to help others on this journey.
God Bless You,
Pam

Different treatment protocal for different people
I have been on this board for a while now and some people get more agressive treatments, a lot depends on who and where a person goes to. I sometimes get concerned because I did not get radiation but my doctor told me that she did not want to go that route unless she had to. The NCI does recommend chemo treatments and raditation for stage 3 uterine cancers. I did not get ratiation, but reading what some people went through (side effects) maybe I am glad I did not receive it. When my Mom went though it over 20 years ago before she passed away from a soft tissue sarcoma on her leg which had spread, it was not a pretty picture and she was real sick. What type of cancer did they say it was? I have stage 3 Carcinosarcoma. I am NED currently. I did not have any of the tissue assay or estrogen receptor assay done as I did not know about them. The only blood test they did and so do on me is the CA125 which is not a clear marker for me but they still do it. I had the total abdominal surgery which has resulted in a surgerical hernia now but I will deal with that later maybe next year. Where are you located? This is a great site for updates, news, encouragements and support. As always I will add you to my list of women on this site for prayers. trish