Immuture Teratoma

hairdesignr
hairdesignr Member Posts: 6
edited March 2014 in Ovarian Cancer #1
My 17 year old daughter was taken to the hospital on August the 5th with what we thought was an appendistis. had been complaining of pain in her left side for eight months prior to that date. On the 6th they removed a 6 1/2 pound 9 inch diameter immuture teratoma from her left ovary. Then on Sept. 18th she has surgery again to remove what was l;eft of the left ovary her fallipon tube and the remaining nodes from that area and then they explored and found behind the uterus on the wall a rasberry shape tumor growing again. So we started chemo on Oct 26th. She does 5 days of treatments off for 14 days. She starts her 3rd round on Dec 7th.
The oncologist at Duke recommends 3 rounds but the oncologist that is actually doing the treatments closer to home wants to possible do a 4th treatment. Anyone that has or has had this type of cancer, please let me know how u are, any reoccurances ,etc. Thank you and God Bless you all

Comments

  • hairdesignr
    hairdesignr Member Posts: 6
    #2
    Happy for Now
    Daughter just finished final round of chemo, now it is a witing game for the CAT scan and pelvic exam in Jan. at the Zimmer Cancer Center , Wilmington NC and then another CAT scan and pelvic exam at Duke in Feb. She has a rough weekand today was no exception..dizziness, sick, etc. But she is happy with being done for now. To all of you that is dealing with any kind of cancer my God Bless you and keep you.
  • saundra
    saundra Member Posts: 1,370 Member
    #3
    hairdesignr said:

    Happy for Now
    Daughter just finished final round of chemo, now it is a witing game for the CAT scan and pelvic exam in Jan. at the Zimmer Cancer Center , Wilmington NC and then another CAT scan and pelvic exam at Duke in Feb. She has a rough weekand today was no exception..dizziness, sick, etc. But she is happy with being done for now. To all of you that is dealing with any kind of cancer my God Bless you and keep you.

    Don't know
    I don't know of this type of tumor. Just want you to know that we are not ignoring you. Guess we just have not heard of it. I am happy that your daughter is through with the chemo for now. Saundra
  • hairdesignr
    hairdesignr Member Posts: 6
    #4
    saundra said:

    Don't know
    I don't know of this type of tumor. Just want you to know that we are not ignoring you. Guess we just have not heard of it. I am happy that your daughter is through with the chemo for now. Saundra

    Thanks
    Thank your for responding to message. I was beginning to think no one was reading what was being posted. I guess I was wrong and apologize to all. It has just been tough for our family and daughter and with the uncertainy to be patient. I was hoping someone on here might has a little bit more info than what we are getting from the doctors or would know of this type of cancer and what maybe to expect in the future with it. They say it is cureable but harder each time if and when it comes back. God Bless u All
  • carol2dogs
    carol2dogs Member Posts: 132
    #5
    hairdesignr said:

    Happy for Now
    Daughter just finished final round of chemo, now it is a witing game for the CAT scan and pelvic exam in Jan. at the Zimmer Cancer Center , Wilmington NC and then another CAT scan and pelvic exam at Duke in Feb. She has a rough weekand today was no exception..dizziness, sick, etc. But she is happy with being done for now. To all of you that is dealing with any kind of cancer my God Bless you and keep you.

    I'm Nearby
    Hello, Hairdesgnr!
    I'm sorry I haven't responded sooner and I'm sorry that I have no idea what a teratoma is. I get all of my treatment at Zimmer Cancer Center, so we must live somewhere close to each other. Please let me know. I actually live in Beulaville, which is an hour away from Wilmington. I recently finished my current chemo, and am taking a chemo break until my numbers go back up. I am one of those for whom ovarian cancer is a chronic disease and I will be on and off chemo for the rest of my life. But, and a big but, I expect this to go on for a very long time!
    Who is your doctor? The staff at Zimmer are excellent and they are very compassionate. I am so sorry that your daughter is facing this at such a young age! May God be with both of you! Love and hugs, Carol
  • hairdesignr
    hairdesignr Member Posts: 6
    #6
    carol2dogs said:

    I'm Nearby
    Hello, Hairdesgnr!
    I'm sorry I haven't responded sooner and I'm sorry that I have no idea what a teratoma is. I get all of my treatment at Zimmer Cancer Center, so we must live somewhere close to each other. Please let me know. I actually live in Beulaville, which is an hour away from Wilmington. I recently finished my current chemo, and am taking a chemo break until my numbers go back up. I am one of those for whom ovarian cancer is a chronic disease and I will be on and off chemo for the rest of my life. But, and a big but, I expect this to go on for a very long time!
    Who is your doctor? The staff at Zimmer are excellent and they are very compassionate. I am so sorry that your daughter is facing this at such a young age! May God be with both of you! Love and hugs, Carol

    Close
    We actually live in Bolivia, about 25 miles south of Wilmington. Dr. G is her doctor here in Wilmington and then she has a few more at Duke. Duke says it is rare type of cancer. They call it the Lance Armstrong Cancer. Because it is a male testicle cancer. 1 in like 500,000 girls can get it but some what uncommon. Girls in the age range from 9 and up get it. My daughters that said had been growing since she was probably 8 or 9 years old and hers was both a Dermoid tumor(muture)(non cancer) and a immuture teratoma(cancerous)and that it is unusual to find both together.. You either have 1 or the other but almost never both. When they did the 1st surgery they were so shock by what the seen they called in Dr. G and then off to Duke we went..And as they say the rest is history. If you have daughters or granddaughters that are young you should read up on this. My daughter is 4th generation on my mothers side to have cancer in the last 14 years. Just type in teratoma tumor and then go from there. But dr. can't tell u a lot about it because it is uncommon ovarian cancer.
  • Hissy_Fitz
    Hissy_Fitz Member Posts: 1,834
    #7
    hairdesignr said:

    Close
    We actually live in Bolivia, about 25 miles south of Wilmington. Dr. G is her doctor here in Wilmington and then she has a few more at Duke. Duke says it is rare type of cancer. They call it the Lance Armstrong Cancer. Because it is a male testicle cancer. 1 in like 500,000 girls can get it but some what uncommon. Girls in the age range from 9 and up get it. My daughters that said had been growing since she was probably 8 or 9 years old and hers was both a Dermoid tumor(muture)(non cancer) and a immuture teratoma(cancerous)and that it is unusual to find both together.. You either have 1 or the other but almost never both. When they did the 1st surgery they were so shock by what the seen they called in Dr. G and then off to Duke we went..And as they say the rest is history. If you have daughters or granddaughters that are young you should read up on this. My daughter is 4th generation on my mothers side to have cancer in the last 14 years. Just type in teratoma tumor and then go from there. But dr. can't tell u a lot about it because it is uncommon ovarian cancer.

    What stage?
    Have they staged your daughter's cancer yet? She is so young, and I know it breaks your heart to see her have to go thru everything that a cancer diagnosis implies. I think the only thing worse than having cancer would be if my daughter or granddaughter had it.

    We will all be watching for your posts in the future, and praying for a wonderful outcome for your daughter.
  • carol2dogs
    carol2dogs Member Posts: 132
    #8
    hairdesignr said:

    Close
    We actually live in Bolivia, about 25 miles south of Wilmington. Dr. G is her doctor here in Wilmington and then she has a few more at Duke. Duke says it is rare type of cancer. They call it the Lance Armstrong Cancer. Because it is a male testicle cancer. 1 in like 500,000 girls can get it but some what uncommon. Girls in the age range from 9 and up get it. My daughters that said had been growing since she was probably 8 or 9 years old and hers was both a Dermoid tumor(muture)(non cancer) and a immuture teratoma(cancerous)and that it is unusual to find both together.. You either have 1 or the other but almost never both. When they did the 1st surgery they were so shock by what the seen they called in Dr. G and then off to Duke we went..And as they say the rest is history. If you have daughters or granddaughters that are young you should read up on this. My daughter is 4th generation on my mothers side to have cancer in the last 14 years. Just type in teratoma tumor and then go from there. But dr. can't tell u a lot about it because it is uncommon ovarian cancer.

    We share a doctor
    Hi, hairdesignr, I also have Dr. G. as my doctor. He is an excellent doctor, very compassionate, and he knows his limitations. You can't get much better or cutting edge care than at Duke, but I'm glad that you're getting the follow-up care at Zimmer, closer to home. I cannot even imagine how hard this is for you. Please know that lots of women on this board are praying for your daughter and for you! Please keep us updated. Love and hugs, Carol
  • hairdesignr
    hairdesignr Member Posts: 6
    #9
    Hissy_Fitz said:

    What stage?
    Have they staged your daughter's cancer yet? She is so young, and I know it breaks your heart to see her have to go thru everything that a cancer diagnosis implies. I think the only thing worse than having cancer would be if my daughter or granddaughter had it.

    We will all be watching for your posts in the future, and praying for a wonderful outcome for your daughter.

    stage
    The gave a grade 3. there is only 3 they have for this type of cancer and grade 1 ..remove tumor...grade 2 remove and possible chemo as precaution and the grade 3 straight chemo after removal of tumor. the reason for the up grade to 3 is because it came back less than 1 month later. they removed the 1st tumor and then when she went in for the 2 nd surgery they found another tumor. But so far so good..her arms are still sore from the chemo but spirits are pretty good.. she is hoping that the 2 different appts she has coming up will be an all clean.
    thank you all for the support.. she doesn't like for her dad and i to talk to anyone as she says about her business. very much a fighter. but it is nice for me to have someone and somewhere that i can kinda of unload at. thanks again to you all and GOD Bless u all
  • hairdesignr
    hairdesignr Member Posts: 6
    #10
    carol2dogs said:

    We share a doctor
    Hi, hairdesignr, I also have Dr. G. as my doctor. He is an excellent doctor, very compassionate, and he knows his limitations. You can't get much better or cutting edge care than at Duke, but I'm glad that you're getting the follow-up care at Zimmer, closer to home. I cannot even imagine how hard this is for you. Please know that lots of women on this board are praying for your daughter and for you! Please keep us updated. Love and hugs, Carol

    thank you
    we may have seen each other there a time or two. but i wish u all the best
  • Hissy_Fitz
    Hissy_Fitz Member Posts: 1,834
    #11
    hairdesignr said:

    thank you
    we may have seen each other there a time or two. but i wish u all the best

    Everything I have read.....
    says that this type of cancer rarely spreads to the remaining ovary, and is very responsive to chemo therapy. I know that does not ease your mind much, but it is far better than the prognosis for most types of ovarian cancer.

    I understand exactly how your daughter feels about you and her dad discussing her illness (her "business", as she says) with other people. I feel the same way. Once the news gets out that you have cancer, sometimes that's all people see/hear when your name is mentioned. "How's she doing?"; "What do the doctors say?"; "Does the chemo make her sick?".....and the very best one of all: "Is she going to die?" It's all so negative!

    I am glad you found us, however. Come and vent anytime. Share the good news and the bad. I have found more support and strength here than anywhere else.

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