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How to care for a bald head
Okay....i am almost all the way bald...just some stubble left over from the shaving. How do i care for my new head? 1. Should I shampoo and condition? 2. Treat it like my face and cleanse, tone and moisturize? Occasional exfoliation and mask? 3. Just soap it up like the rest of my body? Lemme know ladies...you are the…
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CA125 came back 53
What do you think, today I started my trhirt cycle and my doctor gave me the news of my ca125 came back 53, last May 9 it was 474, by May 29 143 and June 21 53.. I would like to know what you ladies think about this. please...
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You want plucked?
My forty-ish middle son and I look amazingly alike these days. We both have very short, thin, salt-and-pepper hair. And since he is overdue for a haircut, and the back of his hair reaches almost to his collar, the style is very similar, too. Mine, of course, has more gray. I think about my hair at least once a day. What I…
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Thank you everyone
Thank you everyone for responding to my discussion about IP vs. IV chemotherapy. It's really great that we have this place where people can help one another. Thank you again.
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How many rounds/treatments of chemo has everyone had?
Yesterday my Mom had her 24th chemo in a year. She was so anxious and weepy yesterday. Her iron counts were good at 106 but her nerves have been shot so she wasn't eating very well. Unfortunately she lost 6 lbs in a month so she is now sitting at 83 lbs. I had a long talk with her and my Dad about her food intake and…
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If Staging can be upgraded, why can't it also be downgraded?
So, I had my appointment with the Chief of Neurosurgery at University Hospital today about Gamma Knife. (Have I mentioned how fortunate I have been to consistently have the best of the best in terms of surgeons, oncologists, radiation therapy and health care in general?) At any rate, during the meeting, I had the…
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Intraperitoneal chemotherapy vs. IV chemotherapy
Hi everyone, I was just wondering if anyone has gone thru Intraperitoneal chemo and how that worked. I've been on IV chemo for the last 5 years and I don't know, they just can't seem to find the right chemo combination. I understand that IP chemo might work a little better but I also heard that it's a rough treatment. Just…
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Smoothie recipes?
This recipe isn't completely original with me, but I wanted to share it. I have been putting frozen mixed berries, milk (one day I used chocolate flavored silk milk). I also add a hand full of spinach. You can not taste the spinach. It's a great way to get a leafy green veggie in. I like spinach in a salad, but we can't…
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Chemo reaction question
Hi Ladies.....My first few days after chemo i had the body aches and bone pains. Then I felt great. Now with my second chemo coming up this week i am starting to feel really crappy. Soooo fatigued, weak in the legs and arms, appetite not great and so weepy. I thought that as the first round of chemo started to leave my…
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Cancer dx highlights other losses
I'm gritting it through day 5 of what is for me 9 days of post taxil/carbo pain &nausea. I'm feeling particularily lonely today. This is mt 8th round of my second time through chemo since 2009. Lost my only sister to Breast cancer last year, my Mom same cancer in 1980. I retired last year & those friends have sort of…
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Tumors in liver
I was diagnosed with 3C last year and I am doing well. However, I have a dear friend who was diagnosed last year also but with stage 4. She had surgery and then IP chemo. In Sept. 2010, her doctor told her she was cancer free. In April of this year her cancer came back. She had tumors in her abdomen, in and on her spleen…
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"Kitchen Table Wisdom"
Hi Everyone, i just recently read a book, titled KITCHEN TABLE WISDOM, by a Doctor named Rachel Remen. it's like no other book i have ever read, and is filled with wonderful stories, some sad, but mostly gives a person a different perspective seems like we have lost our way, living in a technological world, so this book is…
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CT Scan found enlarged Ovary Worried
Hello, I am a colon cancer survivor Advanced Stage 3. This is my first discussion I have posted. I just finished 6 months of Folfox and had two CT Scans NED. I shared with my Oncologist that I have a cousin currently doing chemo for Ovarian Cancer, and one cousin doing chemo for breast cancer and lost an Aunt to Ovarian…
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Arthritis, nerve pain?
I've been experiencing pain in my left foot, on top, near last three toes since my chemo. I also am not able to bend these toes in. My right hand, primarily my thumb also is in constant pain. My Doctor said it's nerve strain and gave me a cream. Does anyone experience anything similar and if so what do you do to relieve…
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Phase III trial concluded that there is no benefit with maintenance paclitaxel to patients with EARL
(not sure what to make of this, but for those with EARLY STAGE OVC, this may be helpful. This just came out in May 2011:) A Randomized Phase III Trial of IV Carboplatin and Paclitaxel × 3 Courses Followed by Observation Versus Weekly Maintenance Low-Dose Paclitaxel in Patients With Early-Stage Ovarian Carcinoma: A…
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Plueral effusion
My cancer was diagnosed after I suffered double plueral effusion. I underwent 3 chest drains within 2/3 weeks of each other before I started on my chemo regime. 4 weeks into my treatment I was back in hospital having my 4th chest drain. The irony of this was like a kick in the teeth as I was a road runner and used to run…
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A sad day for me
Today is one I have dreaded for so long. My beloved cat of sixteen years, Fifty-fifty had to be put down. He has been my constant companion for many years and was by my side during my nine months of treatment. When I was still working, I used to wish he would still be around when I retired. I got my wish for a while. I…
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For OVCA survivors: Which ovary had cancer?
I don't know why I even care about this but I would appreciate hearing from OVCA survivors whether the cancer was one-sided or worse on one side than the other. Mine was left ovary & it seems like I notice the left side seems to predominate when women tell their stories. Or maybe I just notice it when someone says they had…
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tina brown
I have been on and off the board for a few years now and finaly found some one with the same cancer. I have had chemo surgery and chemo. I was diag 4-08 my ca125 was 2500. Now it is 12 it has been going up a little at a time the lowest was 6. 10, 11,12. I go tomorrow for a blood test my dr say he would not worry until it…
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Taxol and Soy - Contraindication
I just received my new edition of Anticancer. In it the author refers to a study which indicates that soy products can interfere with the effectiveness of Taxol. He states that further research is needed, but recommends not cosuming soy for 4 or 5 days before and after a Taxol treatment.
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Question for long term survivors with a single occurrance of OVCA
I know there are a number of you on this board who are two or three or more years out from the end of their treatment. I am curious as to what your CA-125 did a year or more out from the end of your treatment. Did it rise a bit, or stay rock solid where it was at the end of chemo? Mine was <1 at the end of chemo, and…
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Quilt Square Project - Final Call
Carlene and I made some lovely quilt squares and I am embrod. the names from the list we currently have on each square. This is a final call for names: if you want a square for yourself or a relative/friend please reply to this post. You can see previous posts by Carlene (aka Hissy_Fitz) for more information if you are new…
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I'm a Newbie!
Hi Everyone! I have been a lurker on this site for a number of months now but have now decided to join. My cancer journey began in May of 2010 at age 65 when I had a complete debulking and hysterectomy for a fairly large mass which had grown from my left ovary and my bladder and liver. My gyn-oncologist was able to remove…
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Hair loss
Hi all !! I am 2 weeks and 1 day out from my first chemo tx. My scalp has been very itchy and tender. My hair is starting to fall out. I noticed a lot in the drain from the shower this morning. I am going to have a shaving get together this weekend !! My bloodwork has been all good. My ca125 started at 4500- down to 1651.…
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Glad to be back home.........again.
Gorgeous NY doc said my CT scan was "perfect." CA125 is 9. He thinks I may have another UTI, however, and should have my bladder checked, just to make sure I don't have a prolapse. His thinking, since I have to have hernia surgery, is that I should have both at once, if bladder surgery is called for. Does this never end?…
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Vaccine to attack OVC
A very close friend of mine just finished her second round of chemo. We are always comparing notes with each other. Her doctor wants to get her into a clinical trial when it comes to UCSF in a few months. Dr Geo Coukos, PHD at University of Penn is the doctor in charge. The web site to get additional information is…
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Has anyone gone on a vacation on a plane while on chemotherapy
Hi, I was just wondering if anyone has flown while undergoing chemotherapy. I would like to go away but there was an article in a cancer magazine advising people with cancer and flying to be very careful. Apparently, the problem comes about when their counts go down low and the air on a plane is not very good. My primary…
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One year ago today
One year ago today I talked myself into believing that the mass on my ovary wasn’t cancer. When I woke up in the recovery room and looked at the time, I knew I was wrong and terror set in. I was diagnosed with stage 3a, grade 3, clear cell ovarian cancer. I prayed that I didn’t have any post-op complications and could make…
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Stage 3c
That was what we heard from the gyn/onco appt for my sister today. The types were mostly squamous cell and they did find a few clear cells which he said were so small in amount that it was irrelevant. She will have six cycles of taxol and I think Cistplatin? She will have to stay in the hospital overnight while one of them…
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STUPID DISEASE!! ISN'T IT ENOUGH THAT
in the past 14 months, I've lost my husband unexpectedly, had to sell all our furniture and move in with my sister and her family? I just wanna move on with my life, but now I've this stupid cancer to deal with (clear cell stage 3 c). I just lost my Mom to Non-Hodgkins lymphoma Feb. 2008. My son is to graduate from the 3rd…