Help or advice on ifosfamide/ascites

Options
Hi everyone,

My mom has Stage 4B uterine cancer and she's being switched to ifosfamide from doxirubicin as the latter is not working to combat her tumor growth effectively enough. The treatment should start next week. She is 73.

I'm devastated as we had just heard from the doctors that last week that the tumors were stable and her doctor was pleased with the progress.

The problem is the ascites and the amount of fluid she's creating which is indicating that her tumors are still growing too rapidly. She had a full hysterectomy but because of the 4B stage it spread to her abdomen area.

Does anyone have any help or advice about ifosfamide or ascites from your own experience?
My father said if this doesn't work then it would be pallative care. If this is a "hail Mary" situation, then I want to be sure we've looked into any appropriate CAM therapies

I've posted before about CAM therapy such as Vitamin C IV, and found a knowledgeable expert about this at UCLA, so I will be working to uncover any other information to help my mom.

Thanks for your help,
Jen

Comments

  • snowbird_11
    snowbird_11 Member Posts: 160
    Options
    I am sorry to hear about
    I am sorry to hear about your mother’s disease progression despite her ongoing treatment. Do you know what type of uterine cancer your mother is dealing with – a Type 1 endometroid, or one of the Type 2s: papillary serous, clear cell, mmmt, etc. – or the grade? Type 1 is usually Grade 1 or 2, but Type 2s are usually Grade 3. I was a Stage IV B uterine papillary serous carcinoma which is an aggressive Grade 3 cancer treated like ovarian cancer. The type/grade can affect chemo choices/responses.

    If you enter ‘ifosfamide’ in search field at the top of uterine discussion board page, you should get some threads discussing this chemo that others have been treated with. Also, in regard to CAM therapies, some are not compatible with chemotherapy so any treatment she may be doing should be evaluated to be sure it is not interfering with the effectiveness of her chemo Many CAM therapies are designed to protect healthy cells but they can also protect cancer cells from effects of chemo. . Hopefully anything she is doing is being managed by an integrative specialist.

    Sending positive thoughts her way that this new chemo will be the one to have success against the cancer.
    Annie