linda, just reqd on ovarian cancer site that high dose vitamin c iv resensitizes cancer to chemo

maggie_wilson

linda,

i thought i'd mention this to you. i think it was tethys who wrote that she spoke to a very well-informed nurse, who participated in a study resensitizing women who have become resistant to chemo. the first line of defense was the high dose vit c! thought i'd let you know.

how are you doing now? i know it's been a rough week.

sisterhood and love,
maggie

lindaprocopio

I saw that and made note of it. Need to find a provider next!
I am feeling better. I post on a blog of people who have had the same SIR-Spheres radioembolism I had in June. One woman told me that she had liver swelling for 2 1/2 months after her radioembolism that caused her the same shortness of breath and mild digestive discomfort I have been experiencing. But the swelling went down. I am encouraged by that, as I thought this might be something I would have to learn to live with long-term. I would hate to think that long hikes on the mountain or the dessert were out of reach for me forever!

My oncologist doesn't want me to take Lovenox 'preventatively' (recommended by my Primary Care Physician); he said he'd need to see something show up on a scan that looked like a blood clot before he'd prescribe an anti-coagulants. I'm happy about that. For the next 2 weeks I'm just to take a small aspirin and a Prilosec each day. My oncologist still wants me to come in for a PET scan, but my inclination is to wait until closer to when I would be back in his care (mid to late September at the earliest). My radiation oncologist will be back from vacation the week of August 15th & soon afterward I'll be having the other half of my liver radioembolized. I see no use in doing a PET scan when we clearly wouldn't be able to act on anything it turns up for a month since I'll need to recover from the radiation. And my CT scan from July 12th showed everything as stable, with the liver vastly improved from the SIR-Spheres, so I'm just in a holding pattern until the week of the 15th.

But just knowing this is possibly a temporary thing has done WONDERS for how I feel!!

maggie_wilson

lindaprocopio said:

I saw that and made note of it. Need to find a provider next!
I am feeling better. I post on a blog of people who have had the same SIR-Spheres radioembolism I had in June. One woman told me that she had liver swelling for 2 1/2 months after her radioembolism that caused her the same shortness of breath and mild digestive discomfort I have been experiencing. But the swelling went down. I am encouraged by that, as I thought this might be something I would have to learn to live with long-term. I would hate to think that long hikes on the mountain or the dessert were out of reach for me forever!

My oncologist doesn't want me to take Lovenox 'preventatively' (recommended by my Primary Care Physician); he said he'd need to see something show up on a scan that looked like a blood clot before he'd prescribe an anti-coagulants. I'm happy about that. For the next 2 weeks I'm just to take a small aspirin and a Prilosec each day. My oncologist still wants me to come in for a PET scan, but my inclination is to wait until closer to when I would be back in his care (mid to late September at the earliest). My radiation oncologist will be back from vacation the week of August 15th & soon afterward I'll be having the other half of my liver radioembolized. I see no use in doing a PET scan when we clearly wouldn't be able to act on anything it turns up for a month since I'll need to recover from the radiation. And my CT scan from July 12th showed everything as stable, with the liver vastly improved from the SIR-Spheres, so I'm just in a holding pattern until the week of the 15th.

But just knowing this is possibly a temporary thing has done WONDERS for how I feel!!

linda, so glad you're feeling better
glad you saw the post re: vit c iv; good to have in your back pocket. there are providers here in the bay area, but i'm sure it will all be out of pocket. i'm sure there are providers where you are as well. some oncologists actually administer it themselves, but i doubt mine will, maybe yours will be more amenable, if and when you may want that.

i like your oncologist's thinking re: not giving you a preventative until and if something shows up. sometimes, less is really more. i agree re: why have a pet scan now, when you will have the radioembolization first, then need recovery time? so happy, also to hear your liver is vastly improved from the sir-spheres. it does seem like there's a lot of being in a holding pattern--doctors' vacations, our vacations, low platelets, surgeries, and what not; i guess we learn to live with these. so hoping this is a temporary thing, which it sounds like it is, and that you're feeling so much better.

sounds like you're taking good care of yourself, linda, and you're spirits are up where they usually are.

love and sisterhood,
maggie