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The surgeon misinformed your mother!
First of all, welcome to the club no one wants to be in. You will get tons of wonderful advice and support here, and maybe you could get your mother to check out this site, too. Your mother's surgeon had NO right to tell her that she would live 5 years max. That is both untrue and unethical! Each person is a case unto itself. MANY people with Stage 3 C live longer than 5 years, and I plan to be one of them. Much depends on how well she responds to chemo. I was diagnosed last February when an ovarian tumor perforated my colon during a colonoscopy. I went into surgery immediately to repair the colon, and my surgeon couldn't even see it because there was so much cancer. I woke up with an ileostomy and was told my abdomen was packed full of cancer. I would have to have chemo to make surgery even possible. My CA 125 went from 1587 to 41 after 3 rounds of chemo. I had an optimal debulking surgery and (best of all) a reversal of the ileostomy. My CA 125 went to 6 after surgery and has stayed there. I was told I have EVERY chance for a long remission, and we ALL have a chance at the cancer never returning. If your mother does chemo, she almost certainly will go into remission. The norm is 6 rounds of Carboplatin and Taxol, but sometimes other drugs are used or added in. You will get plenty of information here about ways for your mother to create a "terrain" in her body that will optimize her chances of long term survival. You are probably both of you in shock, but in time this new focus in your lives will become normal, weird as that may sound now. Make SURE you find an oncologist your mother LIKES! Read here about ways to keep as strong and well as possible during chemo. Your journey is just beginning, but you have pals to reach out to on the way.

AnneBehymer said:

I agree with Robin
They should not have really given her a time frame I can understand if she only had a few months to live and they tried everything but to tell her that right after finding the cancer. I am stage four when they opened me up tissue in me had already started dieing I was really messed up inside and my doctor did tell me I only had so long to live. He feels we should focus on the good. After three treatments I was in remission before my surgery my ca 125 was 2000 after three treatments it was down to 14 and now with one round of the three drugs my number is at 5.I will have a year and a half of Avastin chemo and then we will see if I need to stay on it any longer. Keep the faith your mom will hopefully do well find a good ONC and jump on it right now so she can start to live again.

Anne

You and Your Mom Have Every Reason to Be Hopeful
Christie,

My friend was diagnosed with stage 3C ovarian cancer in 2003 and she is still very much alive and enjoying life. Although she has had chemo off and on since her diagnosis, it has not stopped her from traveling throughout the U.S. and in Europe and enjoying time with her children and grandson and her many friends. She only recently retired from working full-time at the age of 64. Prior to my surgery (for ovarian cancer), my gyn-onc surgeon pre-staged me at 3C too because of the size of my tumor. My surgeon told me that at stage 3C it was possible for me to end up on my journey being cured, because of the advances today in medicine. (After surgery, I was staged at 2b.) Your mom could go into remission, just like other ladies who have shared their stories here. I will be thinking and praying for your mom, you and your family.

Kelly

Your mom's doctor is a jerk,
Your mom's doctor is a jerk, but he did not cause the cancer to leap from Stage I to III by putting her surgery off for two weeks. Actually, two weeks is pretty normal. I was diagnosed (not staged....almost all doctors wait for the surgery and the path report to do that) Sept 19, 2009 and my surgery was the 29th.

My PCP, who is an Internist and actually the one who gave me the bad news (as in, "You don't have gall stones; you have Ovarian Cancer.") said the primary tumor had probably been growing for a year or more. It's relatively slow spreading, he said.

My official remission has lasted 19 1/2 months, give or take. Remission (often referred to here as NED) is not a definitive thing, however. I was probably in remission after my 4th round of chemo, and I may have early signs of a recurrence, even as we speak.

What your mom's doctor told her - the 5 year "rule" - is a statistical "norm." Half of us will live less than 5 years with it, and half will live longer. I have known several women in my real life support group who lived a great deal longer. One died after 12 or 13 years, of the cumulative effects of many, many, MANY rounds of chemo. She responded well to everything they threw at her, but her remissions were never long-lived. And then there is the one who has been NED for over 12 years and never had a single recurrence.

I don't know who gets the longevity award on this board, but you have to remember that after 5 years, a lot of women, and especially those who never have to go back into treatment, feel like it's healthier for them to move on. Cancer constantly ON the brain (not the same as Cancer IN the brain) is very, very stressful.

I know exactly how your mom feels. I felt the same way. After about 6 months I decided that we're all going to die, and if I were going to bet on my own demise, I would put my money on OC as the ultimate cause, but I'm not going to die from it today, or this week. Probably not even this year. So it's better to live until you die, in my opinion.

Carlene

PS...Welcome

your Mom
I was diagnosed last June with stage 3C. Fortunately, I have a wonderful gynecological oncologist and a wonderful medical oncologist and they both said women can live long and productive lives even with stage 3 and stage 4 cancers. I have just had a recurrence and even with that, the doctors are very optomistic. Don't pay attention to all the statistics, like the doctor saying your Mom will only live 5 years. Most stats you see are based on old data. Find the best medical oncologist you can. Your Mom will likely have chemo; taxol/carboplatin are the drugs used the most for the first treatments. A good oncologist will prepare you and your Mom for how the treatments will be done and how to handle the side effects. You will also get a wealth of information on this board. Best wishes and prayers to you both. Tell her not to give up, there is hope.

Chris