a little something new

something new
It is always hard to hear news contrary to what you expect. Of course, when speaking of cancer and being the victim of cancer, nothing seems to be "good news". But remember now that you are diagnosed, it is a new norm for you. My husband has been saying this to me all week. So now cancer is part of your life and being diagnosed in stage one is good news especially if you compare it to stage 3 or 4. It doesn't cloud the devastation of cancer and that now it will be apart of you and something that has to be monitored for the rest of your life. But, knowing what you know about ovarian cancer now, stage one is good news. Yes the C means a well differentiated cancer that knows what it is doing, but you are young and strong and will beat that cancer every day. Hang in there!

ktamp said:

I'm a stage 1c clear cell
I'm a stage 1c clear cell too. Copy cat! I go nuts crazy at times when I hear how 'lucky' I am to be a stage 1. I do recognize I am in the luckiest of the unlucky when it comes to ovarian cancer but it still sucks and I did the whole 6 rounds of chemo the same as a stage 3 or 4. Sometimes I want to wallow in my self pity and scream about the unfairness of life.

Anyway ask your oncologist what makes you a c. I became a stage c because the cyst with the cancer broke open during surgery. They do believe the cancer was contained to just the one ovary but because it broke open, cells might have been shed into my abdomen.

I too learned something new
after I read the pathology report from my surgery. Prior to surgery, my gyn/onc surgeon estimated me at stage 3c, I think, because the tumor was baseball-sized. Hearing "3c" actually didn't faze me at the time because I was sitting at the appointment with my friend who is a 9-year stage 3c survivor and she's doing darn good. The pathology report put me offically at stage 2b which I admit made me feel much better and very, very lucky. Although I know that many women on this board have suffered so much more than me, I still worry like everyone else, whether stage 1 or stage 4, about reoccurance. I've lived with this since September 2010 and I try very hard to not focus on it and instead concentrate on enjoying each day. I'm so happy and grateful to be alive.

Sending you good thoughts and prayers,
Kelly

ktamp said:

I'm a stage 1c clear cell
I'm a stage 1c clear cell too. Copy cat! I go nuts crazy at times when I hear how 'lucky' I am to be a stage 1. I do recognize I am in the luckiest of the unlucky when it comes to ovarian cancer but it still sucks and I did the whole 6 rounds of chemo the same as a stage 3 or 4. Sometimes I want to wallow in my self pity and scream about the unfairness of life.

Anyway ask your oncologist what makes you a c. I became a stage c because the cyst with the cancer broke open during surgery. They do believe the cancer was contained to just the one ovary but because it broke open, cells might have been shed into my abdomen.

We should start...
a 1C clear cell group! If you all lived closer, I'd invite you to my going away party for my hair. Starting chemo on Friday! There will also be a welcome home party sometime around September. :-)))

Radioactive34 said:

White board
My oncologist had a white board where he drew his staging and stats. He listed why I was considered at Stage 1A. He listed what would make that stage change. Even though I had researched prior I was happy for the pictorial because my head was filled with static noise. He had to talk over my fear to get me to understand. The white board really helped. I left with a much better understanding of why we needed the treatment.

I did like that he delivered the staging with no, "This is your silver lining," attitude. He said cancer is serious and needs to be treated as such. Despite the seriousness he did mangage to interject some optimism into the session. He is a cancer survivor himself. It helped teach him how to talk to his patients. His bedside manner changed after his cancer bout.

experience
Wow, I think you are lucky to have an oncologist with the cancer experience. It has to make him more compassionate and he understands where you are in your own cancer path. Having this diagnosis is difficult. So when we get good news we rejoice, and when the news is not what we expect or want and is bad news we can only digest so much. Having an oncologist really understand this is a benefit of care.