Diagnosed with Uterine Clear Cell (UCC) with Serous (USPC)

Did the doctors say anything about the pelvic wash? Was the second opinion at the same hospital? If it was maybe you want to send test results to another center, too. As far as chemo goes I can tell you, while it was no picnic for me it was not as bad as expected for me. I was still able to enjoy life through it. Hmm interesting about the letters. I am considered 111C and my center still uses those. You can look on the American cancer society site for info about the different cancer stages and you will find info about why yours is stage 2. Also you'll find a thread on our site called ladies going through chemo. You'll find it effects everyone a little differently. Another thing about me- I have only one kidney, so I always remind my doctors of that and so far none of my treatments have damaged it as far as blood tests are done and my faction is still normal. Best of luck to you and keep us posted on your decisioN. this is the club that none of us wanted to join but all the members here are wonderful and so supportive.

Hi ryee21, here is what I found online: Stage IIB cancer involves the uterus and extends into deep layers of the cervix.

Everyone has to make their own decisions about what type of treatment is right for them. I ended up having three opinions and having a piece of the tumor tested against a panel of chemo meds before deciding what was right for me. I have been NED (no evidence of disease) since the end of treatment in May 2016. 

We all understand your anger and frustration that this cancer treatment process is not more clear-cut. Unfortunately there is a lot of educated guessing that goes on. Don't hesitate to get a second (or third) opinion from an expert in UPSC to help you decide. Wishing you peace and strength, Kim

ryee21 said:

no. they geared me towards chemo

No pelvic washed I guess that being radiation? What is it?  I went in for radiation consultation at another hospital..not sure we can talk about hospitals. She offered radiation and it sound better than the chemo but she said it would it can recur again in two years. She Recommended chemo. I asked if I could do the radiation first  before chemo and she said no, i would have to repeat radiation...made no sense then. All doctors are pushing the chemo. I just had no info to know exactly what I have until now.  Last night after I wrote this, I figured no matter what, I have to do chemo.  Thanks for the encouragment. Truly RY

Interesting about radiation. I actually had it before chemo. Who knows every situation is different. I also have clear cell. Prayers that everything goes well for you.

The difference between chemo and radiation is that chemo treats cancer systemically (everywhere) and radiation treats cancer locally (i.e. just what it is aimed at). You have a very aggressive subtype of uterine cancer that most oncologists want to treat aggressively before it has a chance to metastasize because it becomes even harder to treat once that happens. Chemo has the best chance of finding microscopic cells and radiation focuses on areas that have the highest likelihood for being where recurrence occurs. 

A pelvic was is when they inject a solution into the pelvic/abdominal cavity as part of a hysterectomy and then extract it to look for cancer cells under a microscope along with all of the other tissue that is removed during surgery. It tells the oncologist whether or not the cancer has migrated from the uterus to the abdomen and is likely to metastasize elsewhere.

You don't really say what other health issues you already have that are making you so afraid of what chemo's impact would have on you, especially your liver.  We all react differently to chemo and/or radiation and things like age and underlying conditions are definitely things to give weight to. You can scare yourself witless with what you read here and elsewhere on the Internet, but that doesn't mean those things are definitely going to happen to you. You'll find a lot of tips here and from the chemo nurses that really help to get you through it as gently as possible. Remember, Eldri & I are both diabetic and that possibly put us at higher risk for developing neuropathy.

If you haven't done so already, get hold of all of your medical records that you can. Get copies of lab work and other tests done, surgeries you've had, and especially the path reports when they staged your cancer. Go back and get records from your GP on tests and diagnosis you've had with him or other specialists prior to you cancer. They will help you to understand better what's going on with you than just what you're being told during office visits when that kind of information can be hard to absorb, understand, and retain. Those records will come in handy, too, when you perhaps go to other doctors in the future. 

There are other ladies here who can give better advice than me on seeking complimentary/alternative care. A lot probably depends on where you live for what would be available to you. The most consistent advice I've seen is to find an ND who is board certified or specializes in oncology.

I'm sorry you didn't find this site sooner. It sounds like you have really been suffering through this so far and I hope that you find the help and support here to be able to move forward and make the decisions you are faced with with some confidence. You are not alone here. 

You said you don't want to burden your daughter, but keeping her in the dark is likely not helping her. You're stressed and she'll be stressed too without understanding why. 17 year olds can be very sensitive to underlying currents in the home and can imagine much worse than the reality. She's going to want to be treated like the adult she almost is and to have the chance to be there for you as you've always been for her. This is just my opinion, but I can't help but feel that including rather than shielding her will help to keep trust between you so that you can support each other.

RY, I too have a diagnosis of Stage II, Grade 3 UPSC (it's always Grade 3 for UPSC).  I had a complete hysterectomy done on September 30, 2015.  My gyno/oncologist suggested six rounds of Carboplatin/Taxotere but no radiation.  He also felt that he had gotten the cancer with the surgery but said there could be cancer cells floating around and he wanted to kill those before they attached to an organ and started to grow.  He said he didn't recommend radiation since he wanted to save that IF the cancer metasized.  

Long story short, I made it through three of the six chemos before I got REALLY sick.  My liver started to fail.  I had every side effect those chemo drugs can give a person except mouth sores and death.  My finger and toenails even fell off!!  My GP told me the oncologist's job is to kill the cancer; her job is to treat the whole me and she advised that the oncologist was killing ME.  She even thinks I had a small stroke (small amount of blood bleeding into the brain when they gave me chemo and my blood pressure was 220/170).

I still deal with some of the side effect - neuropathy being the worse.  I don't have to walk with a cane anymore after I went through eight weeks - two times a week - of physical therapy to get my balance back and strengthen the left side of my body.  The neuropathy causes pain in my feet along with numbness and numbness in my fingers although that seems to be getting better, little by little.  I see my GP next week for a full blood workup to see if my white and red blood cells are back to normal.

My oncologist also gave me the same odds - 50% if I did nothing but 80% to 90% if I did the six chemos.  I'm hoping my 50% jumped to 70% just doing the first three chemos.  My three month checkups have all been clean.  I haven't had a CT scan since a year ago which showed no other cancer activity.  My oncologist doesn't believe in doing additional scans unless there are symptoms.

You are not alone!!!  We are here for you and, collectively, we have been through just about anything this d*mn disease can throw at you.

Love,

Eldri

Ry, Im so glad you made it to the group with all your concerns and feelings.  It took a while to have my doctors to tell me what my diagnosis was.  One doctor told me totally different things than other doctors.  I was so mad for quite a while.  He told me i didnt need chemo at all and got all excited and had even told my work i wouldnt need it.  It seemed so unfair when another doctor told me that i did need chemo.  It wasnt until i had a tumor board of 7 doctors and a visit with another doctor and a clear picture of what my pathology report said along with the wonderful ladies on this board that i was able to make the desision to do chemotherapy.  Even after my desision to do chemo i didnt really want to do it, but knew it was the best desision for me.  I just finished all my treatments last thursday and as challenging as it was, i made it through them.   You can to if that is what you decide.  This is a great group to have for support.

Hugs Janae