Primary Peritoneal Cancer

Hello All, I am 54 yrs old and have been fighting PPC since June 2005. I have had 3, 10 month remissions. This is a very sneaky disease. It is always very advanced before it is detected. The symptoms are so subtle. I was very lucky I was diagnosed and had debulking surgery within a week. 3 weeks later after incision had healed I started chemo. 8 rounds of Taxol/carboplatin. My surgeon described the cancer in my abdomen as someone taking a bucket of chicken fat and throwing it around in there. It is common to have an alergic reaction to the platin drugs at some point during treatments. I fight this every time I take them. sometimes its the first 1 and some times its the last one. I have only had remissions from taxol/carbo and gemzar/cisplatin. It is my understanding that at some point the cancer becomes immune to the platins. After you have surgery the pathologist does tests on the cancer cells that gives them a list of drugs that work from the best to the least effective. So it may be different for each person. I was blessed that my cancer was contained to the abdominal cavity. I had a total hysterectomy, appendectomy, 8 lympn nodes 6 being positive, then all visable cancer. It has shown up no where else on any follow up scans. The only way we know it is active again is the ca 125 goes up. so we treat it when it reaches 100. If you let it get higher it just gets that much more difficult to treat. The fatigue is a constant battle.Just getting dressed requires a nap. It does resolve after treatment is done, Also the chemo brain(short term memory problems. I had a second opinion at Cancer treatment center of America, learned nothing new. I am already getting the best that there is, they could do nothing else. It is unfortunate that this disease is a chronic one. I have tried Taxotere, and Doxil neither one worked. Just alot of miserable side effects and reactions.
This is my 4 round and we are trying Alimpta and cisplatin. The 2nd treatment I had a reaction to the cisplation when it first started running in. So today I go in for lab and see the Dr. to decide our plan of attack. I saw someone here gets or is going to get low dose chemo once a month once they achieve remission, I am going to bring that up today. Also I am going to try the claritan with my neulasta shot, that was also mentioned here. Thank you. That shot works very well for the white count but the side effects are very difficult. Short lived but miserable. Chemo also causes neuropathy. But it is different from the kind that diabetics get. Ours is not numbness. Its a decrease in sensation on the surface of the hands and feet. Because I have acute pain sensation, but decreased sensation on the surface. Kind of like a stroke patient has. I have tried the Neurontin and Lyrica but neither worked because the side effects were awful, not worth it. They made me halucinate, and have memory loss. Didn't recognize people I had known for years. I have learned to limit my activity so I don't have the nasty cramps and pain at night.
Being an RN and in the nursing field for 30 years didn't make it any easier to handle the Cancer diagnosis and treatment. The brain just goes numb when you hear the word Cancer. I hope this info helps some of you. Just remember every person responds differently to medication. Remember to enjoy each day given to you, don't let the cancer take away your life while you are living.Remember to live while you are alive its the little things we forget to enjoy in our struggle to survive.

Have a Good Day Everyone!!!!
Janice From Nebraska