Question about speed of Recurrance..

Lisa13Q
Lisa13Q Member Posts: 677
edited March 2014 in Ovarian Cancer #1
My mother's cancer seems to have reappeared at a very swift rate..from week to week, there are a few more spots....has anyone else had this? When I have read these posts, it seems that most recurrances have been one spot here and there....so of course, I am seeing the worst....Also, has anyone had good luck with the Doxil, can it kill the spots, or just stop the growth? Finally, any good words of encouragement I can give my mother, who just hates being back on the chemo....I don't know what to say to her ....."keep up hope" seems just plain stupid. What words have you all heard that have helped......if anything....

Hope you are all well...Fondly, Lisa

Comments

  • msfanciful
    msfanciful Member Posts: 559
    #2
    Hi Lisa,
    I was reading your
    Hi Lisa,

    I was reading your post and have a couple of questions regarding your mothers' condition.

    I'm not familiar with your mother stage of cancer, when was she diagnosed? Have you and your mother discussed these developments with her doctor? (ob/onco).

    As for the doxil it seems for most experience with it seems to be very slow acting against cancer but is not always the case. It's all very different for everyone.

    The one thing I can say about doxil is that after my initial treatment with carbo/taxol (which for me was horrendous), doxil was a walk in the park for me. :-) My hair didn't fall out, I didn't experience nausea. I only suffered with the hand and foot sydrome.

    I take it that you mother has already had carbo and taxol?

    Please keep in touch and let us know what her doctor says about her possible recurrence.


    Sharon
  • Lisa13Q
    Lisa13Q Member Posts: 677
    #3
    msfanciful said:

    Hi Lisa,
    I was reading your
    Hi Lisa,

    I was reading your post and have a couple of questions regarding your mothers' condition.

    I'm not familiar with your mother stage of cancer, when was she diagnosed? Have you and your mother discussed these developments with her doctor? (ob/onco).

    As for the doxil it seems for most experience with it seems to be very slow acting against cancer but is not always the case. It's all very different for everyone.

    The one thing I can say about doxil is that after my initial treatment with carbo/taxol (which for me was horrendous), doxil was a walk in the park for me. :-) My hair didn't fall out, I didn't experience nausea. I only suffered with the hand and foot sydrome.

    I take it that you mother has already had carbo and taxol?

    Please keep in touch and let us know what her doctor says about her possible recurrence.


    Sharon

    HI Sharon
    My mother was diagnosed with stage III-c exactly one year ago. She had 3 treatments of carbo/taxol before her debulking and then 2 of cisplatin/taxol and one more carbo/taxol as the cisplatin had done so much damage to her kidneys she can never take it again. At that point, her CA-125 normalized and they thought she might be cancer free excpet for 2 tiny spots on her intestines. The radiologist thought they could be scar tissue. She received 3 months off and she was doing great until they did her CT scan...the 2 little spots were bigger and she had one near/on her lived...then they did a PET and more spots showed up....Mom decided to wait until she had symptoms to try the next chemo. 6 weeks later, there were even more spots, and she is now on Doxil....I am worried about the fact that in 6 weeks, there can be so much cancer growth..Most people have one or two spots right? yes we talked to the gyn/onc who just said this is what Ovarian cancer does, and it's growing back in the same place it was pre-treatment. That was a very clinical answer..personally I think I get more "real" information from the ladies on the board sometimes....I think I am basically wondering if anyone else's recurrance grew so fast?
  • BonnieR
    BonnieR Member Posts: 1,526 Member
    #4
    Hugs n Hope
    Hi Lisa,

    One day at time is all we can do, and Hope really never leaves the body, although I think the words sometimes don't always fit what we need to hear. I always say you just never know this one could help, it's worth a try, better than doing nothing... sounds silly I know but what else can a person a say.

    Doxil for me knocked the cancer back and gave me a 3 month chemo break, not too many of the chemos did that, so see You just never know. Pray you can see the best and that is that your mom is still here with you, that God is carrying you, your mom and family.

    Prayers ♥ Hugs Bonnie
  • nancy591
    nancy591 Member Posts: 1,027 Member
    #5
    don't know
    I don't know which is better. I can tell you my own personal experience. My recurrence was noted in November by PET/CT and biopsied in Dec. '09 to confirm. I had one 13mm area on my colon. I waited unitl Jan '10 to restart chemo. After 3 infusions of Doxil we scanned again. I now had 3 small spots on my colon. It was decided to give two more infusions of Doxil as there was a delay in starting treatment and Doxil can take longer to work. We scanned again. The spots on my colon looked improved on the CT portion of the scan but I now had an enlarged lymph node. My ca125 at the time of the latest scan had jumped from 19 to 32.

    I know this doesn't help much. I can understand your reason for questioning. I don't even want to think about which type of recurrence is better. That is probably why I delayed a response. I have asked my oncolgist (in sleepy hollow) if she thought the chemo slowed down the progression. She really wasnt' sure.

    BTW...I sent you a private message. Check your csn email.
  • Susan523
    Susan523 Member Posts: 231 Member
    #6
    Lisa13Q said:

    HI Sharon
    My mother was diagnosed with stage III-c exactly one year ago. She had 3 treatments of carbo/taxol before her debulking and then 2 of cisplatin/taxol and one more carbo/taxol as the cisplatin had done so much damage to her kidneys she can never take it again. At that point, her CA-125 normalized and they thought she might be cancer free excpet for 2 tiny spots on her intestines. The radiologist thought they could be scar tissue. She received 3 months off and she was doing great until they did her CT scan...the 2 little spots were bigger and she had one near/on her lived...then they did a PET and more spots showed up....Mom decided to wait until she had symptoms to try the next chemo. 6 weeks later, there were even more spots, and she is now on Doxil....I am worried about the fact that in 6 weeks, there can be so much cancer growth..Most people have one or two spots right? yes we talked to the gyn/onc who just said this is what Ovarian cancer does, and it's growing back in the same place it was pre-treatment. That was a very clinical answer..personally I think I get more "real" information from the ladies on the board sometimes....I think I am basically wondering if anyone else's recurrance grew so fast?

    Hi, Lisa,
    I am so sorry about your mom's rough time right now...

    I've had this happening to me. My Dr. described mine as "like flakes of salt & pepper; very small and scattered everywhere". (I had way more than 1 or 2 spots. I'm also stage 3c).

    I had finished my 3rd session of chemo last July,'09, and my CA was 1 point above normal.
    (I was coming off of Gemzar). In August, a month later, I was in the hospital with a recurrence; lots of fluid. The fluid was drained, (4 litres), and 2 weeks later, I was back and they got just under 4 more litres of fluid, and started me on Carbo/Taxol immediately. That began my 4th session of chemo. (I have had my initial diagnosis + 3 recurrences in 4 years). I finished that chemo in February, and now I have entered my 2nd "3 months off check-up".

    I am now a 4-year Survivor~

    So yes, in answer to your question, some of us have had quick recurrences.

    It sounds like her Dr. is staying right on top of it and doing lots of scans, so that's really good.

    Hang in there, Lisa, and I'm praying~ xoxo

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