debulking surgery

I am so soorry your going through this
I really am sorry your going through this. I was not given an option, my doctor decided on what treatment he thought was best for me. I will pray uou make the right choice and all will go well for you

kayandok said:

Hi Jackie,
I'm sorry your recovery has been so tough, but thanks for checking in. Wow, tough call on the chemo choices. Choosing your chemo should be based on so many factors including your physical condition, and it would seem your doctor would know that best. I had 8 cycles of carbo/taxol, and my doctor chose that for me. I don't think I would have had enough knowledge and courage to choose myself.

Given the option to do it over, I think I would probably would do the same regime with avastin added into the mix. I guess that is not an option? My concern about the IP causing damage and preventing further use of chemo if it became necessary. No matter how you cut it, it is a leap of faith.

Take care,
kathleen

Another option to think about
Jackie: You weren't given the option that I would choose for you which is to take carbo every 3 weeks and low-dose taxol weekly. There was some research complaring low-dose weekly taxol to IP chemo that came to the conclusion that the survival outcome with low-dose taxol was NOT worse than IP chemo AND the quality of life was superior (less misery, pain, etc.). The researchers felt that the low-dose taxol had an anti-angiogenesis benefit (stopped the blood supply to the cancer).

From what I read about the IP chemo, I would ONLY do it if it was heated chemo (called HIPEC)--and there are only a few places around the US where you can have that done.

I think Avastin is an excellent idea, too, like Kathleen said. Avastin works on starving the cancer's blood supply through a different pathway than taxol.

Other cancers are treated with combination therapy and ovarian cancer is only beginning to be treated with two or more drugs. The medical consensus of opinion in general is that cancer is very skilled at mutating to survive--the more different pathways that chemo can hit, the less likely it is to be able to organize itself to become chemo resistant. And chemo resistance is a big concern.

When you look at some of the clinical trials for ovarian cancer, they are looking into using at least 3 drugs in combination now--unfortunately, women are dying waiting for the research results.

I did really well on the low-dose taxol weekly routine initially but couldn't continue it--I think I had trouble detoxing the drug but chances are you would do really well, too.

Good luck making your decision,

LQ

choices
I think your choice would depend on how physically fit you are now that you've recovered (sort of) from surgery. If I had it to do over again, I'd ask about dense dose chemo. It seems to be pretty effective and also well tolerated. I initially wanted IP chemo, but like Carlene, my onc would not approve it. He felt that too many women had too many problems with it.

jadav1956 said:

Thanks so much for all the
Thanks so much for all the input. I have a lot to think about, and a list of questions for my onc when I go back. I am in this fight for the long haul, and I want to be proactive in making some decisions for myself. I am leaning towards the second option as of right now. I would like to continue to work if I can for as long as I can to keep my health insurance. I have a very understanding supervisor, and I am sure she would work with me on this. I could go out on long term disability but I really don't want to do that just yet. Does anyone know if you need a pet scan or some way to check the lymph nodes? That is one of my questions to ask my onc. I just wondered if that would change the treatment plan or not. Also I heard its more like the 3rd day or so after chemo that makes you feel so bad. I also wondered about vitamin supplements to help you through all the treatments like what is the most effective or helped the most? Thanks for all the replies. I will post again after ct and f/up with onc. I will be reading and learning as much as possible. Thanks, Jackie

Ditto what Hizzy said.
Ditto what Hizzy said. There were even certain multivitamins that were off limits or I had to take 1/2 a tab per day. If there is a dietian associated with your chemo center they are very helpful about diet and vitamins. Did they take lymph nodes during your surgery to check them? I had about 30 removed and luckily they were all clean. I think CT scans does pick up some stuff on lymph nodes if they become enlarged.