Recurrence Rollercoaster

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cfont11
cfont11 Member Posts: 115
in Ovarian Cancer #1
First of all, I would like to say Happy Holidays to all the Teal Warriors out there. I hope you have a wonderful day with family and friends.

I have been away from the board for awhile as I have been working part time and am exhausted when I get home. The support group I was going to disbanded and now this is the only forum I have to talk to people who understand. Receiving a diagnosis of cancer is devastating as we all know. Once we are in remission, we worry that the cancer will come back. For me, the recurrence news was even worse than the initial diagnosis.

I was declared cancer free in June but it came back very agressively in August. At the end of Aug. the new tumor growth caused a bowel obstruction and I was hospitalized for a week. After that I started on Gemzar, 3 weeks on and one week off. In Oct. a CT scan showed that everything was about the same, the cancer was not growing so that was great news.

Then my CA 125 started going up again and now it is 410. However, I had another bowel obstruction in Nov. and the dr. thinks that is throwing off the results. I am scheduled for a CT scan on Dec. 21 and I am so stressed out I don't know what to do. How does everyone handle the stress of waiting for test results? Has anyone had any experience with Gemzar for recurrent ovarian cancer? The one good thing is that I have no side effects from the drug, no nausea, no hair loss and it does not make my neuropathy worse. I thank God for that every day.

I am sorry to be such a "downer" at this time of year but I guess I just needed to vent.

Thanks for listening............

Chris

Comments

  • poopergirl14052
    poopergirl14052 Member Posts: 1,183 Member
    #2
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    rollercaoster
    feelings and it is very normal to be afraid. You are not a downer at all,,just scared like we all are. I pray for good results,,keep the faith..val
  • Susan53
    Susan53 Member Posts: 178
    #3
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    Chris
    Chris you are not a downer at all. We all have those same fears and worries that you are having. We all need to vent from time to time. I will be praying for you to get good results. Prayers just went up. Please know that we are here for you Chris. Who know next time it may be me venting. Hugs Sharon
  • jbeans888
    jbeans888 Member Posts: 313
    #4
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    Susan53 said:

    Chris
    Chris you are not a downer at all. We all have those same fears and worries that you are having. We all need to vent from time to time. I will be praying for you to get good results. Prayers just went up. Please know that we are here for you Chris. Who know next time it may be me venting. Hugs Sharon

    I agree. You are NOT a
    I agree. You are NOT a downer. We all need to vent. This disease is scary and frustrating. When I had my bowel obstruction my ca125 was elevated also. The doctor said its from the inflammation. I will keep you in my thoughts. Have a great holiday.
  • Mwee
    Mwee Member Posts: 1,338
    #5
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    You're NOT a downer
    Our fight with this beast doesn't take time outs for times of the year. I've been doing gemzar for about 15 months. First it was comboed with carboplatin ( I became allergic to that), now it's comboed with cisplatin. It held me stable for about a year and now my numbers are dropping. Best of luck with you're latest test results. I had a scan a couple of weeks ago and I too was a wreck waiting to hear the results. Come here if you need help and don't ever worry about being a "downer".
    (((HUGS))) Maria
  • Cafewoman53
    Cafewoman53 Member Posts: 735 Member
    #6
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    Cancer does not take a holiday
    We have to deal with this no matter what the date is on the calendar. My Dr has started me on gemzar/carboplatin/and avastin. I have never had a clear scan yet but I do have terrible anxiety waiting for test results lorazipam works great to calm me down when my nerves get the better of me maybe you could have your dr prescibe you some.Good luck
    Colleen
  • carolenk
    carolenk Member Posts: 907 Member
    #7
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    Cafewoman53 said:

    Cancer does not take a holiday
    We have to deal with this no matter what the date is on the calendar. My Dr has started me on gemzar/carboplatin/and avastin. I have never had a clear scan yet but I do have terrible anxiety waiting for test results lorazipam works great to calm me down when my nerves get the better of me maybe you could have your dr prescibe you some.Good luck
    Colleen

    I'm in the club with you,
    I'm in the club with you, Colleen. Never was declared to be remission or NED. So I decided that I'm gonna just have to learn to live with cancer. I wish the doctor would have told me that living with cancer was a possible outcome.

    I find Gemzar more "friendly" than taxol. I wish it would have been offered to me earlier this year when I was given carbo alone (taxol was too rough on me).

    Does anyone else get tumor die off pain or hiccups after chemo? I suppose it makes a difference where the cancer is located. A lot of my implants are on the diaphragm (hence the hiccups).
  • cfont11
    cfont11 Member Posts: 115
    #8
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    carolenk said:

    I'm in the club with you,
    I'm in the club with you, Colleen. Never was declared to be remission or NED. So I decided that I'm gonna just have to learn to live with cancer. I wish the doctor would have told me that living with cancer was a possible outcome.

    I find Gemzar more "friendly" than taxol. I wish it would have been offered to me earlier this year when I was given carbo alone (taxol was too rough on me).

    Does anyone else get tumor die off pain or hiccups after chemo? I suppose it makes a difference where the cancer is located. A lot of my implants are on the diaphragm (hence the hiccups).

    In the club
    Thanks for all the replies. You all have made me feel better. I cannot tell you how much the support means to me. CarolenK - I get pain for a couple of days after chemo. The PA at my doctors office said that is normal, that after chemo you can get tumor flare ups when the drug starts working. I had carboplatin along with taxol. The dr. I could not have more than 8 treatments of carbo as after that people become allergic to it. I am going to ask about Avastin as it seems like several people on this board are on it. I am not clear on when it is prescribed so I will see. I do take lorazepam and it helps somewhat but even when I take tylenol PM or vicodin I cannot sleep. Thanks for the prayers and prayers to all of you too.

    Chris
  • lovesanimals
    lovesanimals Member Posts: 1,366 Member
    #9
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    cfont11 said:

    In the club
    Thanks for all the replies. You all have made me feel better. I cannot tell you how much the support means to me. CarolenK - I get pain for a couple of days after chemo. The PA at my doctors office said that is normal, that after chemo you can get tumor flare ups when the drug starts working. I had carboplatin along with taxol. The dr. I could not have more than 8 treatments of carbo as after that people become allergic to it. I am going to ask about Avastin as it seems like several people on this board are on it. I am not clear on when it is prescribed so I will see. I do take lorazepam and it helps somewhat but even when I take tylenol PM or vicodin I cannot sleep. Thanks for the prayers and prayers to all of you too.

    Chris

    Venting is welcomed here.
    And we all understand the fear and the stress that you're going through. I'm praying that the results of your CT scan are good.

    Big hugs,

    Kelly

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