Living with Ovarian Cancer

In late summer 2006 I started having intestinal bloating, constipation, and abdominal discomfort. After several weeks of this, I went to a gastroenterologist who diagnosed me as having Irritible Bowel Syndrome (IBS) after having some bloodwork and a flat plate X-ray. They did not see anything abnormal, so I was given some fiber samples.

Things got better for a short time, but by late September, I was extremely bloated and uncomfortable and went back to the doctor. Still they did not find anything.

In early October I began to have shortness of breath from the extreme bloating and I went to the ER where they did an ultrasound and then a CT Scan. The ultrasound showed ascities and they drained over 2 liters of fluid from my abdomen. When I returned to the cubicle after the procedure, the ER doctor gave me the bad news-Stage 4 Ovarian Cancer There was what appeared to be a tumor on my liver that later turned out to be a cyst.

I was sent to a gynecologist oncologist in a nearby city for a consult. This doctor recommended radical debulking surgery followed by IP and IV chemotherapy I went to another doctor for a second opinion and selected the first doctor with the more aggressive treatment.

The surgery showed the liver issue to be just a cyst, but I was diagnosed with Stage 3C epithelial peritoneal cancer. One ovary was in such bad shape, but there was nothing on it at the time of the surgery, so the actual diagnosis was peritoneal cancer, though my surgeon feels it originated in the ovaries. The symptoms and treatment are the same as for ovarian cancer

I had to have two blood transfusions, one during and one after my surgery. The trauma of the surgery caused me to have acute renal failure, but this was fortunately temporary and my kidney values were normal by the time of my discharge from the hospital.

After surgery, I had two port-a-catheters inserted –one in my abdomen and one in my shoulder. I received six rounds of chemo therapy, each containing 3 treatments- 2 abdominal (IP) and 1 IV for each set. The abdominal was the worst, especially as time went on. The bloating took longer and longer to abate from the liters of chemo and hydration. Nausea was controllable with medication and ginger tea and ginger ale, but the diarrhrea and fatigue were difficult to bear. I was fortunate in that my white blood cell count remained good, and though I was anemic, I did not need any additional blood transfusions.

My CA125 number was 992 after surgery and before the start of chemo I do not know what it was before. With 35 being normal, this was not a good sign.

I am happy to report that my CA125 was in normal range by the 3rd treatment and is now 8.7. I have been in remission since March 2007 and am currently undergoing maintenance IV chemo once a month, as this is recommended by my oncologist due to the late stage of my cancer.

I have regained most of my energy and am back at work fulltime. I am so grateful to be healthy and cancer free! I am optimistic that I will not have a recurrence as many late stage ovarian cancer survivors do. Hopefully the IP chemo treatments have cured me or will at least delay any recurrence. I recognize that it could recur, but I don’t plan to worry about it until and unless it happens.

I highly recommend going to a gynecologist oncologist as they specialize in gynecological cancers, and my doctor was exceptional! I give him a lot of credit for my current remission status.

While a difficult experience, I was fortunate to have wonderful friends and family for support. Much of cancer has to be dealt with alone, but support is so critical. It has also given me a new outlook on life. I don’t worry about the little things, and I appreciate every day that I have.