God bless you Carol for your very inspiring words! It is a genuine comfort to have so many people "understand" what I'm going through. God is Good and I give more and more of myself to him everyday. The waiting to start treatment is so hard and it leaves so much time to just dwell in my thoughts :( I need to get better at asking for what I need but I've been an introvert my whole life and this is so hard for me to do. Thank you!!
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Carol-Charlie wrote on PatRusk's wall
Welcome to our What next Family. I'm sorry you had to look, but so glad you found us. I just want to let you know my story... I was 62 when diagnosed with Stage IV Epithelial Ovarian Cancer. I was directed to the perfect Oncologist for this DX...A Gynecologic Oncologist Surgeon. (you might want to seek) He did the surgery almost a month after DX. prior to that he ran all sorts of tests, a colonoscopy, MRI's, Ct Scans EKG, etc., .. He then did the surgery, He removed a 39 pound tumor, my ovaries (left one was still healthy) I'd had a hysterectomy at age 45... Anyway back to surgery. He scraped all the cancer he could see from my intestines, my urethra, and fat cells even removing a 'fat pad'... When I woke he'd already inserted (with my husband's permission) an internal port for providing Chemo directly into peritoneal area. He told me that after he'd removed what he could see of the cancer, I told him I was glad, because I had so much to live for.. our children, and grandchildren. I wanted to fight. He helped me fight. I did everything he asked of me. Only missed one infusion, due to blood count was very low... They started me on injections of Neulasta shots came the day after third infusion. Now they use a patch so you don't have to go back to doctor. Anyway... Long Story/Short.... I did six 28 day cycles of three infusions. Day 1 I/V infusion; Days 2 and 8 were I/P infusions. After I completed these, a PET CT Scan revealed there was No Evidence of Disease.. I was cancer free... Then this wonderful doctor told me of a study that he'd looked into that had shown that if I did one infusion a month of this Strong Chemo for a year...{ We did 13 cause someone miscounted.}.... that the rate of recurrence dropped drastically... We did that... Next month we will celebrate my 75th birthday... I've been cancer free for 12 years... We're up to 20 grandchildren and are expecting our 6th Great grandchild this month. I've danced at weddings, cuddled my great grands, and thanked God daily. After DX still coming out of anesthetic, I'd told God how terrified I was - my fear vanished, I then asked Him to take my hand and lead me to where He wanted me to be. Thus here I am, hoping I can help you. Just post with any question you have, I'll try to help.... For now...Just concentrate this. Stage IV is not death sentence... there are ways to kill that cancer, and for the one we have..... it's a dang good one. May God ease your mind and guide you. God Bless You!
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Carol-Charlie started following
User: PatRusk
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Carol-Charlie started following
User: Tracyj617
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Carol-Charlie wrote on Tracyj617's wall
Twelve years ago, I was diagnosed with Stage IV Ovarian Cancer! I had surgery - they removed a 39 pound tumor... yup...39 pounds.... they also scraped all the cancer they could see from my intestines, urethra and 'fat pads'... My Gynecologic Oncologist Surgeon resembled Doogie Houser.. And he knew what to do. When I woke up, he was there and told me all that he had done... plus he'd inserted a port on a rib for doing Chemo infusions directly into my abdominal cavity--- to just slosh around into the 'nooks and crannies". Now when first diagnosed, I was terrified... I told God that I was terrified... I asked Him to take my hand and lead me to where He wanted me to be. He did.... My fear left instantly - replaced by a wonderful sense of peace.... I find my fear only returns when I think I can take control of this..... "Let go and let God"... has guided me through... Here I am twelve years and eight months later... from age 62 to 74... from watching our eight children (blend of my three sons and his three daughters and two sons) get married and start families.... to watching our grandchildren get married and we're up to five Great Grand Children... Oh MY.... God is Good... all the time. A year or so ago, my doctor spotted something... "Carol... hold on, I'm seeing something I don't like.... I'm going to grab a biopsy ....". My hand flew up, and I swear... I felt HIS grip on my hand and heard his words within my brain...."CAROL...I'm still here"... a minuter later my doctor said... "Oh Carol... I'm sorry I scared you... I think I know what it is... I'll still send it in for analysis... but I'm sure it's benign! It was!. We're here for you... and you know that one day, maybe today, you'll read someone's post... and your answer will be the one they're looking for. God bless you!
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Carol-Charlie wrote on Ramonacurtis's wall
welcome to our WhatNext family.... We're sorry you needed to join, but you'll be so glad you found us.... I was diagnosed with Stage IV Epithelial Ovarian Cancer in January of 2006... I immediately told God how terrified I was. He immediately removed my fear an I could think rationally again. They Referred to a Gynecologic Oncologist Surgeon (Brand new to the world back then) Thank God!!!! He operated and removed every bit of cancer he could see. He removed the 39 pound tumor...(Really, I thought I was just getting 'old' fat) Then he removed my ovaries and scraped all the cancer he could see from my intestines and urethra... and took out a 'fat pad' filled with cancer... He upgraded me to a Stage IIIC... I told him I wanted to fight, and fight we did.... At DX, I was told I'd have about six mounts. I asked God to take my hand and lead me to where he wanted me to be... AND here I am, 11 years and 5 months later. This can be beat.... Please know we're here to help, share and pray with/for you.... God bless you.
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Carol-Charlie started following
User: Ramonacurtis