<p>I first wanted to post this in the LTS thread, but decided that making a new, short thread will be better.
Here is a scoop. My very good friend has been diagnosed with stage III ovarian cancer in June 2006. After close to 9 hour surgery, she went through 6 chemo treatments, tolerated it wonderfully, went to NH for experimental treatment, did well, but now, unfortunately, the beast is back. Her tumor marker was creeping up, doctor decided to do a CT, followed by a biopsy…she is starting a new round of chemo today.
I am myself an oncology nurse, I know a lot about the subject but my view is somehow twisted as I deal mostly with people who are not tolerating the treatment very well, people who are dying . My friend is not ready to die, nor is she ready to even accept the thought of dying. She is a 40 year old mother of a four year old daughter.
So here is my plea - we are looking for positive stories, stories about people who have beaten that kind of cancer for a few years. I think that she realizes that this thing will eventually kill her, but she can’t accept that line of thinking at this time yet. She needs to hear about positive outcomes, she believes that at this point those stories will make her strong.
If you could provide links to such stories, I would be very grateful.</p>
<p>Kelowna, I don’t personally know of any stories like that, but I do want to say that your friend will be in my prayers. She is very fortunate to have you in her life!</p>
<p>My mother-in-law was diagnosed with ovarian cancer 4-5 years ago. IIRC, no surgery, just chemo. Two years ago, it spread to her liver. In January, she was given 3-6 months. She stopped chemo, and is obviously still around. Since she stopped seeing her oncologist, we have no idea what her current status is. She has however, recently become engaged to the man who lives next door to her in assisted living and is very happy.</p>
<p>Every cancer story is different, and I have no idea what my mother-in-law did/didn’t do. My best wishes to your friend.</p>
<p>Kelowna, if there is an ovarian cancer alliance, online foums, and people who know people who know people (usually through support groups), that will be where to connect with, and find, survivors. It has taken nearly 90 days for me to collect an inventory of long term survivors of my diagnosis, but I have now spoken personally to nearly ten of them. Your friend will need to ask “do you know of anyone” and then follow this up by saying “who”, and, asking for an introduction. Tell her not to be shy about asking - people who have not been diagnosed with cancer don’t always quite understand the almost urgent need to talk to another person who has beaten the disease.</p>
<p>In addition, and in the immediate absence of long term survivors to talk to, if your friend will call the SEER statisticians at NIH (forget about “relative survival” which from what I can tell is some weird witchcraft sort of algorithm - do NOT let them run this as a believable stat), and get them to run a report on actual “observed survival”, from, say, diagnosis year 1992 or so, and for her age range, race, and stage. This will get her actual, real numbers of survivors who were diagnosed 10+ years ago, and she will be able to see that there are in fact long term survivors of stage III. I did this for my cancer and was somewhat satisfied that the number wasn’t zero - 5% of women my age range, race and stage who were diagnosed in 1992 actually did live ten+ years, and, the number could even edge slightly higher if one assumes that some of the persons who were lost to follow up may still be alive as well. </p>
<p>The other way of finding hope is by searching pubmed.gov for articles on her type and stage of cancer. Typically these articles are published in response to large trials, etc., and, what your friend will get out of them is actual evidence from practising physicians specializing in her cancer that there are long term survivors. </p>
<p>Last, as I am sure you already know, she needs to make a firm decision that she is a cancer SURVIVOR and that this thing isn’t going to kill her. She beat it once and she can and WILL beat it again. And while I have not done any research at all on ovarian cancer I am certain there are lots of new drugs in the pipeline, and new options available that perhaps were not available even as recently as 2006 when she was first diagnosed.</p>
<p>One of my best friends was diagnosed with ovarian cancer several years ago. I don’t remember the stage. She had chemo over a period of months–lost her hair but never felt sick. There has been no reccurrence and her hair grew back quickly.</p>
<p>My grandmother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in May 2004. She was at my house in Pennsylvania to see my sister graduate middle school and me graduate high school (she ended up missing both graduations). She did very well in the initial round of treatment, and appeared to be cancer-free sometime in 2005.</p>
<p>This spring, the cancer returned. She had a big 50th wedding anniversary planned, so she held off on chemotherapy until after the party, and told the family (her children and grandchildren) that the cancer had returned at lunch the day after the party. She’s doing very well, though. The chemo treatments worked again, and though she was hospitalized for dehydration, she bucked that too. She now appears to once again be cancer-free.</p>
<p>I’m not positive of the stage she was in - I think it may have been stage III the first time. Her cancer was pretty far along.</p>
<p>There’s a group called OCEANS - maybe if you google you can find a local chapter.</p>
<p>I cannot give you a miracle story, but I wish I could. My BIL’s mother was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer at 58 y/o. She lived for 2.5 years with the disease. She lived an active healthy life for the majority of that time. Stage 4 has a much poorer prognosis than stage 3.</p>
<p>Kelowna,
One of my best friends was diagnosed and had surgery about 4 years ago. She received her diagnosis the same day her mother had passed away from the illness years earlier. It was a very difficult thing for her to go through, but I’m happy to report she is the picture of health today. If you didn’t know her, you would never know what she went through.</p>
<p>I have another friend who has had multiple battles with different cancers for the past 6 years and a few close calls. But she is such a fighter and always comes back stronger than before.</p>
<p>These women are such inspirations and what they have in common is that they refused to allow their illness to take over their lives. I could say the same about my younger D who had surgery to remove a brain tumor her freshman year. She just made up her mind she would be fine and although she still suffers daily migraines, she has managed to do very well. </p>
<p>I think there is a great benefit in maintaining a positive attitude and a fighting spirit when confronting an illness. Help your friend to keep her focus on living her life, not her illness. It’s easier said than done, but from my experience, very important to do.</p>
<p>I found the following:
[Interview</a> with Ovarian Cancer Survivor and Patient Advocate Sean Patrick](<a href=“http://ovariancancer.jhmi.edu/seaninterview_04.cfm]Interview”>http://ovariancancer.jhmi.edu/seaninterview_04.cfm)
[Ovarian</a> Cancer Survivors - Stories from Survivor Jan Pederso](<a href=“http://www.cancercenter.com/ovarian-cancer/survivors/jan-pederson.cfm]Ovarian”>http://www.cancercenter.com/ovarian-cancer/survivors/jan-pederson.cfm)
[A</a> Life Sentence](<a href=“http://www.washington.edu/alumni/columns/top10/life_sentence.html]A”>A Life Sentence)
Hope these help; you are a good friend.</p>
<p>Thank you for all the info. Your responses are really appreciated.
My friend’s husband actually works at the cancer research facility right here in SLC (he is a biochemist), so they are both quite knowledgeble in looking up all the new drugs and trials. They have also become very close to my friend’s oncologist and, I believe, have a lot of trust in her.
My friend wants to participate in every clinical trial she can land in. It is very tough though, because of criteria. For example, the first trial she has participated in, the one in NH, had a condition that woman must be premenopausal before diagnosis (she was), be no more than four weeks after the last chemo treatment after initial diagnosis, still have the porth-a-cath and have a 0 on a tumor marker. They researched like crazy, and found it on Monday, last December. She was supposed to have a port-a-cath removed that following Tuesday and was exactly three weeks after the last chemo. Call it luck? She started the experimental treatment the following Saturday.
Her doctor had no idea about the study, they found it on their own.
We were really, really very hopeful since my friend has an aunt who has been diagnosed with some kind of ovarian/endometrial cancer more than 20 years ago and has been given 3 months to live at that time. She is alive and well today.
Our hopes have been dashed now though. My friend has evidence of cancer spots in several parts of her body, the biopsy was done on a lymph node in her armpit. She feels fine, has absolutely no symptoms, she just “flushes” during cat scan.
There is a very strong support system around them. She has been very open about her condition from day one, and probably as a result of that has received tremendous help, both financial and emotional. They have good insurance. But right now she can’t really stop crying when talking about her cancer. She was so very, very hopeful that she has beaten it, she still can’t believe that it has returned so soon.
As I have mentioned before, I have a little twisted perspective since I am so familiar with statistical cases and see them daily. I promised I will look for evidence that there is some hope in her future.
This is so very true, and I see very strong evidence of that.
Last Sunday we had a bookclub brunch in Park City, at a mountain home of one of our friends. Eight of us girls, with husbands. We all knew that K is starting chemo on Tuesday, nevertheles there was champaign, good food, laughter, thankfulness and cheering. This week we are pulling our resources together and bying some home made frozen dinners that will last them for a few weeks.
Thanks for all your suggestions, keep them coming and I will keep researching.</p>
<p>A middle aged friend got ovrarian cancer about 12 years ago, got excellent treatment, worked until retirement and is having a happy life.
One of my husband’s college students, age about 21, got ovarian cancer last year and is doing well.
A wonderful source of free information, free counseling and encouragement for cancer survivors is the Livestrong (Lance Armstrong) Foundation: [Lance</a> Armstrong Foundation: Cancer Support](<a href=“http://www.livestrong.org/site/c.khLXK1PxHmF/b.2661019/k.8FE9/Cancer_Support.htm]Lance”>http://www.livestrong.org/site/c.khLXK1PxHmF/b.2661019/k.8FE9/Cancer_Support.htm)</p>
<p>Hugs to you. I know how hard it can be to have a close friend with such an illness.</p>
<p>kelowna, hugs to you!!</p>
<p>My mother had this nearly 30 years ago and is still around. However, I don’t know what kind, what stage or any of that. I was in junior high at the time and didn’t know much about it, other than she went through surgery and then radiation.</p>
<p>Joyce Kulhawik is a 3 time cancer survivor, including Ovarian Cancer. She is the entertainment reporter for WBZ TV in Boston. Here’s a link to her:
[wbztv.com</a> - Joyce Kulhawik](<a href=“http://wbztv.com/bios/local_bio_052115103]wbztv.com”>CBS Boston - Breaking News, Sports, Weather, I-Team Investigations)</p>
<p>Also, there are state and local chapters of support groups through the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition: [url=<a href=“http://www.ovarian.org%5DNOCC%5B/url”>http://www.ovarian.org]NOCC[/url</a>]</p>
<p>My mom was diagnosed 3 1/2 years ago at age 68 with stage III. She had surgery and chemo, followed by an 18 month remission. Then a second chemo, then 3 months off, now she has her 3rd chemo. Each chemo seems to have different side effects but she’s tolerated them all better than she expected. I think the Nuelasta made her feel as bad or worse than the chemo! Her chief complaints have been severe fatigue, nerve problems in her hands and feet, and the latest chemo gives her a rash.</p>
<p>My understanding is that younger women generally have a better chance of long-term survival than do older women, so your friend’s age is on her side. </p>
<p>In many cases (like my mom, apparently), ovarian becomes a chronic disease. There are chemos that will hold the cancer in check, but not eliminate it. The problem becomes that women eventually can’t tolerate the cumulative, toxic effects of the chemo.</p>
<p>My mom knows a woman who’s had this for 9 years and is still around. Tell your friend to keep fighting. And check out the support groups.</p>
<p>Best wishes.</p>
<p>Kelowna, two thoughts that may offer hope in sort of a backward sense; the five year survivor in Texas told me that when he was hospitalized, his wife was told two days in a row that he was not expected to live through the night. He has been cancer free for five years, and has no health problems. </p>
<p>The 13 year survivor (I don’t talk to her often) has five daughters, and three were still at home and in junior high/high school at the time of her diagnosis. Her husband left her and filed for divorce two weeks into her treatments, saying that he just could not deal with cancer. So she had to deal with fighting small cell extensive lung cancer (worse than stage iv), keep her household stable, deal with divorce court, and continue to raise her children. She is cancer free today and all five daughters are college graduates. </p>
<p>The message is that dreadful diagnosis cancer battles can be fought, and won, and sometimes from absolutely dismal starting positions.</p>
<p>Strange timing - right after reading this thread I opened the mail and one of the letters was an appeal for a donation to the UCSD Moores Cancer Center. The story in the letter was about ovarian cancer. The particular example they used was about a lady who discovered she had ovarian cancer at the age of 48. It goes on further to state that after surgery and chemo she’s now been in remission for 4 years.</p>
<p>[UCSD</a> Cancer Center Home Page](<a href=“Cancer Care | Moores Cancer Center | UC San Diego Health”>http://cancer.ucsd.edu/)</p>
<p>Sorry no link but a personal story on someone who beat ovarian cancer. My aunt (this is not the good part of the story by the way) was diagnosed with Stage 3B ovarian cancer at age 55, unfortunately survived 9 months before succumbing to the disease. At the very same time, a friend of my sister’s who was 36 years old was diagnosed with Stage 4 disease. She was optimally debulked and underwent chemotherapy. That was 20 years ago. She still has some side effects from treatment but runs marathons, works, plays with her grandchildren, etc. It’s amazing. Sending prayers to you and your friend for strength and courage in the face of this evil disease.</p>
<p>Do you think she would have any interest in a fictional story about overcoming ovarian cancer? The TV show “thirtysomething” did a very sensitive and thorough storyline about the mother of two young children beating ovarian cancer. It might be inspiring to watch, and it seems to be available on DVD. The actress won the Emmy and Golden Globe for her performance.</p>
<p>[TELEVISION</a>; Life, Loss, Death And ‘Thirtysomething’ - New York Times](<a href=“http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE7D6133FF933A25751C0A967958260&sec=health&spon=&pagewanted=all]TELEVISION”>http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE7D6133FF933A25751C0A967958260&sec=health&spon=&pagewanted=all)</p>
<p>True story - a woman who worked at our company back in the 80s and early 90s came down with bad case of ovarian cancer. It had spread. She had surgery, chemo, everything. She lost all her hair and looked awful. But she recovered and went into remission and came back to work. Some time later she left the company and I lost track of her. But I saw her in a restaurant at lunch just two weeks ago. She looks great. It’s been over 15 years. She’s alive; she’s cured.</p>
<p>No link, but a very good friend of mine’s sister had stage 3 six years ago. It was a huuuuuuge milestone getting to the five year point, and I still remember the anxiety in that family last year, and the utter and complete relief when her tests came back clear.</p>
<p>They are big into the OVCA walks that annually raise huge money for research into finding cures for this awful disease.</p>
<p>Best of luck to your friend. I have heard other good survival stories too, so apparently it is not always a dire Dx.</p>