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Three weeks ago I dropped everything and headed to Asheville. The kids were due to start school, yet I packed them up and took them to NC as well.
My mother went in for bladder control issues and the Dr. discovered a huge mass. It was on her right ovary. She'd had a hysterectomy over 30 years ago. She'd kept her ovaries. She'd experienced heartburn quite severly for the last couple of months. She's a very slender, petite lady. She'd been irrated with her belly for the last couple of months. It'd seemed to be pooching out more than usual. Those were her only symptoms. They operated a few days after they found it.
They removed the mass, both ovaries, her appendix and her fatty pad (don't feel like trying to spell the medical term for it). They took a ton of samples and did a wash for cancer cells. I know I'm being a little simple with the wording here, sorry. She had her stiches removed this week and will be going to her follow up appointment to discuss the path reports with her doctor next week.
I'm scared. I've been scared.
There's a world of information out there on Ovarian Cancer. So much information that it's a little too much.
Has anyone here experienced this personally or has anyone went through this with a loved one?
We've heard a few positive things about the Hoxsey Clinic in Mexico. Has anyone heard anything positive or negative about this?
My sister went in when she had her stitches removed. Apparently the path reports were in her file. The nurse, of course, said that she wasn't able to discuss them with my mother. My sister said she saw "mucinous adenocarcinoma" and the word designation.
I know I'm jumping the gun trying to guess what could be on those reports. She'll find out next week. I'm just flipping out here.
It's my mom.
We're now back in Huntsville. I feel for the kids. Not only did they have to attend a new school this year, they ended up arriving a week and half late. Not easy!
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Tammy, I am so very sorry your mother is going through this. If there's anything I can do, please let me know.
I know what it's like to find too much information - that is the blessing and curse of today's information society. I also think it can be tough on the family - I always said my cancer may have been harder on my husband than on me.
Wait until you can hear from the doctor about the pathology report and know what her options are before you get too freaked out. I know it's your mom. I know. But, it does no one any good to flip out - wait and deal with the information as it comes in.
I'm assuming chemo is more than likely in her future. Any advice or reassurance I can offer about the process of going through chemo treatment I will be happy to send your way or your mother's way.
My prayers and best wishes are with your family. Please let me know if I can do anything. I will definitely be in Huntsville at least once this year for a gymnastics meet - would love to meet for coffee or something! Be a sounding board or just someone to listen to how things are going. Regardless, please don't hesitate to contact me if you need anything or just want to talk.
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I'm very sorry. (((Hugs))) I hope she does well (well, as well as possible, it's always awful) with whatever treatment she needs.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Belle, I went back and read about your experience with the hateful big C.
What a wonderfully positive attitude you had. My mom has the same. It's amazing how one can remain positive under those circumstances. She had her mood dips right after surgery, which is to be expected. She was a little naughtier than I would have thought about her pain medication. She would refuse it, then get behind in controlling it. She has always been so strongly dedicated to making sure my father, my siblings and myself always did the right things, medically speaking. She totally does not do the same thing for herself. I made her aware of that fact. My brother-in-law said my sister and I were playing good cop/bad cop with her. Sometimes we just played bad cop/bad cop, hitting her high and hitting her low.
You'd mentioned the nurses being so wonderful in one of your posts. The nurses and the doctors were all amazing. It was amazing to us that even with all the different personalities, their love and concern in caring for our mother came through loud and clear.
We had a certain situation to deal with that most do not have to deal with. My mother, being one of Jehovah's Witnesses, requested a bloodless surgery. We only had a week to prepare for this surgery. Thankfully her hemoglobin count was 13.7. Hemocromotosis runs in our family, that may account for her nice count. ? Who knows.
The doctor let my mother know that this particular surgery could get very bloody. Her tumor was attached to the bladder, the spinal cord and a few other things.
Thankfully, he was a gifted surgeon and she experienced only normal blood loss during the surgery.
Her blood count dipped to 7.9 right after the surgery, yet climbed slowly after than. They did give her EPO after the surgery, something to help make new red blood cells bascially (I think). She was put on iron before and after the surgery. She's now up to 9.
We were so thankful to the nurses and the doctors who handled momma's surgery, that we gave them all Barnes & Noble gift certificates before the surgery and candy gift bags with their names on them after the surgery.
Not once did she get an attitude from anyone there regarding her beliefs. It was also nice to hear from several of the nurses that they were impressed with us as a family. I really think that we got on their nerves with all of our questions and our constant changing of the guard at my mother's bedside. They were very gracious and patient with us. I thank them for that.
Belle, were you given several treatment options? How often do you have follow-ups?
Posts: 3771 | Registered: Sep 2002
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Tammy, I'm sorry to hear about your mother. It sounds as though she's very lucky to have such a supportive family, though.
I've heard of the Hoxsey clinic. If I were in your mother's position, I would not use Hoxsey therapy. It really hasn't been studied, and there's some indication that the outcomes haven't been as good as those from standard cancer treatments.
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Shigosei, she'd receive the standard recommended treatments as well as the herbal. There's also a rather strict diet that she'd have to stick to.
I believe the Hoxsey treatment has been around since the 70's. It was booted out of the states, so they set up camp in Mexico.
Can you site your source on the negative outcomes? That would be extremely helpful. We've read some about the positives, we're actually looking for the negatives.
I've realized lately that even though I've always thought my family was important, my focus in life has sometimes been on some really trival, or shall I saw shallow, things.
There's nothing like a family emergency to put things into serious perspective. Whether it's a blood relative, or just family that you've adopted, people need people. Period!
Posts: 3771 | Registered: Sep 2002
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Tammy, here's the American Cancer Society's take on the Hoxsey treatment.
Positive outcomes may be due to incorrect diagnoses or conventional treatment:
quote:The National Cancer Institute investigated 400 patients who were reported as cured by Hoxsey. Patients or their families were interviewed, and all records were carefully reviewed. These patients fell into 3 groups: those who had been treated, but didn't actually have cancer; those who had received successful conventional cancer treatment before seeing Hoxsey; and those who had cancer and had died of it, or were still alive with evidence of cancer. Out of the 400 cases, not one case of a Hoxsey cure could be documented.
Additionally, some of the herbs have serious side effects:
quote:Some of the ingredients in the internal formula, such as buckthorn, can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, anxiety, and trembling. Cascara can also cause diarrhea. Pokeweed is a poisonous plant that can also cause undesirable side effects such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and heart block, and has caused deaths in children.
I'm glad your mother is considering all the options she can find, and I'm relieved that she isn't planning to forgo standard treatment. I think that much of the harm done by alternative treatments occurs when people are told not to use standard medical care. However, if your mother wants to pursue alternative options, she should definitely let her doctor know. Some of the herbs may have dangerous interactions with chemotherapy drugs or may weaken her body so it doesn't tolerate chemotherapy as well.
If there's any other information you'd like me to dig up for you (on any cancer-related subject, not just Hoxsey), please let me know.
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Thanks so much Shigosei! I'm forwarding my family this information. The American Cancer Society's website is a wonderful source. We found that they put the facts about Ovarian Cancer into an easy to read format.
Hey, don't think I won't ask for help. If only I knew exactly what I needed to research. We're working on it.
By the way, I should make a disclaimer: I'm not a doctor or expert of any kind. Most of what I know is from reading I've done or from biology classes.
Treatment options are going to depend pretty heavily on what stage the cancer is (how far it has spread). You will probably need to wait until your mom's pathologist appointment before you can really get a good feel for what the treatment options might be or what the prognosis is.
By the way, I'm wondering if what was written on the chart was "designation borderline." If so, that's probably good.
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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I don't have any information to offer, but I really hope that things will go as well as possible for your mother. Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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Tammy, I don't have any useful medical advice, but you and your momma and your family will be in my prayers. You might want to get her a bed tray - one of the deluxe ones that can prop books up and have pockets on the sides. I find that they make life much easier for folks who have to spend significant amounts of time in bed.
Posts: 3037 | Registered: Jan 2002
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Sorry to hear this Tammy. Sounds like you have a great family support system though. Thoughts go out to you and your mom.
Posts: 1132 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!
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What a good day this has turned out to be. My mother was diagnosed with Stage 1A Ovarian Cancer. Amazing! I'm so incredibly thankful!
The surgeon did not diagnose any treatment at this time. He said that the Pathologists are still going over the findings. They had 18 different biopsies to investigate. He said that the findings on mucinous type cancers were very controversial at the moment. If they couldn't come to any definite conclusions, they'd send it to John Hopkins for their opinion. Once those results were back, he'd be able to recommend treatment.
Her CA125 test results were 277.5, normal would be under 30. That test was taken a week before surgery.
He recommended that my sister and I take both take the CA125 and the vaginal ultrasound.
The book that I've been reading, that I mentioned above, had some sound information on alternative treatments. They say that if the doctor discourages you from investigating other cancer therapies, whether conventional or outside traditional medicine, seek a second opinion. You should be able to hand an oncologist an article downloaded off a dubious web site suggesting the anticancer properties of transmission fluid mixed with raspberry jello and still receive a thoughtful review of the material and an explanation of why or why not he believes it has any scientific merit.
My mother asked her dr. his opinion on the Hoxsey treatments. He told her that he'd be happy to look at some hard medical data on the subject. We feel that if the Hoxsey clinic has a hard time coming up with that data for the dr., then we'll have some serious issues with them and that should settle that. I don't think that's to much to ask of any alternative therapy. What's in it and what have been the results? Basic data!
I'm so thankful. So very, very thankful.
Posts: 3771 | Registered: Sep 2002
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Wow, that's terrific! Hopefully your mom will be able to undergo a relatively non-strenuous course of treatment and then put this whole thing behind her.
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Thanks guys! Your comments are very special to me. I'm very happy and I'm very relieved.
Oh, love the idea about the bed tray, thank you. I think that would be handy to have around, regardless of the situation.
Posts: 3771 | Registered: Sep 2002
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I'm so sorry to hear that, Tammy.
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