estimate

My sister has stage 4 ovarian cancer. at this time inoperable due to where tumors are.
has had aggresive (aggressive) chemo therapy and the tumors have Not grown but have not decreased in size.
she keeps thinking she has less than a year. She is active and feels great. No signs of ovarian cancer either.
Labs are good and the marker is only slightly elevated I believe 15.
can you give statistics on time??

[nyc lady]

15 is not high....and within normal ranges.  No one knows when our time is up....and if your sister feels good and there are no signs of active disease, who knows how long she will have.   SYour sister needs to live life and enjoy it, especially if she is feeling well. Concentrate on living not dying!!!!  

Stats are only number...and we all know when it comes to this disease the numbers aren't good, but, someone has to be on the winning side, and it could very well be your sister.

Keep us posted and let us know if you have any other question.

All the best to you and your family,
Pam

[milashka]

I don't understand what you mean by "the tumors have not grown" and "no signs of ovarian cancer either" - did you mean no symptoms of the cancer? Because tumors are a sign.

That said, if she is symptom-free and feeling well, I hope she can find the emotional strength to live each day to the fullest. That is easier said than done and probably not every day will be easy. This is what I do: I research it until I have collected any and all statistics, and I study them, and ponder them, and then I visualize stuffing them in a big drawer and I shut the drawer and go on with my life. It helps! Also, learning how to live in the now - which is really all we EVER have but never realize (we all tend to live in the past or the future, neither of which are here) - will help greatly (book recommendation: The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle). I am sounding like an old hippie now but these are the things that help me through the tough days, and overall, emotionally, I am doing pretty good, and that is sooo important during any stage of this disease!

Keep in mind that statistics are just numbers, and estimates are just estimates. No one patient is alike. Stephen Jay Gould  was given 6 months to live and he lived 20 years. I myself wouldn't dare to be THAT optimistic, but it happens! Here is an interesting article he wrote about statistics:

http://cancerguide.org/median_not_msg.html

Hope this helps!

P.S. Are they just giving her a chemo break or did her doctors say there is nothing else they can do? Has she exhausted all chemo options? Has she tried Avastin which has shown promising results? Can she go for a second opinion?

[Tealoak]

As others have mentioned, no one can give a time line.  I am stage 4; was dx 13 months ago.  I have been on chemo continually and my tumors are currently stable--not growing but no longer shrinking.  It is possible to keep tumors stable for years on chemo--I have a good friend who has been on chemo continuously for 14 yrs with stage 4 renal cell.  She is certainly a statistical anomaly.

My main comment is to make sure she has been seen at a MAJOR cancer center.  I have no doubt that most surgeons would not have even tried to do my surgery given how extensive it was, however not only did mine try it, he achieved optimal debulking ( MD Anderson).  

Although I have to admit my current chemo has really been kicking my *** ( phase 1 trial of doxil, avastin and torisel) recently, overall I have had a really high quality 12 months.  I am taking a break from chemo to gain back some strength right now so I am strong enough to travel again.

Have you sister sign on to the forum...there is great support here.

Teri