Staging in granulosa cell ovarian cancer

[vlhan57]

when i had my surgery and my ovaries removed, my doctor staged me at a stage3 and ordered me to go see a oncologist for chemo. Now my paper work has been sent to some specialist in Tx. and he is saying from the paperwork he read that i was not in stage 3, but 1 and probably didn't even need chemo. How could this kind of discrepancy be possible?? I am going to speak with the doctor that did the surgery and see what he says, but curious of what you may think??? Thank u.

[ChrisP2236]

You are right to go back to the surgeon and find out why he staged you as a 3.  Is the oncologist he referred you to a gyn/onc?  You really need to find a gyn/onc who has treated gct before - it is relatively rare and some gyn/oncs have never treated it.  I also had my gyn do the surgery but she referred me to a gyn/onc for further treatment after gct was diagnosed.  No matter how excellent your gyn is, they are not trained specifically to deal with ovca.  I was staged 1c according to the pathologist's report.  My gyn/onc had his own pathologist confirm the diagnosis and then sent everything to MD Anderson for consult.  You really are going to have to be your own advocate here and find a gyn/onc who understands that gct has a history of late recurrance and that you need to be monitered for the rest of your life. Any dr who tells you that you don't need to worry about it as it's slow growing is wrong and you'd need to find someone else.  I would also recommend contacting the dr in TX and asking him why he feels you were a stage 1 and didn't need chemo. You might also ask him to recommend a gyn/onc in your area familiar with gct - he might know someone. Best wishes, Chris P

[vlhan57]

My situation was an emergency situation when i woke in the middle of the night in severe pain. Tried walking it off, paced , threw up all night etc. when my son came by the next day, he insisted he take me to the ER. So answr to your question, No, he was just a gynecologist, but a very excellent one. Truly i believe what he said he was the one that was in there. I cannot wait to see him but have to wait till the 15th when he gets back from vacation. I want him to explain how and why  he came to the conclusion he did, and why he thinks someone else could read a paper and come to a different one. I would hate to think i went through all i did for nothing......

[junamgen]

I'm sorry about your situation. It is a too big mistake to make, I just want u to know that you are doing the right thing by talking to the surge, Is your surge a GYN/oncologist?

best wish!

jun