No surgery option for stage 3c

[JamesMc]

Mother treated with 6 rounds of Taxol /Carbo, no surgury and CA125 now at 14. Gyn / oncol suggested he may take a wait and see approach if her next CT scan in January shows the cancer has got smaller. She finished chemo treatment in Oct and second CT scan since diagnoses due in Janaury 08. I he suggests to put off or skip the surgery what should I do, I have read she she be optimally debulked either before of after chemo. The tumor is touching the colon and he said any operation may leave her with a stoma....is this true, I read most surgery can be done without a stoma being required, please advise,

James  

[NotDyingToday]

I heartily agree that a second opinion is needed and fast.  I was diagnosed with OVCA Stage IIIC in November 2006 and optimally debulked then aggressively treated with IP and IV therapy.  I had a stoma which is a small price to pay really.  It was necessary in order to take IP therapy (a bowel resection would have kept me from having IP and I wanted most aggressive treatment possible).  Anyway, I had my colostomy reversed after induction chemo successfully reduced my CA125 to 5.9.  The reversal was difficult but worth it. It afforded my oncologist a second look and he found no evidence of disease. I then started maintenance or consolidation therapy and just had my 8th treatment today.  My CA125 is 7.8.  It has jumped around a bit, between a low of 3.9 and a high of 10.3.  I tell you all this because your mother deserves the option of dealing aggressively with her cancer so long as she can withstand the treatment.  Ovarian cancer does not have to be a death sentence.  The best doctors treat it as a chronic illness, staying on top io the slightest change and reacting aggressively to deal with it. Please get your mother to another doctor--preferably a gynecological oncologist--right away.  Good luck.
Not Dying Today

[JamesMc]

A related discussion, No surgery for stage 3 OVCA was started.

[Annekathryn Goodman, M.D.]

Hi There,
thank you so much for your comments
take care

[Annekathryn Goodman, M.D.]

Hi there,
You should get a second opinion. Usually the reasons we do not consider surgery is if someone is extremely old and very frail from medical problems or they have a very large cancer that is not shrinking from chemotherapy
Let us know what happens
take care
l