Thanks everyone for responding to my thread. I will take your responses and encouragement with me tomorrow.
Karen
I've had a couple of doses of radiation on specific tumors which has worked well for those. The intention was never to remove them completely just to reduce the size and get rid of the pain and problems I was having from those individual tumors. OVCA does usually repond well to radiation just as it tends to spread so widely it is not effective as an initial treatment as it is near impossible to get everything. The first lot I had (10 doses over two weeks) had an almost immediate effect and no side effects at all. The second course didn't appear to be doing anything at the time but over the next few months gradually reduced the tumor size.
I just finished up with 18 treatments to the pelvic area. I had a tumor on my vaginal cuff. I had Tomotherapy, it just targets the tumor without any damage to other organs, its still radiation to the pelvic area. I was dx with ovarian cancer Feb 08 stage 3c. Had surgery and have been on chemo non stop until now. The Radiologist/Onc said there was a 90% chance of it shrinking or just going away. I had some diarrhea and had a urinary track infection but that was all. I feel great. They said I would have fatigue, but I had very little. They drew a ca 125 test last Friday, I don’t know what it is yet but they will do another pet/ct scan in 8-10 weeks. In the meantime I’m going on vacation; the break from everything will do me good. The success rates are very good I heard. I live in Pennsylvania and this new kind of radiation has been here only a year. Good Luck!! I’m sending you a big hug along with a lot of prayers.
Love, Terry
I've been interested as to why this isn't done in our country. My limited knowledge is that this is done with great success in Europe. I hope your pain eases up pronto. Sending you lots of love.
xox
c
I was interested in trying this, but my gyn/onc said no. He said it would be too large an area to do radiation. I wish you the best and look forward to hearing how it goes. Marie