trying to piece it together in my mind

[horsiechic]

I'm sorry if this is in the wrong place but I'm trying to piece this together in my own mind.
My mom in November last year had a persistent pain in her hip that would not go away, she went to the doctor and he felt a lump in her stomach, he sent her for an ultrasound - they discovered a huge mass growing on an ovary, they drew blood she had a slightly elevated CA125, with NO other tests they booked her into surgery and in January they did a complete hysterectomy and removed the growth (which weighed 15kg) the surgeon said he was confident that they growth was not cancerous but sent it for histology anyway - 6 long weeks later she is told the cyst was benign. When they did the hysterectomy they also did a staging laparotomy - all the tissue samples came back clear of cancer.  She healed well after the surgery and then started experiencing a pain in her lower back and in her arms. Went back to the doctors and all they could say it was sciatica....
Anyway in May her arm broke under a very suspicious circumstance and she could not walk, I had her booked into hospital again, they did a biopsy when they pinned her arm and I was told she had metastatic ovarian cancer which spread to her bone in her arms and her hips. She developed a DVT whilst in hospital and had a stroke, she died of multiple organ failure in July, having had no chemo or anything, they said the cancer was too advanced to do anything for her.
Please tell me - how do you develop non-treatable ovary cancer when you have no ovaries... I cannot understand this, please can somebody help me understand.....

[HVAC]

That is rough. The thing about ovarian is there are seldom symptoms until late in the disease. The symptoms are like other illnesses so the doctors miss it. Plus the cancer is internal. I had a CT scan and ultrasound that missed the cancer early on. It wasn't until it was in a dozen places they saw it. I threw up and had diaphragm spasms for two years. They are classic ovarian. My PCP sent me to all kinds of specialist. I was also in a gynecological study where the tested for all cancers but ovarian. Finally the doctor tried to do an endometrial biopsy and it hurt. Then I just could not keep anything down. MY PCP and Gynecologist felt terrible for missing it. Medicine is not the exact science we think it is.

Alex

[horsiechic]

sorry for your loss too. My dad also died of cancer,  but his death was much easier to accept. he had been diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer, had the chemo and I saw him getting worse over a period of a couple of years. with my mom she went from being a healthy (appeared to be) lively active outgoing woman to gone in a matter of 3 months. the last week where she was in a coma after a stroke was far harder to deal with than things with my dad...

[HVAC]

Again I am so sorry. When my dad died of cancer I missed him terribly. I was ready to let him go because he was so sick.

Alex

[horsiechic]

thank you for your reply - your kind words mean a lot

[horsiechic]

THANK YOU for your reply, you have helped me more than you will ever believe,. I have been so angry wishing that they had found out sooner that she had cancer. my mom and I were extremely close and this has been torture - but now I realise that when people say that everything happens for a reason, there actually was a hidden reason amongst all of this - if they had discovered the cancer she may have suffered more than with them not discovering it sooner. I do wish they could have done radiation on the bone to keep the pain down, she was in so much pain but your reply has helped me. thank you again and I am so sorry to read the torture you have been through - I hope somehow things get better for you

[HVAC]

She had to have had the Cancer at the time of surgery. It is really rare for ovarian cancer to go to the bone. It usually takes two years to be diagnosed with ovarian cancer it is one of the most missed cancer diagnosis. If she had clear cell and they missed it she could go that fast.

Yes Ovarian cancer can spread with out ovaries. I am an example of that. I had a hysterctomy, omentum removal and part of my rectum. While in chemotherapy with no ovaries it has spread to my liver, spleen, and lymphnodes.

The first chemotherapy for ovarian is rough I almost died from that and I was 49. I am sorry they missed but she was probably late stage at surgery.

I know you miss her and feel angry I would too.

Ovarian cancer is a blood born cancer. It moves from organ to organ quickly. I have had it in 14 places and am on my third chemotherapy drug.

If they had found the your mother would be in chemotherapy all the time like me. It would not have gone into remission. She could have lived may be two years altogether but she might have been miserable. They would have at least done radiation on the bone to keep the pain down.

I am sorry.

Alex

[old_before_my_time]

I am so sorry for your loss...what an awful experience! I thought I had read at one time that ovarian cancer cells can be found elsewhere in the pelvis even when not in the ovaries. Maybe you can find something by searching the web.