Sisterhood of Survivorship
Sharing, Caring, Surviving
Helen L's Story
Year Diagnosed: 1997
Type of Cancer: ovarian
I was diagnosed with Stage IIIC Ovarian cancer in March, 1997. I had no symptoms and no risk factors except for being over 50 and female. I was very lucky. I was refered to an excellent gynecological oncologist, had great health benefits from my employer, a husband in the healthcare establishment and a very supportive network of family and friends. I had a hysterectomy and oophorectomy. None of the lymphnodes tested came back abnormal and a suspicious looking diaphamtic scar turned out to be nothing. I had 6 rounds of taxol and carboplatin and I have been cancer free for almost 13 years. The worst part of the chemo was intense pain in my joints and muscles and numbness in my right hand which lasted abut 18 months after the chemo had ended. All is well now and my CA-125 has remained very low since after surgery. It was well over 700 at diagnosis.
Waiting for periodic test results can drive you crazy. I used to get CT scans at 6:30pm and by 9:00am the next morning I was in the Radiology Dept. demanding the results be read to me from the radiologist's report in the computer.
I am now retired and continue to be grateful for being around to see the birth of my 4 grandchildren. My doctors were very positive as to my chances of survival, to my face at least. I have found out that they weren't that positive when speaking to my husband. I really wasn't given more than a 25-30% chance of making 5 years. I'm kind of glad I didn't hear that from them!
One more thing; I found that singing helped my mood during chemo. It is widely known that music is good therapy for many an illness, but nobody had told me that back then. I discovered it by myself when singing along to a song on the radio.