I did both. I had what they call debulking. They take all the female organs and the lining of all the other internal organs. I have had four different chemos. The first was bad but the others okay. I was late stage and full of cancer. I am also BRCA 1 positive so my body makes cancer all the time.
It is normal to want to know about everything. I did. Just understand everything on the internet is true. Studies only pertain to those individuals and there is usually a small amount of people. For example I was in a study for a year. I did better than anyone and I was on the placebo.
Alex
Hey Alex,
That must have been devastating thinking you only had two years at best left to live. I'm glad to hear that you've out-lived that and are doing better though! :)
I agree focusing on the statistics can be kind of scary and possibly counter-productive to maintaining optimism. I go between wanting to know ALL the possibilities and their likelihoods so I can stay informed, and just focusing on my situation and ignoring the outliers.
If you don't mind me asking, did you go through chemo treatment or surgery?
I can't speak of teratoma. I have a rare kind of Ovarian Cancer called clear cell. I read about it on the internet and it did not give a lot of hope for me. Since then I have learned people are not statistics. I thought if I was lucky I would live two years. It has been three and I am doing well. I am planning a trip to Europe this fall. No one would know I even have cancer. Also I have learned a lot of information is out dated. They have made great strides in the last 5 years for Ovarian Cancer. They now call it a chronic cancer, meaning something women live with.
Alex