Side Effects

[Angela814]

My mom (62) was just diagnosed about a month ago with stage 1C ovarian cancer. She will be starting her Chemotherapy this week 6 cycles every three weeks of taxol and carboplatin. She is quite nervous about the side effects. We dont really know what to expect as I have heard different things from different doctors and nurses. I know it probably effects people differently but I am just wondering if anyone has had any similar experiences that they could share with me as to what to expect?

Thanks,
Angela

[Angela814]

Thanks for sharing that with me. I would assume everyone is different but it seems as though the side effects may not be as bad as she thinks. That is quite a relief. I am going to get my mom on here as I feel she should join some support groups and it would really help to have people to talk to. Im happy to hear you are doing so well three years later!! Thats wonderful!!
Thanks!
Angela

[survivor_susie]

Hi,
I was stage IC also.  I went through chemo pretty easily.  I was 54 at the time.  I got the standard (same as your mom) chemo on Tuesday early-afternoons.  I'd feel fine until Wednesday, almost exactly 24 hours later.  Fatigue would hit for the next 2 days.  So, I stayed at home, did jigsaw puzzles, took lots of tub baths.  By Saturday I'd be perking up.  Sundays I was only a little tired. Then, back to work on Monday. I only had one bad cycle, and the docs fixed it by giving my Aloxi intravenously on Friday after my treatment. I was Ok from then on. I kept going to the gym throughout, too.  I'm short and overweight, but I had good energy.

I pretty much functioned normally through chemo, with only minor symptoms.
I'm very much alive and very well 3 years later!

My best to your mom.  Please let her know she can write to me if she'd like to.
Kathy

[Angela814]

Thank you so much for sharing that with me. It helped a lot. I am so happy you are doing so well and that the side effects were minor for you. My mom's nerves are a little high right now not really knowing what to expect but Im sure it will all turn out just fine.

Thanks again!
Angela

[OCFB]

I am also a 1C, diagnosed in 2004, at age 62.  My chemo was also 6 cycles of carboplatin and taxoterre.  I am  now almost 6 years cancer-free.  
The treatments  were "doable," though the treatment days were long and tiring.  I slept a lot in the two or three days that followed. I did, however, work full-time, which is good, because it takes your mind off yourself.  My physical symptoms were mostly GI; indigestion (controlled with Nexium), mouth sores (folic acid tabs), and weight gain from the steroids (it all came off within 3 months).  I lost all my hair, but my wig worked well and I wasn't terribly uncomfortable going "bald" when I was with friends and family.
I would suggest planning some simple event for the end of the chemo day; a light dinner or picnic in a nice outdoor setting.  It can be as simple as fast-food.  It's really the change of surroundings after the hospital that lift your spirits.  My husband used to pick me up after chemo in out motorhome and drive us over to the Florida West Coast (about 2 hours from here) and we'd pull off on the Sanibel Causeway and eat.  It always lifted my spirits.  It doesn't have to be fancy, just distracting.
Hope this helps.  I'm sure your mom will do just fine.  The outcome is well worth minor side-effects.  
Linda