Decision Time

Mom had her appointment today with her gynecological oncologist. She walked into the office with an entourage of 5 additional people which included me, my two brothers, my grandfather and cousin Lisa. As usual, everyone made friends in the waiting room before Mom was called back for her appointment. The doctor looked over her incision and then the family was called back into a room where the doctor would give his recommendation for treatment based on the pathology results. Here are some of the things that the doctor confirmed and the general treatment recommendation he gave Mom today:

1. He confirmed that she has Stage 3C ovarian cancer (Click here to learn more)
2. He said the cancer is grade 3 (Click here to learn more)
3. He indicated that the cancer was "optimally debulked" which means that he was able to remove the majority of her cancer during surgery. While he removed the most possible, he was not able to remove absolutely all of the disease.
4. He is recommending that she receive a weekly dose of Taxol (Click here to learn more)
5. He recommends that she receive a dose of Carboplatin every 3 weeks (Click here to learn more)
6. In addition to the above drugs, he would also recommend that Mom receive a dose of Avastin every three weeks if insurance will cover it. While he has seen some promising things in his research using Avastin, it is not a drug that is routinely used to treat ovarian cancer. (Click here to learn more)
7. The doctor recommends that Mom start the chemotherapy treatment next week (Thursday or Friday 3/22 or 3/23)
8. As part of her treatment, mom will meet with a team of specialists ranging from a genetic counselor, dietitian, etc.
9. Mom will still need 4 weeks for her major surgery to be healed.
10. She may be able to start driving in 2 weeks

So, there it is. This is what her doctor recommends. That being said, Mom has an appointment set up for tomorrow afternoon with a nutritionist she has been seeing for a year to discuss natural options for treatment/overall health and nutrition. Chaz also is working on gathering information he has found about effectiveness and dosing of cannabis treatment should she decide she wants to try something else. Her feeling right now is that she will have to make the decision that she feels is right for her based on all of the information she gathers and how she feels after fasting and praying about it as well.

This is not a decision she is taking lightly, and as cousin Detlef emphasized to her (he is currently battling Leukemia), it is important for her to be her own biggest advocate with regard to her care, health and well-being. Everyone can have an opinion, but ultimately it is her health and her decision how she will battle this cancer. She has a lot to think about this weekend and we are all supporting her by offering our insights, listening to her wants and needs, doing research and talking about it. There's definitely a lot of talking going on around here! Lisa will be here until Saturday night and I know she will play an integral role in helping Mom talk through all of her concerns, ideas and feelings about her treatment options. It's been a blessing have her here today :).

If you have questions, I suggest posting the question to the comments area and I will do my best to answer questions when I get home from work at night.

~Candice