Real People Stories – Irina

I want to meet you, tell my story and, most importantly, seek advice.

I am Irina, diagnosed with stage 3c Ovarian Cancer in 2008 after a CA125 test. That is, I have been sick and treated for almost 12 years, and now I am 60 years old. The initial HPV treatment was very aggressive because the tumours on both ovaries were 18 cm long, confluent carcinomatosis and ascites, and there were a lot of metastases on the intestines; in general, everything had grown together. After treatment, I asked for the operation protocol and read everything myself. There was a CA125 serious operation, they removed what they could, then 8 courses of carboplatin and paclitaxel, then again an operation for the rest with intraperitoneal chemistry, another 6 courses of Gemzar and 9 Avastin.

Period of Remission and Subsequent Relapses

The remission lasted 3 years. And then CA125 relapses began: liver, pelvis, diaphragm, lungs. They performed surgeries, installed prosthetics, and endless chemo and test treatments. There were no longer long-term remissions; the tumour was poorly differentiated and aggressive. In total, during the treatment, there were 8 operations and 5 lines of chemotherapy. In 2017, metronomic chemotherapy with a latest with a constant 3-week bevacizumab began.

This CA125 treatment and tests kept progression well at bay for two years. In 2019, there was a suspicion of pulmonary embolism, and my bevacizumab was discontinued. Taxol mono was recommended weekly instead of the last one. I took 9 infusions, and for some reason, they cancelled it for me and prescribed me endoxan tablets again, on which the marker began to grow. Again, we decided to return to the latest with bevacizumab. The result is disappointing: now I am making strong progress, retroperitoneal lymph nodes are growing, carcinomatosis has returned, and nodules have appeared in the lungs.

Consulting and Considering Next Steps

I have been consulting at the Research CAq25 Institute for a long time, and back in January, during the consultation, they began to hint to me that maybe it was time to stop; my body was exhausted. After the May holidays, I have another HPV womans lesion consultation and test. And I don’t know what to do, ask for continuation of treatment or stop. Now, my back hurts a lot from the retroperitoneal lymph nodes, and without treatment, the pain will intensify, and all the other “charms” will not take long to arrive. Our OC is familial, but there is no mutation in BRCA; I checked the entire panel.

They said there is some HPV mutation, but there is no point in looking for it since there are no application points. Do you think it’s worth continuing to “butt heads”? I always set myself up: I must marry my son, wait for my grandchildren, and send my grandson to school. And now everything has gone wrong, probably fatigue from the treatment; although I never even took antidepressants, I managed on my own. I would like to hear your opinions, especially about girls undergoing treatment for a long time. Thank you so much for reading my “long-winded” story to the end.

Emmeline

Creative remission. stage 3

Good day, everyone! I am 42 years old. I am an artist and have been one all my life. My post is about how I have lived the last three years with HPV attacks. And I hope to cheer up my fellow sufferers a little. And, of course, I hope to grab more time from life for the happiness of being myself. 

In April 2017, I was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian organ cancer. I had been carrying a tumour the size of a fist in my body for a long time. The disease turned out to be hereditary, and this turned out to be a positive response from the BD (if I remember the name of the study correctly). I waited for the operation for more than a month; it was probably the most difficult thing in this whole story. To distract myself, I went to the open air every day and promised myself that if I survived, I would only do what I love!

Extensive Surgery and Chemotherapy

In May, there was an extensive operation; they removed a bunch of everything – the reproductive organs were removed for a clean, greater omentum, appendicitis, lymph nodes in the groin area, and as a bonus, they did a resection of the rectum with the formation of an anastomosis (the alternative was a colostomy and a repeat operation, but my miracle doctor took pity on me!) At the time of the tag and lesion operation, I was 39 years old. Then, there were six courses of chemotherapy, which pretty much exhausted me.

And now there is remission! I was determined to keep my word. First of all, I quit my job, which squeezed all the juice out of me before I got sick and, in my opinion, was one of the reasons for such an early CA125 diagnosis test (for the last 15 years, I worked as an architect-designer and spent all the time without a trace on the whims and caprices of my stellar clients). Yes, guys, prolonged stress maximises your chances of getting into trouble with lesion disease.

Pursuing Dreams and Passions

We all have dreams, I want to, like in the movies)), fulfil mine if possible! I have long wanted to take up sculpture seriously, and so, barely dragging my feet in the 5th year of chemistry, with neuropathy (numbness of the limbs) familiar to many, I took a sculpture course. And in the spring I decided to enter the Academy and have fun to the fullest! I sold my car to pay for my studies, rented out my apartment, rented it cheaper and lived on the difference all these happy three years))

Today, I received some unpleasant news. Tumor marker CA125 is 240, above normal.

Friends, don’t waste your precious HPV remission time; find something to do that will fill your days with joy!