does operation followed by chemo necessarily mean it's cancer?

[bellababe]

A friend has just had her uterus and ovaries etc removed and will then start chemotherapy. This is a really ignorant question, but does that mean that she has cancer, or could the chemo be preventative, or used to treat something else?

don't know for sure bellababe but I would think that chemotherapy is so gruelling that its unlikely medics would subject someone to it if they didn't have cancer.

I just feel it's one of these chinese whisper things. My dh spoke to her dh and he talked of the operation and the chemo but never mentioned the word Cancer. I have to tell a v good mutual friend when she returns from holiday this evening and really don't want to say that she has cancer if there's a chance that that's not the case.

I don't believe chemo per se is used for other diseases than cancer

although low-dosage chemo drugs such as methotrexate are used for some auto-immune diseases

(Please note I'm not a medic, don't know for sure but am 90% certain)

sorry for your friend

My understanding is that chemo is only administered if cancer is known or strongly suspected. Following on from a major op of this nature I'd say it sounds like ovarian cancer, sad to say...but I am a health moderator not a health professional and would love to be contradicted. Hope your friend's treatment goes well bellababe.

Chemo can I think be used for other conditions - I have a friend who had it for something else - but that's all I know.

maybe saying the word out loud is like admitting the problem. cancer is still taboo in some peoples eyes, and its hard to face up to it sometimes.

chemo has only ever been used to treat cancer, IME im afraid. to me this would mean that they can perform an op to remove the tumour, but to make damn sure its gone your friend will be having chemo

i hope she is ok

more and more people are surviving cancer these days, i hope your friend will be ok xxx

maybe im wrong about it not being used for other things,