ovarian cancer surgery

[heartofgold]

does anyone have knowledge/experience of the likely extent of surgery for ovarian cancer (stage 3)?

surgery is for my mum, who is asserting her right to hope for the best and not investigate too far into the practicalities. i don't for a second question this, but it would help me to be as prepared as i can be to understand the likely extent of the surgery, and the practical support she will need afterwards.

it will be a full hysterectomy, plus ovaries/tubes, plus the "apron" of tissue surrounding it (i think this may refer to an omenectomy).

any info to add to my web searching from a personal perspective would be very much appreciated. ta x

Sorry Heart I haven’t got any experience but hopefully someone will be along soon who can help

thanks jjj :)

found out today it's being postponed as she needs her gall bladder removed too, and that's a different surgeon, so no op for a month or so. and my web searching has been fruitful - the macmillan ovarian cancer guide is pretty comprehensive.

Hi two years ago this week I was in hospital after having a hysterectomy. In my case within two weeks of seeing my go after I felt a slight swelling I had had scans and told I had ovarian cancer. I was operated on immediately, everything that could be removed was including my appendix. Then an anxious two week wait for the histology report, stage 1c. I then had six cycles of chemo and thank god been all clear since. It’s horrid and scary. I am sorry your mum is going through this too. I hope all will be well. Have faith in the surgeon. x

triplets how scary for you. I wish you well

Did you feel any pain or pressure or anything at all? Or just the lump. My mum sadly had this cancer but ignored her symptoms untill too late.

that must have been such a hocking experience triplets. from what i understand early detection gives you the very best prognosis, all best wishes heading your way for the long term.

if you don't mind saying, how was your recovery from the op? mum lives alone, but nearby, and the plan is to stay with her as long as she needs it.

Hi OP
I had the op last year on July 7th. Everything out, including omentum scrub and tumour on spleen. It was a long op for me - around 6-7 hours. Hopefully yours won't be as long. I was in hospital for a week. My wound was breast bone to pubic bone, so a long one - zipped up with staples! It healed quite slowly because I was on chemo beforehand.

For me, the worst thing was loss of confidence. Fortunately my nearly adult DDs were at home and they looked after me (cups of tea, food etc). I didn't need any help washing / dressing etc.

I went for a short walk each day, accompanied by DDs for the first couple of times. It's important to keep moving. She'll need daily blood thinner injections. I couldn't do these. If you can do them, great, if not, the District Nurses will do it. My confidence came back quite quickly but your DM will need to accept that sitting, resting and some gentle movement & exercise will be all she's capable of for a while. If she hasn't had chemo beforehand she'll probably feel stronger.

The 'unzipping' wasn't too bad at all - a bit uncomfortable but that's it. i stopped counting at 50 staples! I went by myself and walked back without any issues (though surgery is only 3/4 minutes away.

HTH

twitterqueen thanks so much, that's really helpful. she has had chemo in the run-up and will be having more after, so it's really helpful to remember to consider that may have knock-on effects for recovery.

how are you doing now? wishing you all the very best x