I began my journey with low grade ovarian cancer in 1994 when I was 60. (Some doctors call it borderline.) There is very little known about my kind of cancer. I had a hysterectomy in the fall of 1994, and was given chemo for six months to clean up the unseen cells. Not long after chemo I began to experience restless legs that became more and more severe. A year or so later my cancer returned.

My onco wanted me to take chemo I objected strongly. She insisted strongly. I went to a gyno/onco that I had seen before. He said at first I would to have chemo The next Saturday my sweet doctor called and said since low grade is so slow growing that we could try Tamoxifen, an anti estrogen. To both our surprise, it brought my CA125 down to 12. It stopped working in two years and I took Arimidex for two years, then back to Tamoxifen.

About this time, I retired and we moved 3 hours from Houston. My new doctor insisted I take chemo. Since my restless legs continued to get worse, I was afraid of neuropathy after researching the chemo. I gave my new doc my Houston doctor’s card. All he had to do was fax. He refused to believe that anything but chemo would help. I began to feel so bad, I finally agreed. My CA125 went sky high and after four treatments, I took neuropathy. Stupidly, I accused him of unnessarily giving me neuropathy After that the only treatment I received was prescriptions for Arimidex.

Since his opinion of me was on the computer, every doctor in the system was rude to me and some refused medication. I didn’t think doctors acted like that. I went to another hopital in the community and drive to Houston for my cancer treatment. My anti estrogens stopped working and my sweet oncologist thought he had found a chemo that might work since it worked slowly. Most chemos kill cells quickly and this is why they don’t work with slow growing cancer cells. My restless legs got so bad, I was taking drugs to help me sleep.

After taking the chemo Doxil, I began to walk in my sleep. My whole body felt like my restless legs. My mind was asleep, but my body hurt to much to stay in bed. Also Doxil did not do its job either. My CA125 went up. At my last doctor’s visit I asked if we had run out of options. He said we had but my cancer was so slow growing, I could live for years. I have a parencentesis about every three months. Three or four liters are drawn out of my abdomen. I feel good for three weeks and then begin to feel swollen, wheezing, and have difficult breathing. Now this sounds negative, but me tell you, the good part.

First I lived 15 years, the docs had given me 40% chance of living 5. I have seen my older grandchildren grow into beautiful young adults. My son married and he and his wife had two angels that are just beginning school. Had I not had these 15 years, I would have missed all that. I researched our families and wrote a book. I am matching scripture to pictures in nature that I take. I still cook and love to play computer games. Life is good. God is good. One other good thing. It has at last been discovered that low grade cancer is different from other ovarian cancers and need different treatment. MD Anderson in Houston is holding a trial now to discover what treatment is best. My Doc could have told them years ago.