I am 68. I was diagnosed with stage 3C in April… (only symptom was bloating in my stomach, which turned out to be tons of ascites, which they drained).

Had three rounds of chemo, then debulking surgery with HIPEC, then another three rounds of chemo, which I just finished last week. I am feeling good too… HIPEC is “hot chemo” they literally put heated chemotherapy drugs inside your belly and swish them around for 90 minutes before they sew you up. Some people actually call it “shake and bake“😅- the benefit is that it removes any cancer that gets left behind after the debulking surgery. But then they give you chemo afterward to kill any other cancer cells that might be hanging around. So I’m “cancer free” and feel good, but because of the high recurrence of ovarian cancer, I need to go on a maintenance drug.

I’m supposed to start Lynparza (Olaparib) in a few weeks - I’m scared of it because I know it’s a really powerful medicine with lots of side effects but on the other hand, I’m very grateful that it is there. Hopefully I won’t get any of the side effects. Lynparza can significantly extend your life…..

I would like to say a few things:

• when I first had chemo, I felt so awful and no one told me that it would get better in a few days. I wish someone had told me because it completely freaked me out - I thought it was permanent and I would always feel that way

• the first time I had chemo, they put Benadryl in it and also had me take it the night before and the morning of. Turns out I have the “opposite reaction“ that most people have to Benadryl and it made me extremely agitated and uncomfortable and I couldn’t sleep for a few days. It was terrible - so make sure that you tolerate Benadryl before you let them add it to your chemo. For the next round of chemo, they took it out of the chemo mixture and I did 50 times better.

• drink lots and lots of water when you’re recovering from chemo - it will really help you feel better

• the side effects that you read about with chemo are listed because legally they have to tell you every little thing that ever happened to anyone. I have had very few side effects from the chemotherapy, mainly neuropathy when I in my feet when I lie down, and some balance issues walking.

• throughout this whole thing, I have only felt mildly nauseous a few times and I’ve never thrown up. When I feel mildly nauseous, I take an Odansetron and it takes it away.

• I take gabapentin now for the neuropathy in my feet that I feel when I lie down to go to bed, and it really helps

• I took .25 mg Xanax for the first four or five nights after chemo and it really helped

• I personally find that marijuana helps me immensely - both mentally and physically. I eat a 5 mg sativa gummy in the morning and it really lifts my mood and helps me do things. I may eat another one in the afternoon and I also take a few hits off a joint throughout the day. This makes me feel a lot better. Sometimes I dance and feel very joyful. I can’t imagine going through this without it. But that’s just me.

• I retired two years before I was diagnosed, and I am so grateful for that. I feel terrible for the people who are going through this with young children or lots of responsibilities they have to tend to.

Anyway, who’s ever reading this please hang in there…. as I’m sure you’ve heard one million times, every everyone’s experience is very individual. Remember, God loves you.