Chemo before surgery

Lots of people have chemo before the surgery. If it was just her ovary, they could do the op first, but if it is in her bowel as well, they need to try and shrink it before they can risk spreading it in surgery.

Do try and trust the medics. They have multidisciplinary meetings about patients and decide what is best in each case.

If you have any doubts, try and talk to the Macmillan nurse and talk it through with her.

You will get plenty of support here, needless to say.

Keep posting to let us know how things are progressing.

Ruth

hi i have cervical cancer and i'm just finishing my chemo and am having surgury next month. i was told it was better to have chemo first in order to shrink or even dissolve the tumour to make it easier for surgury and make it more successful. i had this double checked with a second opinion. some of my original symptoms of cancer have gone since starting chemo and i've been told this is because the chemo is killing the cancer.
i think certinaly in my case if the surgons are not completely happy they will get all the cancer out in th op they will opt for the safe bet i.e chemo first. i don't think its a bad sign its the docs making the safe decision. if they had done surgury first it might of spread during the op and then i would have to wait a long recovery before they could do chemo.
personally i have hated the chemo every second of it but i do feel i've got the worst part over and done with , i couldn't imagine having this horrible chemo after surgury.

I agree with everyone else here, i have breast and lymph cancer and am having chemo 7 of 8 on monday. This is to shrink the tumor first as everyone else has had above. If the tumor is raging they dont like to cut first in case it spreads so they shrink it first to make surgery easier. It sounds frustrating but as Ruthless said do trust the medics its the best thing to shrink first then take out.

Lots of love to all xxxxxxxxx

I agree with everyone else here, i have breast and lymph cancer and am having chemo 7 of 8 on monday. This is to shrink the tumor first as everyone else has had above. If the tumor is raging they dont like to cut first in case it spreads so they shrink it first to make surgery easier. It sounds frustrating but as Ruthless said do trust the medics its the best thing to shrink first then take out.

Lots of love to all xxxxxxxxx

Hello Sara
It's all very confusing isn't it! I have ovarian cancer myself and my tumour was discovered as I was having bowel problems. I was originally told that the most important thing was to clear my bowel, and that I would have an operation and stoma bag, then chemo, then removal of the tumour, then more chemo and then reversal of the stoma . . . Not a very exciting or encouraging prospect. I went off for surgery and was very surprised to wake up without my tumour and without a stoma bag - the tumour had grown into my bowel and had to be removed as it was the cause of the blockage. Luckily the surgeons were able to reattach my bowel too, so no need for a bag. As soon as I got home, I started reading and researching articles about the advantages of chemo or surgery first. Conventional wisdom says that it is easier to remove the tumour if it has first been reduced in size. However, in some cases this is not possible. Survival rates do not seem to be affected by the method used - it would appear that your chances are exactly the same whether you have chemo first or surgery first. The crucial phrase is 'easier to operate'. So it really isn't a bad sign if they decide to do chemo first and your boyfriend shouldn't worry - about that, any way.
Hope this helps.
Love, Kate xxxx

Thank you all so much for your speedy responses, you have made us realise that it's not necessarily a bad sign to have chemo first. Your strength in dealing with cancer is astonishing and I wish you all well x

Hi Sara

I have ovarian cancer also. I had five lots of chemo then surgery followed by another three lots of chemo. That was nearly two and a half years ago. That again was to shrink any tumours and to give the surgeons the best chance to remove all of the cancer.

Hi

Chmeo before surgery is a normal thing -having it myself at the moment.Shrinks anything that needs removing and tackles the problem at the same time -makes surgery easier & minimises the risk of micro spillage -trust the medics

Hope it all goes well