Discovered my wife has Ovarian cancer

[MartyS (Gromit)]

Very sorry to hear that.

Better find a really good place for her to get the surgery, they have to be extra careful to find anything that has spread and remove it.

[RVR II]

Very sorry to hear that.

Better find a really good place for her to get the surgery, they have to be extra careful to find anything that has spread and remove it.

Thank you very much.
Agreed. I think she's heading to Acapulco on Thursday to see the doctors there for a consultation but she also has connections in Mexico City so I told here which ever location can get you in the quickest, GO THERE!

[MartyS (Gromit)]

Very sorry to hear that.

Better find a really good place for her to get the surgery, they have to be extra careful to find anything that has spread and remove it.

Thank you very much.
Agreed. I think she's heading to Acapulco on Thursday to see the doctors there for a consultation but she also has connections in Mexico City so I told here which ever location can get you in the quickest, GO THERE!

Well, at this point the quickest isn't as important as finding the best people/hospital to do the surgery, people that have experience removing tumors without spreading the cells around the abdomen.  If it's an aggressive type it is very important to limit the movement of any cells that can start new tumors.  I wonder if that's the real reason the first operation turned into biopsy only, if they saw stuff they were not sure they could deal with and needed confirmation to send her to a better facility. 

[RVR II]

Very sorry to hear that.

Better find a really good place for her to get the surgery, they have to be extra careful to find anything that has spread and remove it.

Thank you very much.
Agreed. I think she's heading to Acapulco on Thursday to see the doctors there for a consultation but she also has connections in Mexico City so I told here which ever location can get you in the quickest, GO THERE!

Well, at this point the quickest isn't as important as finding the best people/hospital to do the surgery, people that have experience removing tumors without spreading the cells around the abdomen.  If it's an aggressive type it is very important to limit the movement of any cells that can start new tumors.  I wonder if that's the real reason the first operation turned into biopsy only, if they saw stuff they were not sure they could deal with and needed confirmation to send her to a better facility.

This is true.

[LucasM]

I am very sorry to hear that.  I agree completely with Marty, getting the best is far more important than the quickest at this time.  Regardless how urgent it feels to get it out of her, the important thing is precision.

I do hope things go smoothly with the surgery wherever and whenever she can get it done.  I am so sorry the two of you are going through this.

[RVR II]

I am very sorry to hear that.  I agree completely with Marty, getting the best is far more important than the quickest at this time.  Regardless how urgent it feels to get it out of her, the important thing is precision.

I do hope things go smoothly with the surgery wherever and whenever she can get it done.  I am so sorry the two of you are going through this.

Thanks Lucas. It sounds like that's the plan.. She's going to Acapulco tomorrow morning to the hospital there for consultation and see what they say

[RVR II]

Ok so I haven't done a detailed update on my wife's cancer here..
It's been classified as Undifferentiated Uterine Sarcoma. It is a rare aggressive cancer. She had hysterectomy surgery which included removal of a large tumor. they have found additional tumors on her uterus, 1 kidney, 1 lung, and on her liver so it's spreading. Surgery will be required to remove those tumors as well because apparently chemotherapy doesn't work well on this type of cancer according to research.
I haven't been able to see her much since I got here to Acapulco where the cancer hospital for the state of Guerrero is located, because the family is keeping our marriage secret so she could qualify for government cancer treatment.
She could be released sometime this week from the hospital to recover for her next surgery but in the meantime, the family is searching around for a place where she doesn't have to climb up and descend down some 40 steps here at her cousin's house.
I have still been an emotional mess because seeing her in such a severe state of distress just devastates me

Got a call from her as I finished typing this..
The doctors found 2 tumors on one of her kidneys and they want to do a biopsy as soon as possible on those and she's being hesitant because of the severe amount of pain she's still in from the surgery 2 days ago so all the family except me are going to emphasize that she must listen to the doctors and let them do the biopsy no matter what!
This is why I got so frustrated with her over the years.. Her stubbornness is unreal 

[MartyS (Gromit)]

Fuck, that is sad news.

Everywhere I look this up it says try to get into a clinical trial, might have a better chance of that in the US?  I know a lot of clinical trials are payed for by pharmaceutical companies or the government, but don't know if they cover all the costs.

Yeah, they don't do chemo at that stage unless they think it will shrink the other tumors an make them easier to remove.  Radiation is sometimes at option.

Sucks that you have to stay away at this time, when the news is hitting you both.

[RVR II]

Fuck, that is sad news.

Everywhere I look this up it says try to get into a clinical trial, might have a better chance of that in the US?  I know a lot of clinical trials are payed for by pharmaceutical companies or the government, but don't know if they cover all the costs.

Yeah, they don't do chemo at that stage unless they think it will shrink the other tumors an make them easier to remove.  Radiation is sometimes at option.

Sucks that you have to stay away at this time, when the news is hitting you both.

Posted and update to my previous post..
Yeah this is getting unreal. I think they have something like that here and with her in her present condition, she's unable to climb stairs let alone travel back to the US.
They said chemo was not an option to this kind of cancer as it doesn't respond to it at all and that surgery was the only option

[LucasM]

I'm really sorry Richard.  To have to stay apart during a time where you likely both emotionally need to be together must amplify the stress and pain.  I'm so sorry that circumstances require that.  I can't imagine the difficult state this is putting you both in.

Difficult as it is to confront, reminding her that waiting to have her early discomfort checked out led to it getting to the point it is, so her delaying on getting the kidney tumor biopsy is not going to be helpful, may help get past the resistance you mentioned.  As you already know, the doctors learning as much as they can about what they are dealing with is the way to lead to the best outcome that may be possible.

Again, I'm so sorry for the position the two of you are in.

[MartyS (Gromit)]

Tell her if she waits to get the biopsy she will be in pain again and have to recover from it, doing it now she can recover from both operations now and not have to deal with another right away.

I guess there might be a chance the other tumors are not related to the uterine cancer?  Seems strange they come up with the biopsy idea 2 days after the first surgery, they could have done those biopsies then.

[RVR II]

I'm really sorry Richard.  To have to stay apart during a time where you likely both emotionally need to be together must amplify the stress and pain.  I'm so sorry that circumstances require that.  I can't imagine the difficult state this is putting you both in.

Difficult as it is to confront, reminding her that waiting to have her early discomfort checked out led to it getting to the point it is, so her delaying on getting the kidney tumor biopsy is not going to be helpful, may help get past the resistance you mentioned.  As you already know, the doctors learning as much as they can about what they are dealing with is the way to lead to the best outcome that may be possible.

Again, I'm so sorry for the position the two of you are in.

Thanks Lucas. The family is over there now convincing her to let the doctors do their job and save her life.
the family is supportive though money is becoming an issue the longer this goes on.. I'm losing money being here but it would cost me money in change ticket fees to go back home so I'm probably just going to stay here to do what ever I can to support her.
Thanks again

[RVR II]

Tell her if she waits to get the biopsy she will be in pain again and have to recover from it, doing it now she can recover from both operations now and not have to deal with another right away.

I guess there might be a chance the other tumors are not related to the uterine cancer?  Seems strange they come up with the biopsy idea 2 days after the first surgery, they could have done those biopsies then.

Yeah that's what the doctors and family are telling her.

No it looks like the cancer is related as this is what it does spreading to other organs.
They discovered the tumors on her kidney during her operation.

[MartyS (Gromit)]

They discovered the tumors on her kidney during her operation.

Seems insane to me when they do stuff like this, they were looking at the tumors but didn't think to get samples of them then?
You would think they would have the biopsy needles in the room ready to go when doing any surgery on a cancer patient.
Instead they wait and put someone through more pain later when they decide they want the samples.

And it's the same here, the same crap happened with my mom 10 years ago.

[RVR II]

They discovered the tumors on her kidney during her operation.

Seems insane to me when they do stuff like this, they were looking at the tumors but didn't think to get samples of them then?
You would think they would have the biopsy needles in the room ready to go when doing any surgery on a cancer patient.
Instead they wait and put someone through more pain later when they decide they want the samples.

And it's the same here, the same crap happened with my mom 10 years ago.

Yeah that does seem a bit odd.. Either way, I just hope she lets them do the biopsy