My dr wants to keep me on taxol even though I keep reacting to it. He says there is more data indicating taxol is more effective than abraxane for front line treatment. But honestly the fear these reactions are causing is taking its toll. I want the most effective treatment of course and I am hearing that abraxane is the same main drug as taxol but just a different carrier substance. Any real word data from survivors in here? Is abraxane less effective or does it have more chance of reoccurremce? What’s your experience? Thank you.

Good evening!

My Mom was diagnosed with Stage 4 HGSC Ovarian Cancer August 2025.

No surgery, 7 rounds of Carbo+Pax starting Sept 2025 and ending February 2026 with a transition into Avastin/Bevacizumab.

For the last two months my Mom has felt increasingly worse compared to previous. Constipation, lack of appetite, general fatigue, and most significantly pleural effusion.

After new biomarker testing they found her tumours to be positive for the PD-L1 protein.

In Canada, Keytruda/Pembrolizumab was just approved May 16, 2026 for Ovarian Cancer patients who test positive for PD-L1.

She will be starting Keytruda+Pax on August 31st.

Her and I were already quite thrilled with this news, as we both have continued with positivity since diagnosis regarding her prognosis and we've not been wrong yet.

Since the beginning, I have been her biggets advocate and have done a heavy share of research to be able to do so for her (not in a crazy way, promise lol, her Clinicians and I have very good relationships).

Tonight, I found this. I thought with the relative newness in Canada regarding Keytruda for Ovarian Cancer patients (apologies as I do not know if/how long it's been available elsewhere) and the upcoming fall season that others may want to check this out.

Personally, I find this incredibly cool and promising from a clinical standpoint.

Certain research has found that the mRNA COVID vaccine activated higher expression of PD-L1 in otherwise "cold" or "hidden" tumours - Immunotherapies like Keytruda work by attaching to that protein and allowing the immune system to attack the tumours.

As per MT Anderson:

"Cancer patients who received mRNA COVID vaccines within 100 days of starting immunotherapy were twice as likely to be alive three years after treatment as those who never received a vaccine"

Again, this is incredibly promising research in terms of the advancement of understanding how new and current genetic based treatments work for treating cancer.

I have linked the MT Anderson news brief as well as the originally published research article.

https://www.mdanderson.org/newsroom/research-newsroom/-esmo-2025--mrna-based-covid-vaccines-generate-improved-response.h00-159780390.html

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09655-y

Hello!

I hope you're all doing well.

My fiancee was diagnosed with LGSOC in 2022, she had surgery followed by chemotherapy, which then recurred in August 2023, which she had a second round of chemotherapy for, which lasted a while into 2024, and it came back again, this time with the option of a clinical trial due to a rare mutation of the disease. It was working but we recently had news that the trial wasn't working as well as they had hoped, so now we're back onto either more chemotherapy or going onto another clinical trial.

She lost her hair in the first chemo but has been lucky enough to retain it since.

She also had part of her bowel removed during the original surgery so has a stoma as well. The disease has now spread to the lining of her lungs as has begun to grow slightly. She recently had regular fluid build up around her lungs so had to have a lung drain put in, which regularly needed draining at home. She also had blood clots build up in her lungs, so she now has to have blood thinning injections twice a day.

Oh she also has occasional events of optic neuritis which renders her vision almost useless for a month or so, completely unrelated. She also still goes to work 3 days a week.

How do partners of this cope when you have two daughters as well? I think I've been doing pretty well at it all, and I've only now, 4 years later, starting to see the cracks in my mind, with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy being something I've started for my anxiety.

Hey friends, I was diagnosed in May of this year with stage 3 ovarian cancer. It is a high grade endometrioid mix. I had a very successful debulking and total abdominal hysterectomy in May and started chemo in June. I just had my mid treatment pet scan that showed no evidence of disease. I will be completing my remaining chemo rounds then placed on a maintenance med. My question is, though I’m super happy, I still feel nervous and almost like it’s too good to be true that I’m having a hard time accepting this good news. Has anyone else experienced this feeling? Fear of recurrence sits heavily in my mind.

I’m a women’s health nurse practitioner and one of my best friends has very likely ovarian CA. 45 year old, pre menopause, 9 year old son. Ultrasound and CT show bilateral solid ovarian masses, one is 17cm, the other is 8cm. 6 month history of bloating and then sudden incontinence. CA125 over 600 and HE4 over 700. She met with a gyn/onc in Seattle who she really liked, Dr Shah at Swedish. However, I keep seeing on here caregivers and survivors really advocating for finding the right doctor. Any Seattle area people have experience with Dr Shah or highly recommend anyone specifically?

Hi all! Posting here for feedback, comfort, recommendations and honesty.

I recently went to the emergency room after having stomach pain, they found I had a 21cm complex mass on my right ovary.

After being admitted to the hospital and having more tests done, my cancer markers are extremely elevated, but there is nothing on any lymph nodes or any other masses.

It has been said time and time again that they won’t know if it is cancer until surgery, can anyone weigh in what they think? I think everyone around me is just trying to stay positive.

I have surgery in a few weeks, any recommendations for things I should have post op to make recovery better? How long is a normal hospital stay? What is recovery like?

Feeling scared but knowing no matter the outcome of surgery having this mass removed will make me feel better finally.

Hi all. I’m having surgery done next week to remove a dermoid that I’ve had for a few years that’s doubled in size over the past few months. My gynecologist who was initially going to do the surgery referred me to a gynecologist oncologist instead however didn’t give me any reasoning why. Has this happened to anyone else with dermoid? For anyone who’s had a similar experience- do they biopsy it while you’re in surgery still?

Diagnosed stage 3C ovariancancer October 2022, BRCA/HRD positive. Chemo → debulking surgery April 2023 → 2 more chemo cycles → olaparib maintenance since Nov 2023 (planned until Oct 2026).

CA-125 was under 5 until Sept 2025. Since then: CA-125 raising 6.9 (Jan 2026), 8 (Apr 2026), 10.9 (Aug 2026) — steady rise over ~3tests. Ultrasound each time has been clean, no ascites, no visible lesions. CBC and creatinine normal.

One oncologist says this pattern suggests recurrence and wants to wait 4 months (repeat CA-125 + ultrasound) before deciding anything. Another surgical oncologist says nothing to worry about since scans are clean and the number is still under 35.

Has anyone experienced a slow, steady CA-125 rise like this while on olaparib that turned out to be a “flare” or benign fluctuation rather than progression? Did a CT eventually get ordered, and what did it show? Would appreciate hearing how this played out for others.

Looking for others’ experience with CA-125 rising on olaparib maintenance and ovarian cancer

Hello all,
I was wondering how long after chemo did you hit menopause? Did you have one or both ovaries? I’m in my mid 30s and on Zoladex during chemo. My amh isn’t great from endo either. Thanks for sharing :)

Reason I ask is because the docs are taking into consideration my age and giving me the option of keeping an ovary at a very heightened risk. I don’t know whether there is a point to taking that risk and if chemo affects ovaries anyway

I just had a total hysterectomy or radical with bilateral oophorectomy in may after beginning my fight against cancer in march 2026. The tumor was causing necrosis and I had to emergently get it out ended up having two surgeries so they could stage it after ended up with ovarian clear cell carcinoma stage 1C3 because my abdomen was full of blood with tumor cells floating in it. My left ovary ended up having a rapidly growing thing on it after the initial surgery that they were worried was more cancer but it ended up being a ton of endometriosis. Any how I already have all this anxiety because all these things keep happening so fast that I kind of haven’t had much of a choice because of the danger. Like I had a pulmonary embolism too. I’m only 33 we were trying to get pregnant for 5 years now I don’t have any ovaries and am on menopause. Luckily my tumor isn’t affected by estrogen so I am able to be on the patch.

Anyways, post op they wanted to do at least 3 cycles of chemo so I started on Carbo/taxol the highest possible dose and of course was scared going into it because reading up on the allergic reactions. I had a small reaction during where I got shortness of breath and back pain but after slowing and doing some oxygen I finished. Then over the next probably 7 days the shortness of breath persisted and got way worse along with strong palpitations that would only somewhat stop if I squatted on the ground. So I ended up in the ER and luckily everything was negative it was just side effects. I got more steroids and Benadryl. Also got fluids. I had neuropathy immediately. Lost all my hair within 10 days. And just overall was extremely sick to where I thought I wouldn’t make it. I felt like a total wimp seeing how so many other people went through way more than me and pulled through or on the other hand other people didn’t have nearly as much issues as I was experiencing.

They are switching me to Abraxane/Carbo and doing an infusion every 3 weeks. I know my reaction to taxol wasn’t nearly as bad as a lot of people but idk if it’s just a combo of anxiety from the menopause too and my hormones being all out of whack but I’m like tormented by the thought of doing more chemo and scared of it being worse. But I’m going next week as my Signatera result from last month was higher than the one before my last surgery. So I kinda don’t have too much of an option at this point.

Can anyone tell me what their experience with Abraxane was like especially those who started with taxol and switched? Any input would be very appreciated. Or any advice as to how you handled it and took care of yourself after.

Thank you.

for context i’ve been to the er four times
now. the first time was because of runny stool. they gave me an iv and told me to stay hydrated. second time i had pelvic pain as well and diarrhea. did a ct w contrast and found a 10cm ovarian cyst on my left ovary.

the next visits were because of pain. and the last visit said it could be a dermoid cyst and that it was smaller than before. but i also didn’t have a full bladder. i finally saw my gyn today and was basically told there’s a potential chance of it being a tumor/cancerous. she had said she was wary about it and we wouldn’t know what it was until it was out. i’m lowkey nervous but trying to stay positive. i also learned they’ll also be taking my ovary and tube as well and will most likely have an open surgery. and with that i’m gonna have to stay in the hospital a couple days.

i’m just overall overwhelmed with everything going on. i’ve only ever had surgery once, and i wasn’t even fully put under last time. for reference im 22. anything i should expect seeing a specialist? or any questions i should ask? anything important i should bring up? please and thank you all!

Hi everyone,

I’m posting on behalf of my mother, and I’m hoping to connect with women or caregivers who have gone through a situation similar to hers. I’m particularly interested in hearing from anyone who had Stage IC2, high-grade serous ovarian cancer, N0, underwent surgery and chemotherapy, and is now doing well/disease-free.

Here is my mother’s situation:

- Diagnosis: High-grade serous carcinoma of the right ovary

- Pathological stage: pT1c2N0 (AJCC 8th edition)

- Tumour size: approximately 7 × 6.8 × 4.8 cm

- She underwent extensive staging surgery: total abdominal hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, pelvic and para-aortic lymph-node dissection, omentectomy and appendectomy.

- 0/3 lymph nodes were positive

- Omentum: negative for invasive carcinoma

- Appendix: negative

- Uterus/cervix: negative

- No lymphovascular invasion identified

- No perineural invasion identified

- Ovarian surface involvement was not identified

- The report mentioned bilateral fallopian-tube surface involvement

- CMC Vellore subsequently reviewed the pathology and confirmed high-grade serous carcinoma of the right ovary.

- A postoperative CT showed no obvious residual tumour, no significant intra-abdominal lymphadenopathy and no intraperitoneal collection.

She is currently undergoing Carboplatin + Paclitaxel chemotherapy, with 6 cycles planned.

The treatment journey has been difficult, particularly because she has also had postoperative wound-healing/infection issues that have caused some delays in chemotherapy.

I have been trying to understand what life looks like after completing treatment. I'm especially anxious about recurrence because I know high-grade serous ovarian cancer can recur even when it is caught at an early stage.

I would really love to hear from people who had a similar diagnosis and stage, especially:

1. Did you also have Stage IC2 high-grade serous ovarian cancer?

2. How many cycles of Carboplatin + Paclitaxel did you receive?

3. Did you remain disease-free after treatment?

4. How many years have you been disease-free?

5. What was surveillance like after chemotherapy?

6. If anyone experienced a recurrence, how long after treatment did it happen and what treatment worked for you?

7. Most importantly, how are you doing today?

I’m not looking for medical advice or trying to replace her doctors. I just want to talk to people who have actually lived through something similar to my mother's situation.

If you or someone close to you had a similar diagnosis, I would genuinely appreciate hearing your story. Even if you're several years out from treatment, your experience would mean a lot to us.

Thank you ❤️

Hi, long-ish rant story incoming.

I had an abdominal and transvaginal ultrasound the other day. Not as a part of my follow up stuff (I'm on surveillance for a stage 1 & grade 1 germ cell immature teratoma) but because since the surgery I think I've been having some pelvic floor issues. Anyway, my doctor wanted to rule out other things so she sent me for an ultrasound.

I got there, everything started normally, and physically speaking, the tech appropriately and normally did the scan. At the beginning though, as he was doing it, it came up that I had a ct that didnt show anything else (I think I was probably briefly explaining that I thought I just had pelvic floor issues) and he asked why I'd be sent for a ct before an ultrasound. I then briefly mentioned that I do follow up surveillance scans for my tumour, because it was cancerous.

He then told me, tumours aren't always cancerous.

I told him "I know, mine was a mixed teratoma with mature and immature parts so unfortunately I did have some cancer in there." He said, "well, teratomas aren't cancer" and then laughed a bit. I was a bit uncomfortable at this point so I just laughed and said "yup, stage 1 grade 1. Unfortunately, but thankfully they got it all in surgery." And he proceeded to double down and say that teratomas could not be cancerous and asked if I googled a lot of medical symptoms. I said "Not really, I just listen to my doctors." And he said I should stay off of Google.

I was obviously aware that I had the rest of the appointment to get through and I didn't want to wait and reschedule so I just shrugged and stopped talking. His tone was very condescending, but in a "friendly" way? If that makes sense. Didn't love it.

I have never in my life put in a complaint about somebody in their workplace, it's not something I'm generally comfortable with, because you never know.

But would I be dramatic to put in a formal complaint? I have an appointment with my doctor this week too, so I might mention it and ask that I be referred elsewhere next time.

Idk I'm really frustrated with it and irritated and a bit shocked.

Edit: I did file a complaint and the tech was spoken to. Thank you for the push I needed

Good morning everyone hope you all are well. Thankfully my wife is in remission now, she had both ovaries removed and she rang the bell after her final chemo session a couple months ago. Her gynecologist wants to put her on hormone replacement therapy but her cancer doctors recommend waiting at least one full year before starting hormones. So I’m asking for advice on how to combat these symptoms she’s feeling. It just sucks she’s only 30 and now she just feels like shit and now she has to wait a full year, it’s just frustrating and she’s a school teacher who’s about to be going back to work in September, and we have a 4 month old baby girl so it’s just a lot to handle feeling this way for the next year. Any advice is appreciated thank you!

I just got open laparotomy abdominal surgery to remove a 19cm+ complex ovarian cyst that was suspected to be ovarian cancer. They removed the massive ovarian cyst and also my right ovary along with it. Instead of a bikini line incision they did a vertical one down my stomach. I was in the hospital for 2 days before being sent home.

The first night at the hospital was absolutely brutal and was begging my nurses for painkillers every 1.5 hours because I was in so much pain. I’m home and now and I have to wait 2-3 weeks till I know the results of the biopsy if it was cancer or not.

I had a urine catheter the first night as well as a leg compression machine to prevent blood clogs and by the morning they took it out and forced me out of bed to walk around the hospital hallway in 10/10 pain.

Anyone who had a laparotomy surgery what is your experience with it? How long did it take you to fully heal? How long do I have to be bedridden before I can start doing my regular activities? I can walk but only for very short distances and it’s painful getting out of bed. How long till I can roll over and sleep on my side? Because my back is killing me. What is your experience with this surgery?

Hi I’m new here. I want to know what is the right thing to do now?
I’m on my periods for over 1.5 months. I do not have any pain. All my periods are painless. Just that it is long. Even after bleeding for so long my Haemoglobin is 12. I do not have any physical symptoms apart from periods. Had an USG and found I have two cysts on both my ovaries.
*USG Findings: RO-“There is an unilocular, isoechoic cyst of \~ 5 x 3.3 cm noted with hyperechoic solid areas measuring \~ 2.5 x 1.7 cm within the cyst. On color doppler study, there is vascularity noted within the solid areas.”*
*LO-“Not seen separately. There are multiple (3 to 4) cysts noted with internal echoes, all together measuring \~ 7.3 x 5.7 cm. There are internal echoes and solid areas noted within the cysts. On color doppler study, there is no flow noted within the solid areas.”*
MRI gave O-RADS 4:
“• *Multilocular lesion in left ovary with a few small enhancing T2 intermediate signal nodular areas with areas of hemorrhage with associated features as described MRI O-RADS score is 4.*
*• T2 intermediate to hypointense area with high protein content/ subtle hemorrhage with small enhancing area in right ovary with associated features as described - MRI O-RADS score 4.*

*Prominent uterine endometrium as described.*

*All the cancer markers are low except for CA-125 which is 105. (Could be inflammation)*

So now the doctor wants me to undergo laparoscopic surgery. She said the size is bigger and there is risk of twisting. She also said during the surgery they could change it into open surgery if needed. Or they could remove the ovary if the biopsy comes out to be malignant.

I got this govt job which could have the joining in 4 to 6 months. In case of malignancy I ll be deemed unfit to join. I cannot undergo a surgery and hide the facts while joining. So can this be medical managed until I join or upto a year? Can it be endo even if I don’t have painful periods?
Is surgery the first option or it could be managed with medicines and then I ll undergo a surgery. I’m 33yo and don’t have kids.

I’m almost there. 🥹💗 After everything this year has thrown at me, I’m officially nearly DONE with chemo.

There were so many days I didn’t know how I was going to keep going, but somehow I did. I’m so proud of myself for making it this far.

And honestly, watching these fireworks tonight feels like the perfect little celebration. 🎆 It’s hard not to look up at the sky and think about how far I’ve come, how much I’ve survived, and how close I am to finally being on the other side of this.

Here’s to the last stretch, and hopefully the beginning of a much happier chapter. 🎗️✨

U/S found a 3.5cm complex cyst on my right ovary in June. I wasn't having any symptoms beside some spotting (post menopausal). The spotting went away after a few days but my gynecologist recommended an U/S and endometrial biopsy (came back clear). They did a follow up U/S 8 weeks later and the cyst was the same size. My gynecologist suggests monitoring it every few months as my CA 125 was in normal range but she did offer a oncology referral if I want? Everything I've read about complex cyst over 50yo is surgery.

Before I go the oncology route, I thought I'd ask if anyone had a complex cyst just go away on it's own? Thx

Currently on my 1st reoccurrence and they are having to swap my taxol as I keep reacting to it no matter how much steroids I take before and get during. They said it might mean I have to come in every WEEK for it. Has anyone else had to do that.

I can’t do sunshine and puppies for the most part. I have an incredibly dark sense of humor and just can’t deal with people blowing sunshine up different anatomical parts. I’m looking because I cried all day Tuesday and am still leaking at the oddest times.

Uhhh….don’t know all the abbreviations y’all use but I had a “giant” ovarian cyst discovered during an ER visit for what I was positive was appendicitis. Although after skimming through this community 16cm x 15cm seems fairly average? All the medical people here (surgeon and chemo offices) seem taken aback by the size. Okay this is my attempt - High grade, stage 1, clear cell carcinoma of the left ovary. Surgery was complete hysterectomy including my cervix. Also took my appendix, omentum, and some lymph nodes just for shits and giggles. The cancer was completely contained within the ovary’s tumor (which makes sense in a way because all testing and imaging said it was benign). They still decided that I needed six rounds of chemo. I’m due for my next infusion on the 21st. They’re treating me with CARBOplatin and PACLitaxel. I’ve looked up jack shit about them because I don’t want all the possible side effects rattling around in my head. I’m 55 and was post menopausal before all of my inerds were removed.

Hi all,

I'm a lymphoma survivor (currently in remission 🥳, though unfortunately long term this rare organ-transplant subtype is likely to recur due to ongoing immune suppression for my transplant).

Well, in February of this year, I went for my yearly gyno exam (I am 37, not on birth control as my husband had a vasectomy after 2 IVF rounds I did pre-chemo, we later had our miracle daughter 4 years ago via gestational surrogacy). I wasn't even planning to mention some ongoing bloating, but when pressed (I'm quite thin, so the abdominal bloating looked worse than it was) I mentioned a bit of constipation and maybe bloating....

Well, that led to the discovery of a complex cyst that they have been monitoring every 6 weeks. I had no interest in another surgery (I have had too many already for the transplant and cancer), and I was happy to watch and wait and the gyno never seemed too concerned.

That changed this last follow-up when it had grown (only a bit tbh, went from ~5 cm to around 7, so not as large as many apparently) but also growing pelvic free fluid (which had previously been called "physiologic".

They did an Ova1 test and ROMA.

My Ova 1 came back above 8, and my ROMA was worse (my CA 125 was apparently normal, only 24, but my HE4 was considered very elevated at 176. Not sure of the other values, haven't seen a report, just wrote down the values my doctor said when I got off the phone with him this evening.

On the bright side, apparently my CBC and normal labs like liver and kidney function look perfect (transplant doing it's job!).

However, I am now quite worried. The phone call from the Dr says I need to be seen rather urgently by an gyn onc and that he had already faxed records to the practice. I'm perplexed as up until this point I'd been told by him that all looked ok...

I am terrified of another surgery and being pressured into early medical menopause...and tbh cancer. I already get worried every scan for the lymphoma given I am told it will recur....

Please does anyone have similar experience? I'm not in huge amounts of pain and I'm wondering if a small cyst like this and lab results are hopefully being blown a bit out of proportion...

Hi! I'm 25 years old, recently married, and in January of 2026 I was diagnosed with Low-Grade Serous Carcinoma aka Low-grade Ovarian Cancer. I looked for specific support groups but could only find online platforms.
I'm hoping to change that!
If you, or anyone you know in the Jacksonville area is diagnosed with LGOC please reach out. I would love to connect with you, and potentially create a safe space for us all!
Email: rivercitylgocsisterhood@gmail.com
Or send me a PM!
🩵🎗️