Sarah Alexander I'm 36 years old and will be 2 years past MOAS/HIPEC this July. I had low-grade disease with extensive spread, a 14 hour surgery with loss of my ovaries, uterus, spleen, gall bladder, omentum and 2 segments of intestine. I had a temporary ileostomy for 6 months and recovery was physically and mentally very tough for me. But now I'm back to my old self, travelling and working in Aus and NZ, and about to go on my first solo overnight tramp. The only lasting effects I currently have are intermittent diarrhoea and a propensity to gain weight if I don't watch my diet (thanks menopause), but much to my surprise I can do everything I used to do. Life was shit for a while but now it's great. Hope this helps a little for those who are struggling right now xx
I flew from Adelaide to Sydney on Monday for HIPEC number 3 ( second one under Prof Morris). I was terrified as after my last HIPEC in 2019 I was in Sydney for 4 months with loads of complications. It took me almost a year to recover and I did not manage to put any of the weight I lost back on. I am 1.70m and only weigh 50k. I am very fit as I go hill walking and cycle but I didn’t know how my body would cope again. However I have total trust in Prof Morris and if he says I need another HIPEC then I have to go with that. I was admitted to Ward 2. I feel a lot of pressure on my bowel and a recent CT scan had shown some disease there. After more tests Prof Morris changed his mind about HIPEC. He now thinks my bowel problems are caused by adhesions and not by the disease. Yes…..the disease is slowly growing again on my bowel but HIPEC will not help the pressure caused by adhesions. Another HIPEC for me will result in more adhesions and the ever present worry of a bowel obstruction. So one minute I am full of despair over another HIPEC and the next I am filled with hope that I will survive without one. I actually feel Prof Morris has given me my life back by not operating. I have accepted I cannot beat this disease now as it keeps coming back but I feel I have a good enough quality of life still. I have battled PMP for 16 years. I am grateful for the life I still have and enjoy !!
I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer stage 3 Jan 2021. Had cytoreduction …all cancers removed… mainly in pelvis. Had systemic chemo finished that in August… didn’t like chemo and it didn’t like me. Early 2022 noted symptoms and it eventuated I had three nodules… they say reoccurrence (three cells left behind from primary surgery simply grew)…I had to fight for the removal of the three nodules ( on bladder, peritoneum and one on sigmoid colon which warranted a wedge resection followed by HIPEC…I am 3 months post op… feeling okay, still a little bloated , especially after eating, no complications, travelled to Sydney at week 8 and walk an hour daily … still not back to baseline but getting close… wish information re HIPEC was shared more in NZ so women can have choice
The fact that only about half of the patients with crc benefit from HIPEC, there is a need for a genomic test to select the appropriate patients for this morbid treatment. In our setup Recovery can take from 8 weeks to 8-9 months.
