Joyce PATIENT TESTIMONIAL
Joyce, treated for ovarian cancer
In 1995, a few days after my son’s second birthday, I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. I've been through a lot of treatment over the years, but I’m here to tell my story for the help and hope it may provide to others. 
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WHAT TO DO WHEN THE DIAGNOSIS IS OVARIAN CANCER

If you’ve just been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, you may be struggling with what to do first. Learning about your disease and treatment options may help you feel more hopeful and more confident about your decisions. You are likely to feel more in control of the situation once you start treatment. So focus on getting the best treatment possible, from the beginning.

While every patient is unique and treatment for ovarian cancer can be different for individual patients, Joyce’s experience will help illustrate Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center’s approach to treating ovarian cancer. Joyce, her surgeon, Richard R. Barakat, M.D., and her medical oncologist, David R. Spriggs, M.D., together, will describe her experience, from initial diagnosis in 1995 through all phases of her treatment.

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center has treatment facilities in Manhattan, Westchester, Long Island and New Jersey, providing conveniently located care for people throughout the metropolitan area.
 
DIAGNOSIS
I had no symptoms. I had gone to my gynecologist because I was due for my yearly check-up…

  INITIAL EVALUATION
There were a number of worrisome indicators, including the CA125 ovarian cancer marker from my blood test…

 
 
FIRST SURGERY
I woke up in the hospital bed, not knowing whether or not I had cancer…


  INITIAL CHEMOTHERAPY
Even though Dr. Barakat removed all visible signs of cancer, the key word was “visible.” I still needed chemotherapy…

 
 
INTRAPERITONEAL CHEMOTHERAPY
When the second-look surgery revealed more cancer, I started a six-month course of intraperitoneal chemotherapy…

  A NEW DRUG AND MORE SURGERY
Although the cancer recurred again after the IP chemotherapy, my medical oncologist now had a new drug to try…

 
To make an appointment with a
specialist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, please call
1-800-525-2225.
 
MY MEDICAL TEAM
For me, one of the most important features about care at Sloan-Kettering is that the doctors are truly a team…

  MY LIFE NOW
After more than seven years of surgeries and treatment, these past four treatment-free years have been a gift.

 
 
To make an appointment with a specialist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, please call 1-800-525-2225. You will be asked to provide the patient’s name, address, phone number, and date of birth. If there is a confirmed diagnosis, or if a doctor suspects ovarian cancer because of abnormal test results, you’ll be asked how the diagnosis was made (for example, biopsy, ultrasound, CT scan, etc.) You will also be asked about the patient’s insurance information.

For a woman just diagnosed with ovarian cancer, or suspected of having ovarian cancer, the first appointment will typically be with a gynecologic surgeon. This physician is one member of a multidisciplinary team that includes other specialists in medical oncology, radiation oncology, radiology, pathology, and other medical professionals, who all specialize in gynecologic cancers.

At Memorial Sloan-Kettering, care is focused on the well-being of the whole patient, not just the cancer.