Oncology

[livingwith]

My doctor told me there is no known cause or cure. I have not given up hope; however, not being able to get treatment or not being taken seriously by other medical professionals has been the most difficult part for me. I see education for both patients and doctors as the best solution.
Sure living with a diagnosis of cancer and then painful polyneuropathy has been difficult. But trusting in myself first and the belief that something wonderful is going to come out of this has gotten me through. N...Read the full article

[Ms_Froggy]

You posted this a while ago, I am new to this site. I'm trying to get some help for my sister. She is 66 years old. Last June-July her hands start to swell up, where hot and painful. She thought this might be just some kind of infection and it would go away quickly. It did not. Early September she went to her doctor and he did not know what was wrong. He sent her to a rheumatoid arthritis dr.; he said she did not have that, but he wanted her to have a test for ovarian cancer. She had the test and, yes, she has ovarian cancer. She underwent a full hysterectomy (sp?) end of September and the surgeon found the cancer also in her omentum and removed quite of bit of tissue and fluids around her stomach. As of last Friday, she has had her 6th and final chemo treatment and her doctor is pleased with her progress and says, chemically, she is in remission (her tumor markers were down to 12...it was 4,000 when first diagnosed.)
Through all this, here hands have not improved...the swelling has gone down, and her hands are cold now and frozen in claw like postions. Yes, both hands are involved. She does not have diabetes and up to this year has always been very healthy and always on the go. (Her feet are also somewhat numb and cold...but the dr. told her this was due to the chemo treatments and they would get back to normal after the chemo is over.) Nobody seems to know anything about her hands.
We would like to find a doctor who knows about her condition and perhaps a physical therapist that can help. We live in Michigan and if you have found anyone to help you, I would like to hear about it.
My sister is handling the cancer just fine; but she can't do much because of her hands (even picking up a glass for a drink is hard for her.)
Thank you for your time and possible response.