Viv Seiler

I decided to start this caringbridge website because it has been over whelming how many folks have been reaching out to us to provide prayers, support and well wishes. Ken and I are truly blessed to have so many caring friends and family. I'd like to give a little background so that folks know what I was feeling so that this may provide information to other women who might what to get checked if they have symptoms. Ovarian cancer does not present itself until it is advanced so we just all need to be conscientious of what we are feeling and ask questions.

I had been feeling tired for a month but I had a lot going on and I attributed my exhaustion to that. On March 19th I had a lot of lower back pain and then the following week, I had an exceptionally heavy period. That started this odyssey. In that next week I had a D&C plus a transvaginal ultrasound. During this time I was completely exhausted but I also had a distended abdomen plus I felt full all the time even though I could barely eat. It just felt like something was pushing on my internal organs. On April 6th I had surgery for a full hysterectomy plus to remove cancerous nodules from my abdomen as well as my bowel. Even though we really liked the staff at Paoli Hospital where I had my surgery, Ken and I decided to get a second opinion at the University of Pennsylvania because we wanted to ensure access to the best care possible and also give me access to clinical trials. We are now at Penn. I started chemotherapy on April 29th and the game plan right now is for me to get chemo every week for 18 weeks straight. (6 cycles which are 3 weeks each cycle). I will receive two chemo drugs (plus a lot of other things to offset the side effects of the chemo drugs) the first week and then just one chemo drug the next two weeks and that will complete one cycle..