Interview OV19  

Interview OV19

Age at Interview: 65
Sex: Female
Age at Diagnosis: 59
Background: Hospital theatre sister, divorced, one adult child.

Brief outline:Ovarian cancer diagnosed in 1997 following diarrhoea, pain, weight loss and vaginal discharge. Treated by surgical removal of ovaries and womb followed by chemotherapy.


To watch or read an interview clip, click on the heading that interests you. Either a video,audio recording or text will open, depending on the clip
To close transcript boxes, click here
To print the interview’s text, click here
Female
Decided against going in a clinical trial because she wanted to avoid the severe side effects of paclitaxel (Taxol).

 



And then I had, six months' chemotherapy, Platinum, I had. I could have had the - I can't remember what it's called, the one that comes from the yew tree - but it was a trial, and it was only hit and miss whether you got it or not, and there's a lot of very bad side effects with it, I can't remember what it's called now.

Is it Taxol?

Yes. Taxol, that's it. And I had had alopecia before and I really didn't want to lose my hair, I mean, you know, you get stupid things you think about. You know, does it matter whether you lose your hair or not? But I didn't want the side effects, so I said I'd just have the Platinum.

I think that Taxol was fairly new then, and they offered me a chance to go into the clinical trial and, but they pick you, I know they pick you out of a hat so you're either on it or you're not. And and, explained all the side effects to me and I felt I couldn't cope with them at that moment. And the carbo… whatever it's called, is, had less side effects, which is what you get anyway if you weren't picked out of the hat, so I said 'I don't want to go on it'. They gave me time to think about it, and I said 'no I don't want it'.

   Support our work

Mail to a friend

Send