Making Choices About Your Ovarian Cancer Treatment

Getting diagnosed with cancer is scary and can be overwhelming. Taking control of the treatment decisions can help to relieve some of the stress surrounding this time. Of course, any major questions should be discussed with your doctor, as they will have the answers pertaining to your specific case. There are many different types of ovarian cancer treatment, and it's important to figure out what's right for you.

Don't rush into choosing a treatment, or into choosing not to be treated. The right treatment for you is going to depend on a lot of different factors, including the stage of the disease and the type of ovarian cancer that you have. Surgery isn't always a necessary first step, for example, nor should age automatically exclude you from certain treatments.
 

Consider including clinical trials in your treatment plan. Clinical trials are studies done to research the effectiveness and safety of new treatments. They may include entirely new drugs, new combinations of existing treatments, or different dosages of existing drugs. 

The best results in cancer care come when you are cared for by a treatment team, rather than just an oncologist or general practice doctor. A treatment team or care team is a group of doctors from a variety of disciplines who work together to figure out your ovarian cancer treatment. A typical care team includes practitioners in nutrition, pharmacy, mental health, oncology, and more. The more options you have to choose from, the more likely it is that you will find a treatment that works for you.

The treatment you get for your ovarian cancer is ultimately up to you. You don't have to let a doctor decide everything that's going to happen. Get informed about your treatment decisions, and start making choices. Cancer survivors have to work for it.