Stage 4 Colon Cancer... The truth?

maddiesue · New User Joined: 07 Aug 2007 Posts: 4

Friday August 3rd, we found out that my mother had stage 4 colon cancer. She was dx 4 1/2 years ago with stage 3. She under went surgery and chemo. All of her follow-up colonoscopies showed no concern. A month ago she was swinging a golf clun and started having pain in her hip. After several visits to the doctor they did a x-ray. This showed something that concerned the doctors. She under went more testing including biopies and this is the deal.... It has spread to her lungs, liver, and lymph nodes. The Doctor informed her that the mass on the outside of the intestines is putting pressure on the base of her spine< They are not going to operate to remove the mass. However, the Doctor has said he is willing to fight with her as long as she is willing to fight. She had her first round of chemo yesterday and is wearing a pump until Thursday.
This leads to my questions..... I have read a few post concerning cases where surgery was recommended even on the liver. Is there specific information I could ask the Doctor about...... or is she not telling me how extensive this cancer is. I have a feeling she is protecting me and our family.

brainman

Hi Maddiesue, I am so sorry to hear about your mother's recurrent colon cancer. I think you already are asking the very question that you need to ask your mother's medical team: "Why not surgery on my mother?" I do not know the answer to that question. However, as her telling you how extensive it is, she has already done that: by telling you that it has spread to her lungs, liver, and lymphatic system. To me, that sound very extensive and might be the reason why the are opting for chemotherapy rather than surgery.

I will keep you and your mother in my thoughts and prayers.
_________________
Jim
Site Administrator and long-term cancer survivor
1992 Astrocytoma grade 2, left motor strip
2005 Recurrence this time said to be an Oligodendoglioma grade 3, same location.
My Story Part 1: http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?p=7350
My Story Part 2: http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=8029
Blog http://jimhawkinsport.blogspot.com/

juliatheena · Regular Joined: 31 Jul 2007 Posts: 10

How old is your mother? I'm 47 with stage IV. I feel pretty darn good if I may say so myself. Sounds like your mom is pretty active. If she feels good enough to play golf, I say FIGHT!

maddiesue · New User Joined: 07 Aug 2007 Posts: 4

She is 48. You are very right in the fact she is very active. That was the shock about the whole situation. She had no signs, felt great, and no indication that the cancer was back. Had she not swung that golf club and felt that "twing" of pain, ( now we know that "twing" was the mass putting pressure on the nerves in her legs), we would not have found out for months, maybe even years. I spoke to her the morning after her first chemo and I told her she sounded better than I heard her in the last 3 weeks. She had NO side effects from the Chemo or the pump she wore for two days. I believe in the power of the mind, and the power of god. You are absolutely right when you say FIGHT, and FIGHT we will.

How long have you known about your Stage 4? You sound like a very strong person!

juliatheena · Regular Joined: 31 Jul 2007 Posts: 10

I was diagnosed June 1st. No symptoms whatsoever. I simply went to my Dr for a prescription refill, a slight cough. He ordered a chest xray and that's when all hell broke loose. The xray showed multiple nods in both lungs, the following CT scan showed multiples in my liver too. The liver biopsy came back 'adenocarcinoma'.

I went straight to The City of Hope in Duarte, only about 23 miles from my house. THE leading Cancer Center in So Calif. MRI of my brain showed no activity (heh!), PET scan showed activity in my colon. Colonscopy found the source of my cancer.

I'm only on my 2nd round of chemo. My pump comes off today. The symptoms this time are of course, fatigue, no nausea, just no appetite whatsoever, and my saliva glands are going crazy. Everytime I eat, it's like shooting pain up into my ears, but for only the 1st 2 bites or so. Plus, I think I have a canker near where my ear empties into my throat, so I feel like my left ear is infected. Ouch.

Oh well....enough complaining. Considering what these meds will do for me, I can handle it. I havev 3 boys, `13, 11, and 8. I HAVE to keep going for them. They are really a big help when I"m down .

Nice talking to you. Tell you mom hi and hope she's kicking ass!

maddiesue · New User Joined: 07 Aug 2007 Posts: 4

I truly believe that you can do anything! Your children are all the motivation you need. I admire your fight, and I will be across the country pulling for you. It is wonderful to hear your determination and your words give me comfort. Please keep me updated and you are in my thoughts. My mom will have out patient surgery Wed, because the tumor is putting pressure on her kidney. Her doctor feels we need that kidney (you think?), just kidding. I wish while he is in there he might decided to remove that ugly mass. Don't understand why he wouldn't, ofcoarse he is a lot smarter that I! Anyways, let me know how your next dose of chemo goes. Have you ever heard of a sight called caringbridge.org? It is a really cool site. Many blessings to you, Missy

GoingToBeatIt · Regular Joined: 28 Apr 2007 Posts: 19

First of all I am so sorry for your mom and her diagnosis.

My wife was diagnosed 4 months ago at 31 with stage IV colon cancer and multiple large liver mets. We have 2 kids, boy (20months) and girl (3 1/2) and you can read our full story here http://karenscancer.blogspot.com

I too asked the question why chemo before surgery.
We were told
a) not eligible due to the size and location of tumors so we are undergoing chemo to "de-bulk" the tumors with a view to surgery in another 2 months.
b) Studies have shown chemo BEFORE surgery to be more effective than immediate surgery followed by chemo.
c) My wife's colon tumor is tiny to begin with and I guess it was just bad luck that it broke through the colon wall, into the lymph nodes and basically has had a field day in her liver.

So take heart, surgery after debulking may be a viable option in your mom's case (I'm not a doctor).

Our oncologist wanted chemo first also to determine if we had a chemo-sensitive tumor. Some tumors are not chemo sensitive so he wanted to establish that up front.

The tumors are shrinking well already, 30-40% after 4 treatments.

Some questions to ask will be
a) What type of chemo regime is she getting? Folfox? 5FU? Avastin?
b) What is her CEA level

Of course watch out for allergic reactions, keep Benadryl in your house as it's apparently the de-facto antidote for many of the potential allergic reactions.

Keep an eye on your mom's temperature and encourage her to get help (meaning drugs) to combat the side effects. Sleeping pills, anti-nausea etc. It took many tries for the doctor to figure out a regime that would work for my wife.

Again, sorry for the diagnosis, I hope this info helps and if you ever want to chat feel free to reach out through the link above.

God Bless,
-fs

maddiesue · New User Joined: 07 Aug 2007 Posts: 4

Thank you so much! I feel I have a start now. She receives 3 different chemo's over a 4 hour session, then leaves with a pump of 5FU. Her red urine had protien in it and she was unable to have one of the chemo's yesterday.
How long did they wait to evaluate the shrinkage of the tumor?
I am so glad to hear of your wife's tumor shrinking! That is wonderful. She is young and full of life with much to fight for! Thanks for the link. I will check it out this evening. missy

GoingToBeatIt · Regular Joined: 28 Apr 2007 Posts: 19

Hi Missy, I'm glad you're feeling more confident. You have every right to be. Much of this I'm finding is a "head-game" and you just have to keep reminding yourself that your family will get through it.

As to your question, they are evaluating my wife every 4 chemo treatments which is every 8 weeks. My wife also gets the take-home pump. It's annoying but manageable and our kids think it's vitamins.

Hang in there and God bless,
-fs

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