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Pregnant with Stage III Colon Cancer

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 12:20 pm
by euclid
At 5 months pregnant, what everyone thought were bad pregnancy symptoms finally put me into the hospital. After a few wrong guesses and a colonoscopy, the labs came back positive for colon cancer. A week later they removed the tumor. I start chemo in a few days, I will be on a Folfox regimen. March 22 is my natural due date, so yes, I am still pregnant. They tell me it is rare to have colon cancer and be pregnant at the same time. Has anyone experienced this?

Re: Pregnant with Stage III Colon Cancer

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 12:54 pm
by CRguy
Sorry you have had to join us here but wish you the very best on your own Journey.

There is a recent article which describes your own situation here, and yes, a number of people have been through similar experiences to yours so I hope they might add to your discussion.

In Harmony
CRguy

Re: Pregnant with Stage III Colon Cancer

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 1:03 pm
by gjsabmor
CRGuy - right on point ... that's a great article. Next time, I am coming straight to you for advice.

euclid, I am so sorry you're going through this ... wishing you all the best with your treatments and the rest of your pregnancy.

Re: Pregnant with Stage III Colon Cancer

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 2:17 pm
by Mys
I had cancer already when I was pregnant. Symptoms started before the baby was one, he was 16 months when I was diagnosed. But I didn't know it, so no chemo while pregnant for me.

I am sorry you have to go through this. But hopefully they caught it in time, so both you and the baby can get healthy. The danish study mentioned above seems to conclude the baby can develop normal even if mom is on Folfox.

I wish you all the best.

Re: Pregnant with Stage III Colon Cancer

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 2:51 pm
by SkiFletch
First off, welcome to the board Euclid. Sorry you have to be here, especially under the circumstances, but glad you found us. There have been a handful of folks here who had cancer while pregnant. Unfortunately we recently lost a member who was stage IV at dx while pregnant and while that reality may be scary; searching through her posts, especially her earlier ones may give you some great information and insight into what you're going through. Her name on the forums is jmarie and was by far our most active member in your situation.

As CRguy's article indicates,

These findings are similar to those of previous studies in which systemic chemotherapy administered during the second and third trimester was relatively safe.


Please don't be afraid of treatment while pregnant. The blood-placenta barrier prevents larger molecules like chemotherapy drugs used for CRC from traversing it and interacting with your baby, so do your best to not worry. Keep us posted with how things go for you, hopefully we can help you out in some way along your journey

Re: Pregnant with Stage III Colon Cancer

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 6:51 pm
by Georgie
It adds an extra level of crap when a pregnant lady is diagnosed... Certainly hoping all goes well for you and bub. As others have said, some chemo's can be given quite safely while pregnant, let the onc and obstetrician guide you. They may also look at delivering early, which sounds scary but may be the best option. I have had two friends this year deliver early (one due to cancer one went into early labour). They delivered at 28 and 29 weeks. Both babies have gone from strength to strength and are now happy little 11 months olds.

Having FOLFOX they will watch you closely, making sure you are getting enough nutrients in to keep bub developing well. Nausea was a big problem for me with FOLFOX but it can be managed with meds. Things like Zofran wafers are safe to use when pregnant. Another friend lived on them due to bad morning sickness with both her pregnancies.

Keep us updated when you have the energy. I may not have kids (hopefully I will one day) but this place is a great sounding board. I loitered for aged reading posts before i actually joined up.

Goodluck.

Georgie

Re: Pregnant with Stage III Colon Cancer

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 9:24 pm
by thostie
i had cancer while pregnant with both my children. i didn't find out until my second child was already delivered. i started chemo when she was 3 month old. im so sorry you're going through this. i will keep you and your little one in my thought and prayers.

Re: Pregnant with Stage III Colon Cancer

Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 1:51 am
by Jachut
I'm so sorry that you have to go through this. It really puts my own personal worries and concerns into perspective. I pray that it is all OK.

Re: Pregnant with Stage III Colon Cancer

Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 4:18 am
by chrissyl
Hi,
Wow another one I am soo sorry you are goin through this:( I was 4 months pregnant when diagnosed i also had a 6 month old . I was told to abort bub at 20 weeks so they could do the surgery as i had rectal cancer they didn't think they could get to the tumor with bub inside.I refused to abort so they did the surgery and hoped bub would make it out alive.Well she did it was a 6 hr op. I started chemo 2 weeks later just 5fu no oxaliplatin as they said the drug was new and they didn't have any studies with its use during pregnancy.Thank god i didn't have oxi because when i finally did after bub was born i has a major allergic reaction that nearly killed me. I had 5fu chemo until bub was 31 weeks 6 days and they delivered her by c section so i could be treated with the stronger chemo.I had a little baby girl i named her Indie she was 3 .5 pounds born she spent 2 months in the preemie ward with NO complications and tomorrow is her first birthday yay!!! My miracle bub!!! I was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism a week before she was delivered and they think it was a combination of chemo and pregnancy so just beaware if you have any chest pain ect go straight to emergency!!! I waited a week and it could have been fatal!!!!! I continued my chemo after she was born and finished he 7 months worth.. I have a big fat chubby happy , smart baby so the chemo did not affect her in any way!!!! If you want more info just msg me i am more then happy to help I know exactly how scary it is :(

Chrissy

Re: Pregnant with Stage III Colon Cancer

Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 6:45 am
by E0367
Euclid,

I'm glad you found this wonderful website and helpful people. I hope above positive information about blood-placenta barrier and Jmarie's posts and Chrissy's great outcome with her pregnancy have helped in dealing with this scary issue. My prayers are with you and your precious bundle.

Re: Pregnant with Stage III Colon Cancer

Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 11:39 pm
by brigita
I was diagnosed with stage III rectal cancer when my wee one was 4.5 months. Turns out that the bleeding *wasn't* due to hemorrhoids...

Very, very different than being diagnosed while actually pregnant, for sure, but I was undoubtedly sick while preggo.

I wish you and your family all the best in your long road ahead. You will get through this. :)

Re: Pregnant with Stage III Colon Cancer

Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2011 9:08 am
by euclid
CRGuy,

Thanks for the link to the article. It is reassuring. It seems very recent, and I was particularly intrigued by the comment that many more pregnant women are expected to be diagnosed with colorectal cancer in the future. I wish I could read the full article to see if they explain this. I will be printing this out and giving a copy to each one of my doctors.

Does anyone know if each one of our cases goes into some sort of informational database automatically? Or does someone have to decide to do a study or write an article? I want to be a statistic so that the next person and their doctors have that much more info to go on.

Thanks to everyone for your comments and information. I wish you all the best. I am glad this site exists, I am just sorry there are so many of us here.

euclid

Re: Pregnant with Stage III Colon Cancer

Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2011 12:36 pm
by CRguy
Glad it helped. Maybe one of your docs has access to the original. Don't know if anyone here might either ??????

I suspect that your docs will be keeping patient files with the mind to assembling information for their center. Specific studies would also access that info, depending upon what the topic is. We have a few research knowledgeable folks on here so they will be able to shed more light on that.

Continued best wishes
CRguy

Re: Pregnant with Stage III Colon Cancer

Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 12:30 pm
by klee81
I realize this is an older post....but I had cancer unknowingly while I was pregnant. My daughter is almost 9 months old now. My polyp showed angiolymphatic invasion. Being that cancer is in the blood and lymph vessels, Does anyone know if cancer cells can travel into the placenta and baby? She seems very happy/healthy and I wasn't at all concerned about it until now....and i'm probably being paranoid.

Re: Pregnant with Stage III Colon Cancer

Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 4:46 am
by pukalania
Hi Klee
Not sure what the answer to that is but usually they can check for lynch syndrome to see if it's hereditary
Hope you have nothing to worry about