just a question..

Please feel free to read, share your thoughts, your stories and connect with others!
dmoniz
Posts: 31
Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2008 11:54 pm

just a question..

Postby dmoniz » Sun Jul 20, 2008 9:58 pm

hi
not sure if any one remembers me I joined last week, ask a question about stages!!!
any way, my mom comes home tuesday. but she has been feeling weaker and weaker. she is very bloated.
we got the bio back today and she does have colon cancer and they found serveral tumors on her liver all over different sizes. they sadi she has ADENOCARCINOMAN. just wondering if that is a really bad cancer?
wed she is going to check to see if it has spread to her lungs.
I saw a picture of the tumor that she has in her colon and it is almost closing it, ther must be about the size of a bean. Not sure how much she has been doin number 2.. but by the size she most not be doing very much.
thanks for listening.
Diana

User avatar
willtowin
Posts: 858
Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2008 1:37 am
Location: oklahoma

Re: just a question..

Postby willtowin » Sun Jul 20, 2008 11:26 pm

Diana-

I am sorry your mom is having problems. I do remember your questions. I hope you have rec'd some answers to your questions. You and your mom should be meeting w/ an oncologist soon and they should be able to help explain things to you. I answered your question about adenocarcinoma on the other thread. I think the main concern for your mom is going to be treating the liver tumors. An oncologist will be the person to answer that for you. Please feel free to ask all the questions you have, and we will try to help.
Stage 1 -4-25-08 (lymphovascular invasion)
poorly diff
Hnpcc negative
TAH/BSO 5-08
Folfox COMPLETED 12-26-08
NED as of 12-09
gallbladder removed 3-09
appendectomy 11-2012
1-2013 FNH of liver, or Adenoma
44 year old mom to 3-10, 11 & 14

User avatar
Jeff
Posts: 236
Joined: Wed Jul 09, 2008 10:00 pm
Location: Massachusetts

Re: just a question..

Postby Jeff » Mon Jul 21, 2008 12:23 am

Diana
I agree with the preious post and I also add some encouragement. A year ago I was totally exhaused and losing weight like crazy. Today, after a year of chemo, I'm doing pretty well and I think I'm going to do fine for a long time to come. From your descriptions it sounds like your Mom has the same thing I do except that I only have the metasteses and not a colon tumor. I also have mets in the lungs, lymph nodes and bones. Don't be discouraged. There are treatments that work and the advances in this area are coming fast and furious.

Hang in there and ask questions until you understand all the answers. Then come back here and we'll help you come up with some more questions to ask.

Good luck
Jeff
60 yrs old
Polyp dx 7/03
sigmoid colectomy 8/03
Cancer free 2/04
Stage IV dx 5/07, mets in Liver, lungs, lymph nodes & bones
Started Folfax6 5/07
Added Avastin and Zometa 8/07
32 Rounds of FOLFAX6 as of 8/7/08
Started Irinotecan & Erbitux 8/21/08

Magnolia
Posts: 1514
Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2006 2:38 pm
Location: Virginia

Re: just a question..

Postby Magnolia » Mon Jul 21, 2008 9:18 am

Adenocarcinoma is the most common form of colorectal cancer. In your mom's case it's spread to her liver, which has happened to many of the posters here. Any spread outside the local area and surrounding lymph nodes is considered a Stage IV and is more difficult to treat, but treatments DO exist, and shrinkage of those tumors is possible. Please talk it over with your doctors and see what your mom's treatment options are, and then come back and let us know what you find out. Clinical cures of Stage IV disease are uncommon, especially when multiple lesions are involved, but shrinkage and/or control of spread may be a reasonable expectation depending on size, location, and cell type of the tumors. Right now there are a lot of unanswered questions. A long chin wag with the oncs is in order.
Dx Stage IIIC CC 3/10/06
Surgery 3/20/06
Folfox 4/06 - 10/06
Avastin 4/06 - 4/07
NED!


http://www.CoverYourButt.org
Healthcare is a right, not a privilege.

dmoniz
Posts: 31
Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2008 11:54 pm

Re: just a question..

Postby dmoniz » Mon Jul 21, 2008 11:49 am

thanks every one, tomorrow will be a long day she will be flying back to canada from portugal and was told by the doctor today that she is to go straight to the hospital and stay the next day they will run a few tests and tansfer her to the hospital were she will be operated in. put he did say that she does need to be operated asap.
question he seemed very surprised the her iron was very high, not sure why but he was any one know much about that.

PammySue_51
Posts: 654
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2007 8:34 pm
Contact:

Re: just a question..

Postby PammySue_51 » Mon Jul 21, 2008 5:38 pm

Hi Diana,

I also have colorectal cancer with a few spots on my liver and lungs. I have been on chemo for 19 months now and I'm feeling pretty good. In many cases, this is highly treatable. Be sure to write down all of the questions you have as you think of them so you can ask the oncologist when you are there. It's likely you will both be nervous, and it's so easy to forget your questions if you don't write them down. I do it all the time.

Please ask any and all questions. Of course, the oncologist is the one to answer specific medical issues. We're here to support you and offer advice and opinions on things that may be a bit simpler like chemo side effects, what we do for nausea, what did we do for diarrhea, general questions on therapies and surgeries.

And Yes, I also remember you and I'm so glad you're posting again!
Pam

I Peter 5:10-11

Diagnosed 9/06 Stage IV, 19 mo. chemo, now out of chemo options except for possible clinical trials. 9/3/08 First of two Sir-Spheres procedures.

*Faith is the wind that blows the sail of our ship to the desired destination."

dmoniz
Posts: 31
Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2008 11:54 pm

Re: just a question..

Postby dmoniz » Mon Jul 21, 2008 6:07 pm

It is so nice to see lost of people with stage 4 colon cancer and still fighting for 19 months and more, it makes me feel better to here people and there stories about them makes me feel like just maybe she can fight and be with us for a long time to come. I keep hearing that people with colon cancer stage 4 don't last more then 2 yrs and that scares me but I see so many people here that are still fighting it for more then 2 yrs and some not feelin that bad. So my spirits are up and I can't wait to meet her at Toronto airoport and give her all the support and hope I can...
Diana

Hannah
Posts: 287
Joined: Tue Nov 15, 2005 3:59 pm
Location: Little Rock, AR

Re: just a question..

Postby Hannah » Sat Jul 26, 2008 9:48 pm

Hi Diana,

I hope your mom's trip went well and she is there with you now!

Just quickly to answer your question about iron - they were probably surprised that her iron is high because many (probably most) people who have colorectal cancer are anemic, meaning they have low iron levels. The reason this happens is because iron is in your blood, and many people with colorectal cancer are losing blood internally whether they realize it or not. Since they are losing blood, their iron levels are getting lower.

So to have colorectal cancer and have very high iron levels is definitely a little bit unique - not unheard of, but definitely not "the norm" either. I'm sure that is why they were surprised!

:)Hannah
Hannah K. Vogler
Co-Founder, The Colon Club
cousin of Amanda Sherwood Roberts
dx 1/99 Stage III at age 24
died January 1, 2002 at age 27

dmoniz
Posts: 31
Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2008 11:54 pm

Re: just a question..

Postby dmoniz » Sat Jul 26, 2008 9:51 pm

just wondering why some stage 4 are more treable then others, some one said they also had it in the liver and lungs and have doing chemo for 19 and they didn't give my mom that at all.

missjv
Posts: 1416
Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2006 10:38 am
Location: FLORIDA

Re: just a question..

Postby missjv » Sun Jul 27, 2008 8:47 am

all stage 4 are different. some cancer is found when the tumors in liver or lungs are very small and can be operated on. others need to have chemo to shrink tumors so they may become operable. some people the cancer is so far advanced that palliative care is the only option and surgery can't be done. tumor pathologies are also different some have aggressive cancer while others have not so aggressive cancers. im a big believer that where you are treated can also make a difference. a large cancer center where they specialize in colon cancers is the best place to go especially where they do research and they have specialists. i went to a general onco when i was first diagnosed and they told me i would die with in 2 years and palliative chemo was my only option. i refused to believe that and traveled 1300 miles from home to a large cancer center and met with an onco who is a colon cancer specialist and a team of surgeons and had liver and lung resection and am now ned and i have been alive still after 2 years off chemo and feeling great. if i would have stayed and listened to that 1 particular doctor then my outcome would be highly different. get as many opinions as you can for your mom. get a surgical opinion from a liver surgeon not a general surgeon not an onco but a liver surgeon.

missjv

dmoniz
Posts: 31
Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2008 11:54 pm

Re: just a question..

Postby dmoniz » Sun Jul 27, 2008 9:11 am

thanks missjv,
ya I know that they say my moms is bad and very arrsive and spreading fast and that is why they didn' think the chemo will slow it down.
they said her liver is unoperable a specalist in portugal that is liver speacillist and the onc here and general sur here in cnada that operated on her colon yesterday.

so not sure what to do from here ask to see a liver specalest here she what he or she says. it just seems like bad news all the time they aren't givin us much hope, is that normal?

missjv
Posts: 1416
Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2006 10:38 am
Location: FLORIDA

Re: just a question..

Postby missjv » Sun Jul 27, 2008 9:48 am

the only way to know if chemo will slow it down is to give her the chemo and give her a chance she might respond to chemo very well but they won't know until they try. i think docs always give the worst news at first then see how a person will respond to treatments is my guess. is her liver the only site of spread? there is a thing called hepatic artery pump that delivers chemo directly to the liver and it can be done while on systemic chemo. ask about that maybe that could be an option for her. just do not give up yet see how she does with the chemo there are many good drugs out there.

missjv

dmoniz
Posts: 31
Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2008 11:54 pm

Re: just a question..

Postby dmoniz » Sun Jul 27, 2008 10:01 am

it has also spread to her left lung.

dmoniz
Posts: 31
Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2008 11:54 pm

Re: just a question..

Postby dmoniz » Sun Jul 27, 2008 10:09 am

what is the best chemo dug that she should do, I have heard of many different types. just wondering so when we go see the chemo doctor on the 7 I have some things to ask him.

jennb
Posts: 70
Joined: Wed Feb 28, 2007 5:38 pm
Location: Manassas, VA

Re: just a question..

Postby jennb » Sun Jul 27, 2008 10:26 am

Hi Diana,

I was diagnosed Stage IV in Feb '07 with mets to the the liver. I started chemo to reduce the tumor size in the colon and rectum but had emergency surgery due to a perforated bowel. Restarted chemo and it spread to the ovaries. I had my ovaries and tubes removed. I've restarted chemo and am doing pretty well. I just had a CT scan and 3 of the many spots on the liver have increased by a few millimeters. I was thankful for this report~there was no evidence of any new disease. We are going to add another drug in to my chemo regiment to gain a more control. Through all of this, I still remain very positive and upbeat because my onc remains very positive. At our initial appointment, my oncologist never mentioned a time frame. She said we have many more options available to us today than just a year ago and we'll keep going forward.

I have also spoken to 2 liver surgeons. They feel that at this time I'm not a good candidate for surgery but that can change at any time. We are getting as much as we can from the chemo and then see what the next step is.

I truly believe that a positive attitude along with the caring medical team is what has helped me endure the past 17months. This is the best that I have felt in over 2 years and I refuse to give up. I even participated in the American Cancer Society "Relay for Life" in May, walking for almost 12hours with a few cat naps along the way. Your support will do wonders for your mom. I don't know what I would do without the support of my husband and 7-year old.

I wish you and your mom many prayers. This can be a long a war with many battles-I wish you much success.

Jenn
39 - dx Feb 13 2007 Stage IV CRC/liver mets~Ovarian mets 7/07~lung mets 1/09
2/07-10/07FOLFOX6 w/Avastin
10/07-1/09Erbitux/Camptosar/Avastin
8/08-1/09 added Xeloda
1/09-off to Georgetown to find a Trial
Resection 4/07-perforated bowel
temp osotmy


Return to “Colon Talk - Colon cancer (colorectal cancer) support forum”



Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 117 guests