Any Stage IV's that have been cured?

[STU]

Pog,
My husband like you has a mathematical brain and went through the stats just as you explained and the patient group contra indications that unforunately make up the initial drop statistically and to be honest hope grew. Keep heading to the flat line!
I was watching my mum tonight and my father and I could not help laugh at her going around being nothing other than gran. Bliss. Then I think of my friends father in law who for some reason had the liver resection but no chemo!!!!!! Doing great 6 years later.
Keep pushing th boundaries.
Stu

[pog451]

Stu, Stas are stats and people are people. Gaelen erred perhaps on the "wintry reality" side of things but I sort of agree with her that fluffy-bunny "its all gonna be alright" head-in-the-sand optimism isnt always useful, especially as a lot of the treatment we CRC peeps have to go through is serious medicine, can be painful, debilitating and even fatal in itself and its worth having a streak of reality alive to be able to make good decisions.

Even so none of the survival curves goes to zero short-term and those survivors are real people, so hope can always have a justifiable place in our minds.

Thanks for the PM BTW - it reached my by normal mail but doesnt seem to have been saved here.

[GaylaR]

Just bumping this to stay near the top. As a stage IV I'm not under any illusions but I do like to see that it is possible.

~~Gayla

[Asterix]

I saw a patient today (I'm an optometrist) who told me she had Stage IV CC with liver mets in 2005. She was NED and only gets yearly scans now. Was quite a nice thing to hear.

[pollo65]

My great joy in being NED for the last 15 months is that I am skewing the stats. I like not getting chemo a little too
pollo 65

[Bev G]

I was diagnosed with stage IV CC in 12/9 (so 3 years next month) I had a single, large liver met at diagnosis which was resected out 4 months after my colon resection. I have never had any new cancer since the time I was diagnosed. I may say I am cured at 10 years out, but for now, I am just incredibly lucky, and incredibly grateful. Also, hopeful and praying that one of the new targeted gene therapies will provide the cure for all of us. Be careful who you vote for tomorrow!

Bev

[carolann289]

My grandma was diagnosed with colon cancer in July this past summer. She had some of it removed in surgery before starting chemo. It has progressed to a stage 4 cancer and has spread to her lungs. Does anyone have any recommendations that could help? Or do you think she really only has a year like the doctors say?

[pog451]

My grandma was diagnosed with colon cancer in July this past summer. She had some of it removed in surgery before starting chemo. It has progressed to a stage 4 cancer and has spread to her lungs. Does anyone have any recommendations that could help? Or do you think she really only has a year like the doctors say?

Carolann, digging up old and only slightly relevant threads isnt going to get you the help you need. There are lots of people on the board dealing with or who have dealt with lung mets and they can answer any specific questions you amy have - Start a new thread to ask.

To answer your implied question in general terms, StageIV CRC has grim survival stats that are however getting a bit better and quite a few of the people here with lung mets have done quite well for quite some time, some may even regard themselves as "cured". The path´to get there however definitely involves at least a good to excellent response to chemo and surgery. If your grandma experienced progression during chemo and is now inoperable then the outlook probably isnt good.

Start a new thread for your grandma and somepeople can help with more detailed responses.

[ritz]

I am my husband's caregiver.
He was diagnosed feb 13 stage 3c. He just got a pet scan and showed infected lymph nodes in the groin area, neck and abdomen. I believe now that makes him stage 4. I am freaking out. He is supposed to start chemo next week on wed. The onc at USC told him that he was going to die & that it was no cure for him. Is she right? Please help!

[Helen]

Hello Ritz

My name is Helen and my partner is treated at USC Norris,we go every other thursday.Pam is stage 4 as well,we are very happy with the care she has received.Is your husband a candidate for surgery ? Pam is not,we will be at Norris this thursday.If I may can I ask you which Dr your husband saw?

[Mummabear]

Ritz and Helen,

Should we start a thread for anyone whose significant others are not surgical candidates. I am trying not to read stage IV posts because there are so many different "stages" of stage IV. My DH has rectal cancer with the tumor in half of his colon, with mets to his liver lungs, widespread lymphnode involvement and his spleen. He is not a candidate for surgery to remove the tumor, he is not able to get radiation (too widespread) there are too many mets to the liver and lungs to remove anything, and the lymphnode involvement goes from the pelvis to his neck (& everywhere in between).
Once the tumor has left the colon wall and gone to 1 lymphnode it is stage IV. A that "stage" of stage IV it is completely cureable or NED is achievable. The tumor is respectable and the couple of my phnodes can be removed. Even if there is a met to the liver or lungs tha can be resected.
It is hard for someone in our position ( our,meaning Helen and Pam, DH and myself) to read the "stage IV's that have been cured" because that is not possible for us.we are pretty much playing the waiting game. Fr this elf you out there tha are reading this and say " you need to be positive" or " try this/that" or "I /significant other was cured at stage IV" it doesn't apply to us. I have been scouring this thread to see if anyone that has survived multiple years tha were not candidates for surgery, I haven't found any.and if I missed that person that had widespread involvement without surgery that has lived over the 2 years they are predicting, please tell me who I would love to read how they did it!
Sorry to be so negative, but this is the reality of our situation and I think new members need to see that ALOT of people, our stage of stage IV, are not here! I'm sure I'm going to get he!! For this post, if anyone is offended I will take it down:(

[vickitwo]

Mummabear-my DH is in that same situation

[Helen]

Mummabear,

Please don't take your post down,I bet there are more of us out here.I think the idea of a thread is a great idea.Our nephew and my sister's widow are here with us this weekend and I need to go make breakfast for them.I will post more later today.

Peace and Love

Helen

[so-scared]

Mummabear,

I do not think that you are going to get hell for that post or at least I don't think that you should. That post is based on reality and fact. Unfortunately, many who have this disease are facing a very grim reality ... my husband included. We have been given more time because of the great response he has had to the hai pump but there is really not much of a hope for cure for him. He also has lymph nodes from his chest to his pelvis involved, liver, lungs, and possible recurrence in pelvis (may be a chronic leak). He was able to have surgery though so he may not be the kind of stage IV you are talking about either. He was given the generic two years to live at diagnosis. This fall I knew he was not going to make it to the two year mark. Now, with the hai pump, I know he will pass that mark. I agree that there is a wide range of situations in the stage IV world. Some with a solitary met, some with extensive mets, etc. All of the situations are bad but some are worse than others. I sure wish that your husbands case was not in the "worse than" category!

[Mummabear]

I will also post an update, with a very sick DH from chemo Thursday, his family decided to come for the weekend from 3 hours north and 4 hours south with a half hour notice! Nice!!

Thank you for the support I was dreading looking at what the response to my post would be and prepared to remove it, I have changed my mind:)

More to come... And possibly a thread, think of an attention grabbing thread title;)

Happy Sunday my friends!!