Hi everyone,
I am writing from Istanbul, Turkey. I am very glad to find this forum which is full of first-hand and real experiences. Thank you to all contributors that help me understand what is waiting my family and that we are not alone.
My father was diagnosed with colon cancer two months ago. He is 61, with no other chronic illness. When a routine blood check showed anemiea, his doctor was suspicious and asked for some other tests and a colonoscopy and they found a tumor which turned out to be adenocarcinom after a biopsy. MRI and PET showed no mets, but a lesion on liver. So, the doc insisted on a liver biopsy and found out that it really spread to liver. When his anemiea got better, he underwent a laparoscopic surgery for removing part of his colon and the lymph nodes, together with a synchroneous surgery to remove part of the liver (open surgery, 15% of the liver was removed). No colostomy was needed, all affected parts were removed. He was discharged after a week, 3 out of all removed lymph nodes turned out to be cancerous. After two weeks, he was able to drive, go to work and return to his daily routine.
It's been almost a month since the surgery and now it is time to decide on the adjuvant chemotherapy, and we know it is a must in order to destroy the remaining cancer cells so he will have a longer time before it is back in his colons or elsewhere. Still, he looks and feels so healthy and optimistic that I am concerned about how the chemo will affect his overall health and mood. We don't know if it will be COPOX or FOLFOX, or another combination, and how many cycles... Our appointment is next Wednesday. I am trying to make as much research as possible so I can ask the doc about all of our choices. I'd appreciate any feedback.