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Feeling overwhelmed

Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2018 6:05 am
by decrd
Hi, I'm new here so please bear with me. My husband is 87 and in March was diagnosed with colon cancer metastasized to the liver. They said 11 months with no treatments. Maybe 3 more months with chemo & he would probably not feel well. He opted for no treatments & try to have the best life he could. Yesterday his speech was so bad you couldn't understand him most of the time. The hospice nurse ruled out stroke and thinks the cancer is in his brain. Has anyone else experienced this? I just wondered what we are looking at for life expectancy now.
Rhonda

Re: Feeling overwhelmed

Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2018 3:13 pm
by Atoq
I am sorry for your husband, I guess he is in a age range that very few reach, so there won’t be a lot of statistics on survival time to CRC. I have always heard that cancer grow slowly in older people, maybe a scan would rule out brain metastasis?

All the best

Claudia

Re: Feeling overwhelmed

Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2018 4:35 pm
by NHMike
This must be a very difficult time for you as caregiver. I have only heard of one person that experienced this on another forum but I've listed an article and a paper indicating that it does happen.


More and more people are surviving cancer, thanks to advanced cancer treatments and screening tools. Today there are nearly 15.5 million cancer survivors in the United States.

But in up to 20 percent of cancer patients, the disease ultimately spreads to their brain. Each year, nearly 170,000 new cases of brain metastasis are diagnosed in the United States, sometimes years after an initial cancer diagnosis. The cancers most likely to spread to the brain are melanoma and cancers of the lung, breast and colon.

Neurosurgeon and scientist Rahul Jandial, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor in the Division of Neurosurgery at City of Hope, says that recognizing symptoms and seeking medical attention as early as possible is vital.


https://www.cityofhope.org/blog/cancer- ... metastasis

We identified 48 patients (25 men, 23 women) who developed brain metastases from crc . The median age at diagnosis of the brain metastases was 63 years (range: 37–84 years). In 23 of the patients (48%), the primary tumour occurred in the rectum. At diagnosis of brain metastases, 43 patients (90%) also had other systemic metastases (mainly pulmonary and hepatic). The median interval between diagnosis of the primary tumour and of the brain metastases was 24 months. Median survival after a diagnosis of brain metastasis from crc was 4 months (range: 1–13 months). We observed substantially better survival (13 months, p < 0.001) in patients treated with surgery followed by whole-brain radiotherapy ( wbrt ) than in those treated with radiotherapy or surgery alone. Sex, age, location and number of brain metastases, and timing of diagnosis did not affect survival.

http://www.current-oncology.com/index.p ... /1048/1027

Re: Feeling overwhelmed

Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2018 6:09 pm
by Lee
decrd wrote: The hospice nurse ruled out stroke and thinks the cancer is in his brain. Has anyone else experienced this? I just wondered what we are looking at for life expectancy now.
Rhonda


I believe the nurse is right about possible brain mets. While it is rare, it does happen. I am so sorry for what you are going through. As far as life expectancy, the hospice nurse should be able to give you some idea. How often do they come to see him?

Hugs to you

Lee

Re: Feeling overwhelmed

Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2018 7:12 am
by decrd
Thank you everyone for your replies and encouragements. The hospice nurse has been coming twice a week, but I imagine she will start coming more often now. She will be here tomorrow morning so I have more questions for her. My main concern, as is everyone's is that he doesn't suffer. He has lived a good life and tho I'm not ready to lose him, I guess I am ready for him to pass over to eternity where his suffering will be over. Does anyone else spend so much time worrying about how the end will come? It seems like that is all that is On my mind. I'm so glad to find this support group. Thanks to you all.
Rhinda

Re: Feeling overwhelmed

Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2018 11:04 am
by NHMike
decrd wrote:Thank you everyone for your replies and encouragements. The hospice nurse has been coming twice a week, but I imagine she will start coming more often now. She will be here tomorrow morning so I have more questions for her. My main concern, as is everyone's is that he doesn't suffer. He has lived a good life and tho I'm not ready to lose him, I guess I am ready for him to pass over to eternity where his suffering will be over. Does anyone else spend so much time worrying about how the end will come? It seems like that is all that is On my mind. I'm so glad to find this support group. Thanks to you all.
Rhinda


My mother was ready to die three or four years ago and she was surrounded by kids and grandkids and friends and clergy came in to visit. So she was ready as were we. She is still alive and I think that the doctors were surprised but she had made her peace. I think that anyone that goes through the cancer journey does this at least a few times. So yes, lots of people, both patients and caregivers do worry about how the end will come.

Re: Feeling overwhelmed

Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2018 11:41 am
by decrd
Glad your mom made it through that rough patch and is still with you. Only God knows the time.

Re: Feeling overwhelmed

Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2018 1:31 pm
by Capri
My heart goes out to you Decrd & your husband. I will keep you both in my prayers. This is a hard road to travel, both for the patient and the caregiver.
There is a lot of support on this forum. I wish you both well.

Re: Feeling overwhelmed

Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2018 7:54 am
by DarknessEmbraced
I'm so sorry about your husband!*hugs* May he have peace.*hugs*