Rectal cancer spread to the lungs

[Jeannie]

My sister Tammy was diagnosed 2 years ago with rectal cancer, stage 2. She had surgery, radiation and chemo to treat the initial cancer. Just recently they found cancer in her lungs. The doctors say she now has 2 years to live with chemo. Another doctor has told her she can have surgery to remove the tumors, then chemo and it may give her more time. Tammy is 43, with three children ages 7 to 16. The whole family is devastated and looking for support. Suggestions on treatment and any moral support would certainly be appreciated. Especially stories from anyone with this type of cancer who has beat the odds and survived.

[missj]

wow im sorry to hear about your sister. if you havn't yet go to a big cancer center and see what they can offer. i found out that the attitudes of the doctors are alot different at large institutions they are up on all the new treatments and experimental drugs. another thing is the time frame the doc put on your sister is ridiculous #1 he doesn't know how she will respond to chemo and surgery, #2 he is using statistics, she is not a statistic she is an individual. there are quite a few people on this board and other places on the net i have seen that have survived well longer then expected and alot are disease free, i am stage 4 colon cancer with mets to liver which i am going to have surgically removed, it is and will be one hell of a fight for any of us with metastatic cancer but we can do it, i have a 7 year old daughter and i plan on seeing her grow up. tell your sister to go get 2, 3, or 4 opinions if she has to it is worth the extra cost. good luck.

missj

[SusieQ]

I am very sorry to hear about your sister's diagnosis. Unfortunately I can relate. I am 45 years old and I have a 7 year old daughter. I was diagnosed 5 1/2 years ago with Rectal Cancer Stage 4. At the time of my diagnosis, there were mets to both lungs. I immediately had the colon surgery, plus 2 lung surgeries. I was in such shock, I did not seek a second opinion, I did just what the doctors told me needed to me done.
The lung surgeries were pretty tough to recover from. After that I went on to have many chemotherapies. Two years after the first lung surgeries, I had another lung surgery and more chemotherapy. But I am still here to tell about it. My advice to your sister is 1) Yes- get a second opinion. The Dr. may tell you the same thing, but that is o.k. 2) If you do go ahead with the lung surgery, talk to your surgeon about his/her technique. My first lung surgery, the surgeon did one side at a time. He made an incision on the side of the rib cage. I had to go back to surgery one week later to do the other side. Ugh! I went to a different surgeon the second time. This Dr. went right down the middle of my chest and was able to work on both lungs at the same time.

I hope this helps your sister. I wish her all the best!

SusieQ

[missjv]

hi susie,
you are still on chemo after 5 1/2 years? have you ever been off chemo? i am just starting out i have 3 liver mets that i am going to have surgically removed but luckily no other hot spots according to scans. i have only had 5 chemos and i am sick of it already but i know i have to do it. have you ever gone into any remission? i don't mean to be nosey i just want to know what i might be up against. i have a 7 year old daughter and i will do whatever i have to so i can be here for her. thanks for any input.

missjv

[musiclover]

I only wish my friend could have surgery. He also was diagnosed with rectal cancer. After radiation and chemo (Xeloda) the tumor shrank enough to have surgery. During the surgery they found cancer in his liver. I don't remember when they found more cancer in his lungs-it's all a blur but they did and he went on a trial (Xeloda, Oxaliplatin, Avastin). Everything was great at first with tumor shrinkage and managable side effects. Then the last CT show progression. He's now in limbo trying to decide between doing a traditional treatment (Erbitux, Iriontecan) or a trial (E7820) that no one's heard of including the doctor himself.

As his caretaker I am beside myself - he has new tumor growth that they are confused about. It is in his lung and they don't know if it is lung cancer now. There's no talk of a biopsy or PET scan to rule this out. I don't know what to do at this point. He's crazy with worry. I wish my friend was able to get surgery but there is too much cancer everywhere. The only postive thing I can think about at this point is that he is not in any pain. I feel that coming on soon though from what I've been reading. I wish I could help more.