Hello everyone,
I have been a long time member (since 2014) and have been reading so many useful and important messages from this forum and this site has been so helpful. I know mainly most of the users here are from the States so I was little hesitant to post here since I live in South Korea now. However, on the internet I thought this website has been so helpful, so I wanted to post a message here about my mothers colon cancer treatment. So I would appreciate anyones help and advice.
So originally my mother was first diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer with metastatsis to her lymph nodes and spots in her lungs in 2014.And immediately after her diagnosis the doctor was able to perform a surgery and was able to remove the cancer from her colon. Then after about 20 rounds of chemo, a year later they were able to remove her cancer from her lymph nodes. Then she completed 12 more rounds of chemo with Folfox and avastin and was informed by the doctor that her cancer spots on her lungs had shrank and thus was assumed that my mom had a partial remission to her lungs and was given a 7 months off with CT checkup after every 3 months. But during her last CT checkup they found out that her cancer spots in her lungs had grew in size and thus was asked to start her chemo treatment of folfox and avastin since she had a good response during her last treatment. But recently to our surprise when we asked the doctor if surgery to her lungs to remove the cancer spots was an option, the doctor stated that surgery was not an option because there are too many cancer spots on her lungs and thus was considered inoperable. Also was also told that she was not curable and that she had to do chemo for the rest of her life. So to our shock and dismay we couldn't believe what the doctor told us since they were able to remove the cancer in both her primary colon cancer and lymph nodes and there was a partial response to her lungs as well and my mother physically had recovered so well and was almost back in full without any side effects from chemo.
So i was wondering from reading other messages from the forum if we should seek out an aggressive doctor who would perform a surgery if there is a shrinkage in her cancer spot, since I have read posts in regards to this issue. Also, I was wondering if anyone has any experience with this situation before. I guess the news from the doctor few days ago still hasnt sinked in well to both of us. And since we have stayed and recieved all of her treatments at the same hospital ( St Marys Hospital) perhaps it is time to seek another opinion at a different hospital. The thought of my mother having to do chemo for the rest of her life just to survive from this terrible disease sounds so cruel because she has done and responded to her treatments so well so far. So any advice on this issue would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.