Hello,
Here I am again, only this time with my 80 year old mother. She had her right colon removed last week and a 1.7cm tumor was removed. The pathology report shows one out of 27 nodes positive for cancer and the "T" rating is T1. Her cells were moderately differentiated. Nothing else significant in the pathology report . Were trying to decide whether to do any chemo or not. Other than the cancer, she is in fairly good health. She has slight COPD from being a previous smoker and does have pretty severe arthritis. Her pre surgical CEA was 3, so not really sure if its a good marker for her. Her pet scan pre surgery didn't show and spread beyond the initial tumor. She had her surgery done at U of M hospital in Ann Arbor Michigan and we feel she is getting very good care and they are very competent. Her surgeon was a colo-rectal surgeon who only preforms cancer surgeries in the colon and rectum.
Trying to decide what to do. Any thoughts would be appreciated. My personal opinion is just perhaps, if anything, start Xeloda. If it's to much for her to handle, then just stop. I'm also thinking though of maybe not doing anything because this cancer is usually slow growing and she very well may die of old age before the cancer gets her. Thanks for you help and I will be looking forward to your replies.
Deb