I was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer / liver mets just last year in May of 2021. Colon was 40% obstructed near splenic flexure and liver was about 80% covered in mets. Oncologist started me immediately on a course FOLFOXFIRI every other week, and added panitumumab to the mix about 3 cycles in. So far I've been extremely lucky - all tumors have shrunk by a large amount to the point where my colon obstruction is pretty much gone (still have tumor there / thickening of the walls) and my liver mets are down to 1 small (~3cm on the left side) and an 8x10cm on the right side that crosses over the middle. I also have a small tumor in my abdomen which is likely a lymph node but which might be peritoneal. My doctors say it's impossible to tell for sure until they open me up. After 12 cycles of chemo I've reached a point where resection is a possibility now and my team has proposed the following:
- Chemo
- Microwave ablation of the small liver met
- Chemo
- Laparoscopic resection of colon tumor + lymph node(s) (if that's what it is)
- Chemo
- Open resection of the remaining liver disease
- Chemo (2-3 cycles)
I just had a PET scan today and assuming everything looks ok I'd be starting with the ablation sometime in February, which puts me at around June for the final surgery.
A couple of weeks ago, I got a second opinion at another hospital where the surgeon there recommended that I do a combined surgery, during which 2 teams will first perform the liver resection (and ablate the small tumor while I'm open on the table) and then the colon surgery. He says it's a little bit riskier but it's fewer surgeries and only one (albeit longer) recovery period.
My original surgeon feels like the liver operation is too intense to combine it with the colon surgery. He thinks I'm having too much liver removed to handle both at the same time. Both places are planning to resect between 80% and 70% of my liver.
Has anyone here had a combined liver + colon resection where they removed a large portion of the liver? What's the recovery like?
I've read a few posts on here about people who have had both but I'm not sure if their case is different because maybe the liver resection wasn't as complicated. I'm leaning towards the combined surgery so I can just get it all done in one go / asap, but I hope I'm not biting off more than I can chew. Any thoughts or advice? Many thanks in advance!