UTSW & MD Anderson Recommendations

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oldaggie2000
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Nov 28, 2022 4:34 pm

UTSW & MD Anderson Recommendations

Postby oldaggie2000 » Mon Nov 28, 2022 4:46 pm

Hi All-

My dad has stage IV colon cancer and we recently found out he has mets in his liver. This was very tough news for him and our family.

We have been unhappy with his oncologist at Baylor and are looking for second opinions on the best path forward.

Does anybody have recommendations for colorectal oncologists at MD Anderson or UTSW in Dallas? We met with a surgical liver oncologist at UTSW and really liked him. However, he said it would be unwise to do surgery until my dad's cancer has been stabilized.

Thank you!

saltygirl
Posts: 164
Joined: Sun Feb 07, 2021 4:46 pm
Facebook Username: Salty.girl

Re: UTSW & MD Anderson Recommendations

Postby saltygirl » Tue Nov 29, 2022 7:31 pm

Yes, I am being treated at UTSW. I had all my treatments there. Because going to MD Anderson was too challenging. I don’t have any family here. And couldn’t let my children alone. I like my oncologist a lot. I wanted somebody positive. And not giving me statistics on survival unless I asked.
https://utswmed.org/doctors/syed-kazmi/ ... nt=website
My surgeon was https://utswmed.org/doctors/patricio-po ... nt=website
I am over 2 years NED from stage 4. Currently on vacation in Europe. Good luck.
Stage 4, distant lymph nodes May 2020, braf/kras mutations
11 folfoxiri
Intense radiation 1 week on distant lymph nodes
Surgery, hysterectomy, colon resection, distant lymph nodes resection
Complete pathological response to chemo.
NED 2021
NED 2022
NED 2023

rp1954
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Joined: Mon Jun 13, 2011 1:13 am

Re: UTSW & MD Anderson Recommendations

Postby rp1954 » Tue Nov 29, 2022 9:35 pm

You have a lot more technical choices and chemical-surgical combinations than any single doctor knows, especially if you are able act independently and communicate here. The more information you present may enable someone to help you find the insights or inside track you need.

If you're more passive, Baylor/UTSW, MD Anderson and Memorial Sloan Kettering (NYC) are your escalating choices with liver mets.

If you're willing and able for faster, more aggressive action, and even want more influence or control with your doctors, start here:
Day1 Week 1 as well as the preceding check list above my linked previous post.

You actually can begin to change your dad's probable lifespan today, and this week, yourselves, on top of whatever the doctors do.
watchful, active researcher and caregiver for stage IVb/c CC. surgeries 4/10 sigmoid etc & 5/11 para-aortic LN cluster; 8 yrs immuno-Chemo for mCRC; now no chemo
most of 2010 Life Extension recommendations and possibilities + more, some (much) higher, peaking ~2011-12, taper chemo to almost nothing mid 2018, IV C-->2021. Now supplements

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Jacques
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Location: Occitanie

Re: UTSW & MD Anderson Recommendations

Postby Jacques » Wed Nov 30, 2022 2:44 pm

oldaggie2000 -

Welcome to the Forum. I'm sorry to hear that your dad now has mets in the liver, so I guess this makes him StageIV-A.

You have already received two good replies to your initial post, both containing good information. For the reply that you received from rp1954, I would like to suggest that you take the time to read and re-read that particular post, since it contains several very important points to consider, namely the three points outlined below:

    rp1954 wrote:You have a lot more technical choices and chemical-surgical combinations than any single doctor knows, especially if you are able act independently and communicate here. The more information you present may enable someone to help you find the insights or inside track you need.

    If you're more passive, Baylor/UTSW, MD Anderson and Memorial Sloan Kettering (NYC) are your escalating choices with liver mets.

    If you're willing and able for faster, more aggressive action, and even want more influence or control with your doctors, start here:
    Day1 Week 1 as well as the preceding check list above my linked previous post.

    You actually can begin to change your dad's probable lifespan today, and this week, yourselves, on top of whatever the doctors do.

  1. If you choose to get more involved in your dad's case, you can make a real difference above and beyond what the best doctors can do. For example, you could share with the doctors some tips about alternative, non-standard methods of treatment that they may not yet be aware of. You could also keep track of the various tests and evaluations that are being done and double-check that they are the correct tests to order, that they are being done in time, that nothing important is missing or overlooked, and that the results of the various tests are correctly filed in the chart and posted in your dad's portal in a timely fashion. You could also arrange for someone to accompany your dad at important appointments in order to make sure that the important discussion points are recorded accurately and that all of your dad's important questions have been answered.
    .
  2. If you decide to get more involved here on this Forum, then you would have to post more information here about your dad's situation so that people here can determine if there is anything that they might be able to contribute. Perhaps the best way to do that is with a series of replies to your original post, outlining the main findings and status of your dad's diagnosis, staging, and current treatment plan. You could also prepare a signature that would summarize the basics of your dad's situation.
    .
  3. There are some important tasks that can or should be completed by the patient (or caregiver) in the very first few days or weeks after diagnosis, before the relevant options expire and before these windows of opportunity close. Many of these actions are described in rp1954's Day 1, Week 1 post. For things of this nature, if the tasks are not done in time, then the opportunities are lost forever. One example of this is insisting on getting a full, comprehensive set of baseline biomarkers and blood tests before any treatment is started. Another example is considering the addition of (non-standard) peri-operative use of cimetidine to improve surgical outcomes.
With your dad's scenario, the main question facing the doctors presumably would be: Are these mets considered operable? If the mets are considered operable (possibly after being stabilized), and if the primary tumor in the colon can be removed completely by means of a "complete mesocolic excision (CME)" procedure, then there will be no more visible cancer remaining in his body after these two surgeries have been completed and he will then proceed to a number of weeks or months of adjuvant chemotherapy (mop up chemo) followed by surveillance to check for any possible recurrences.

I do hope that you can find a good oncologist to lead the multi-disciplinary team. Lots of tests and evaluations need to be done to insure that the best combination of procedures will be chosen so as to maximize the chances of a good, long recovery.

By the way, there is a Dallas area former member of this Forum, Jim, who was diagnosed Stage IV in 2011, and is now more than 10 years cancer free. His wife attributes this in part to the excellent hospitals and doctors that they had access to in the Dallas area while he was under treatment:

https://coloncancersupport.colonclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=60944&p=482919#p482919
https://coloncancersupport.colonclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=65067&p=506192#p506192

If you've ever been to a Dallas Symphony Orchestra concert, you might have seen Jim there, because he played cello there before he retired. His wife played the oboe.

Take care ...


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