chemo or not at almost 83

[ozarklady1]

Dx Sept 5 with colon cancer 111c
Laparoscopic surgery with clear borders
6 of 16 lymph nodes postive
No visable mets in ct scan

Ozark Lady Doctor said cancer started in appenix
Would like to hear from the patients who did not take chemo.
Thank you for your time.

[kiwiinoz]

Getting advice from strangers on a colorectal cancer site when your primary was your appendix is a strange place to look for advice.
However, I do understand where you are coming from.
In my personal experience it come down to how you want to face the remaining time you have, no matter the outcome of the cancer.
My Father had an incurable bone cancer (Multiple Myeloma) and spent the bulk of the time that he was in remission ticking off things on his bucket list with my Mother.
I got stage IV colorectal cancer, had resection of the bowel, recovered, had resection the lung, had chemo (I was 39 at the time) and I lived life on a day to day basis as if I was going to have a long future, but I spent several years ticking things off my wife and my bucket list. Fortunately the cancer never came back.
I had a staff member who's Father had the same stage IV (colorectal and lung) and she was so scared of loosing her Father that she pushed her Father to go through chemo despite her Father (a Greek immigrant) wanting to go back to Greece to see family and friends rather than have chemo. He died after 2 treatments as his body couldn't handle it. She never came back to work after that and I always wonder if she regretted that decision or not.
Currently my wife is overseas visiting her 88 year old Father that has had Kidney cancer (diagnosed 12 years ago) come back in his bones. He has decided that he is 88 and doesn't want to undergo any treatment as it will prolong the inevitable and leave him feeling poorly with his remaining time.

The only thing I can say is talk to your oncologist, see how your body feels over the coming weeks and make your choice. I choose chemo at 39 as I was young and I didn't want to have any regrets if I didn't do chemo and the cancer came back. I am not sure if I would make that same decision if was in my 80's but that is something you need to ponder and talk to your loved ones about.

Best Wishes
Kiwi

[roarR40s]

Hi Ruth,

Cancers that start from the appendix are much rarer, and may have a different treatment path to those starting elsewhere in the colon. Your cancer may or may not be mucinous. But mucinous types typically don't respond well to chemo.
I would try to find out from your oncologist on how much chemo would improve survival for your specific cancer type.

All the Best
CL

[ozarklady1]

Kiwi,
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond.
They called the cancer colon but that it started as appendix. I have an appointment with the oncologist soon. She will do some testing before that and I will make a decision. Not easy, of course I would like to have the best outcome and that is that it never returns. On the other hand I feel like I don't want to suffer from chemo in the time I have remaining. In some research I find it says 50% never returns after just surgery alone. I don"t feel that lucky. Either way is a gamble.
Thank you again for the response.
Ozarklady

[ozarklady1]

Hi Ruth,

Cancers that start from the appendix are much rarer, and may have a different treatment path to those starting elsewhere in the colon. Your cancer may or may not be mucinous. But mucinous types typically don't respond well to chemo.
I would try to find out from your oncologist on how much chemo would improve survival for your specific cancer type.

All the Best
CL

Thank you CL for taking the time to respond. I value all opinings.
ozarklady

[utahgal7]

ozarklady1;

The American Cancer Society has a Cancer Survivors Network webpage (https://csn.cancer.org). On the website, under the words "Cancer Survivors Network", there is a search feature. If you type in appendix cancer, a discussion board will appear. On this discussion board, there are patients with appendix cancer along with their caregivers. Maybe you can find information on the discussion board that would be specific to your cancer. I think you need to register to post personal stories, ask questions, etc.

Hope this helps and good luck to you,

Paige

[ozarklady1]

Paige,
Thank you for your response. I appreciate you so much.
Today I got results from CEA test. It had gone from 5 to 10.4 in under three months. So don't know what's in store.
I was so hoping it had gone the other way. Have a appointment next Dec 12 with oncologist.
Hope you are doing well.
Ozark Lady.

[beach sunrise]

It is always good to be proactive to get several professional opinions (oncological and surgical) on your case, weigh the options, then decide.