Chemo before surgery

janderson1964
janderson1964 Member Posts: 2,215 Member
I mentioned that my surgeon said I am operable for the third time evan though the tumor ic 8.5cm. He said that he can operate with out any chemo ahead of time to reduce the tumor. Apparently it is all the way in the top corner of my right lobe with no magor vein or artery involvment.

A person that is high up at the colon cancer alliance says a lot of people are getting chemo before surgery even if they are operable with out it. I need feed back/reasons why. Of course I will ask the experts as well.

Comments

  • pete43lost_at_sea
    pete43lost_at_sea Member Posts: 3,900 Member
    i had chemo/radio
    to shrink my large rectal t4 tumour with positive nodes.
    i had a complete response by the time the staging ct scsn was done pre surgery.
    after surgery i had 6 months adjuvant folfox chemo.
    i had a second and third opinion that supported the first and went with the surgical team and hospital i had the most confidence with.

    good luck with your choices. i also benefited from natural remedies to support chemo and help my body cope with chemo.

    hugs,
    pete
  • tommycat
    tommycat Member Posts: 790 Member
    My experiences are the same
    My experiences are the same as the other tow--chemo/rad before, then surgery, then more chemo. It seemed to work (knock on wood).
    My thinking was to attack it with full artillery, as much as my body could handle, I wanted all guns OUT and FIRING away.
  • abrub
    abrub Member Posts: 2,174 Member
    One advantage is that if gives your drs the opportunity to see if the selected chemo is effective. I know for a friend of mine with breast cancer, she had chemo before surgery. The first chemo had no effect on her, the second type did. Thus, after surgery, they knew which chemo to give her with the best chance of a favorable outcome.

    However, it is something to be discussed with your dr - the pros and cons. In my case, the cancer was found during surgery for something else, and more cancer was found during the placement of my belly port for intraperitoneal chemo. With IP chemo, the tumors must be removed or scraped to a very tiny size in order for chemo to be effective. So I had surgery before chemo. (Also a different cancer - Appendix, which is handled differently from colon cancer.)
  • pete43lost_at_sea
    pete43lost_at_sea Member Posts: 3,900 Member

    i had chemo/radio
    to shrink my large rectal t4 tumour with positive nodes.
    i had a complete response by the time the staging ct scsn was done pre surgery.
    after surgery i had 6 months adjuvant folfox chemo.
    i had a second and third opinion that supported the first and went with the surgical team and hospital i had the most confidence with.

    good luck with your choices. i also benefited from natural remedies to support chemo and help my body cope with chemo.

    hugs,
    pete

    i read the post again and realised i addressed half of your issu
    the other half is as i am aware from cancer support groups that many get chemo who at one point were inoperable. they have a good response and all of a sudden you are a candidate for curative or even palliative surgery. the chemo shrinks the tumour, stops or slows the spread and makes the surgeons job easier.

    hope this helps.

    hugs,
    pete
  • John23
    John23 Member Posts: 2,122 Member
    No Chemo


    No chemo before my surgery. They went in and took out the tumor,
    and opened me up again the next day, and the day after that... Surgical
    problems and infections galore! (they said it was a fist sized monster),

    I changed my mind about being subjected to chemo (while waiting
    to heal from the surgery), and opted out of any proposed treatments.

    There seems to be a gigantic push to use chemo, regardless of
    it's need or usefulness. It's too bad that the instilled fear of "not doing"
    seems to far outweigh the fear of all the ramifications of "doing".

    Think things through; allow your own instincts and intuition
    to guide you. We were all born with the survival instinct, but
    too many of us forgot it's value to us.

    My best to you,

    John
  • pete43lost_at_sea
    pete43lost_at_sea Member Posts: 3,900 Member
    John23 said:

    No Chemo


    No chemo before my surgery. They went in and took out the tumor,
    and opened me up again the next day, and the day after that... Surgical
    problems and infections galore! (they said it was a fist sized monster),

    I changed my mind about being subjected to chemo (while waiting
    to heal from the surgery), and opted out of any proposed treatments.

    There seems to be a gigantic push to use chemo, regardless of
    it's need or usefulness. It's too bad that the instilled fear of "not doing"
    seems to far outweigh the fear of all the ramifications of "doing".

    Think things through; allow your own instincts and intuition
    to guide you. We were all born with the survival instinct, but
    too many of us forgot it's value to us.

    My best to you,

    John

    the fear of not doing
    Hi John,

    my onc and surgeons really pushed my fear buttons hard.
    my big, strong rectal tumour just busting out into the lymphs and through mucosa I think.
    they said before the chemo 5fu/radio then surgery option that local reoccurance was a very big issue like 50% for rectals given the surgical challenges us guys present with small waistes and nerves running everywhere down there.

    I was given a curative intent from day 1 of the healing journey. I started juicing day 2 and tcm day 3.

    I had a complete response to the 25 sessions of radio and simultaneous low dose 5fu chemo. which was assisted by tcm, juicing and diet. so much so that some surgeons don't operate with such clear results. my surgeon said otherwise.

    just in my case the fear of not doing radio/chemo to me meant i would miss out on the curative intent option. i was just so glad to be diagnosed before it had spread further, no way was i going to wait any longer. i wanted that **** cancer poisoned and fried and sliced stuck in a jar.

    as to intuition and instincts well mine are being actively delveloped by my dialy practice of mindfulness meditation.

    good health to you,
    good health for me,
    good health to us all,
    hugs,
    pete

    ps i goto go and sip my tcm tea!!!!!
    how much would you say the cost per day of you herbs is ?
    mine is about $7 which i think is about the cost of two coffee's here.
  • PhillieG
    PhillieG Member Posts: 4,866 Member
    My Experience
    I had chemo before surgery. I HAD to have it but even if I didn't need it I would have done chemo if it was presented to me as an option. My thinking is, and was, that surgery can take a lot out of a person so do the chemo while you're stronger and can tolerate it better. It also can shrink the tumor which makes it easier to remove I would think.

    So, I say a big YES to chemo now and surgery later.
    I would also recommend chemo after surgery too if it's suggested. While not everybody does well with chemo, very many people DO very well with chemo. It has some drawbacks of course, but if you do nothing the chances are greater that it will return and your situation may be worse. Of course some are not in favor of doing any chemo. Well, you don't know for certain what will or will not happen.
    Hope this helps, best of luck to you.
    -p