Help newbie- stage IV

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Comments

  • jenene
    jenene Member Posts: 40

    Oh, Jenene, that is not at
    Oh, Jenene, that is not at all what I wanted to hear from you! I pray that the chemo starts to do its magic soon. I could tell by the second treatment that the tumor had been affected, as I could swallow a little soft food again. I had some "free fluid" in my pelvic area, but it went away at some point during chemo.

    What drugs are they giving him? Has his CEA come down at all? How are his blood counts holding up?

    Keep the faith! Today is my Cancerversary - one year after a terminal diagnosis, and I am looking forward to a trip to Costco to buy Holiday baking supplies, cooking our Thanksgiving dinner, and putting up the big Christmas tree this year instead of the little table tree we settled for last year. Feeling great, gaining weight, and enjoying every day. I know the statistic that scared me the most was that only 2.9% of Stage IV patients are alive one year after diagnosis. I'm counting on your husband to join me in the Top 3% of our Class!

    Sandy

    Well his CA-19 count is down
    Well his CA-19 count is down by half which is great. Hopefully the ascites will not come back anymore. They have him on Oxiplatin (sp?), Epirubicin, and Xeloda. He seems to be doing well right now I just worry about what the future will bring. The statistics are horrible. Having the doctor say 1-2 years just doesn't seem right to me. Wed. is round 3 of chemo and Dec. 13th is the CT scan so I guess we will see from there what things look like. Thanks for your hope I think about you every day.
  • liveinhope
    liveinhope Member Posts: 83
    jenene said:

    Well his CA-19 count is down
    Well his CA-19 count is down by half which is great. Hopefully the ascites will not come back anymore. They have him on Oxiplatin (sp?), Epirubicin, and Xeloda. He seems to be doing well right now I just worry about what the future will bring. The statistics are horrible. Having the doctor say 1-2 years just doesn't seem right to me. Wed. is round 3 of chemo and Dec. 13th is the CT scan so I guess we will see from there what things look like. Thanks for your hope I think about you every day.

    Hi Jenene,I am here for my
    Hi Jenene,I am here for my son with linitus plastica type of stomach cancer diagnosed in July 2009.I have stopped bothering (most of the time)about the 5-year survival stats.For one I think they are not updated for the last few years and chemo has changed.Your husband is young and hopefully,like my son,he will tolerate aggressive chemotherapy.Keep heart,things will get better.My love and good wishes to your family.
    Nisha
  • liveinhope
    liveinhope Member Posts: 83
    jenene said:

    Well his CA-19 count is down
    Well his CA-19 count is down by half which is great. Hopefully the ascites will not come back anymore. They have him on Oxiplatin (sp?), Epirubicin, and Xeloda. He seems to be doing well right now I just worry about what the future will bring. The statistics are horrible. Having the doctor say 1-2 years just doesn't seem right to me. Wed. is round 3 of chemo and Dec. 13th is the CT scan so I guess we will see from there what things look like. Thanks for your hope I think about you every day.

    Hi Jenene,I am here for my
    Hi Jenene,I am here for my son with linitus plastica type of stomach cancer diagnosed in July 2009.I have stopped bothering (most of the time)about the 5-year survival stats.For one I think they are not updated for the last few years and chemo has changed.Your husband is young and hopefully,like my son,he will tolerate aggressive chemotherapy.Keep heart,things will get better.My love and good wishes to your family.
    Nisha
  • brenda1956
    brenda1956 Member Posts: 4

    I hope this helps...
    I'm 36, have a wonderful wife and 5 year old daughter and was diagnosed in febuary this year with stage 4 metastesized stomach cancer. The tomor in my stomach was large to the point of causing internal bleeding due to fissures the outer wall. I had my entire stomach, 2/3 of my small intestines, part of my large intestine and most of the surrounding omentum (fatty stuff) removed. This took care of most of the cancer. Four weeks after surgery I started chemo. I went through 7 rounds (3 week cycles) with a three drug plan...cisplatin, taxotere and 5-FU. The dosages of the first 2 drugs were very high, but due to my age, my oncologist decided to be as agressive as my body could handle. I ended up having two EXTREMELY scary allergic reactions and lost almost 70 pounds over the course of treatment. However...I just had my second clear scan and am currently done with treatments. Cancer free (and hoping it will stay that way). The origional diagnosis gave me 12 to 16 months to live...I say sucks to that. I've learned a lot of good survival tricks over the last 8 months that I will be glad to share. Never give up and when you think you've gone as far as you can, go a little farther. I wish the best for all of you.

    Surgery
    Could youplease let me know where you had your surgery? My husband has stomach cancer and it also involves his omentum and the outside of his intestines. Mayo refuses to do surgery as well as UCLA.