stomach cancer at 36

sherrytee

Hello, I am 36 years old and was diagnosed with stomach cancer in April. On June 3rd I had a tumor removed at the GE juncture. I now have only 40% of my original stomach. Two of the seven nearby lymph nodes were positive for cancer. Is this a bad sign? I will be starting treatment very soon. Can anyone tell me about the protocol they went through? Does chemo come first, then radiation? Can they happen together? What types of chemo did you use? I'm considering a clinical trial at Stanford. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

bke

Sherry,
At 45, I just finished treatment for cancer at the GE junction. I am happy to share with you my limited experience. You did not say what kind of cancer - was it adenocarcenoma? Clearly it is better if no lymph nodes are involved. But location of the involved nodes is also important. I had four hot nodes - all close so my staging was still considered locally advanced and not metastasized. I had the surgery, as yourself, and then participated in a clinical trial at Fox Chase Cancer Center. The trial included two cycles of chemotherapy (Cisplatin, Taxol and 5FU) and then 5 weeks of daily radiation while also recieving 5FU Mon - Friday 24 hours a day, and Taxol the first day of each week. The typical protocol that is not a clinical trial involves 2 cycles of 5FU everyday for five days, then three weeks off, followed by 5 weeks of radiation with 5FU the first several days and the last couple of days, then one more cycle of 5FU. From what I have heard and read, the most important thing is to receive chemo while you are receiving radiation.

I wish you the best whatever you decide. Feel free to email me.

debbie918

bke said:

Sherry,
At 45, I just finished treatment for cancer at the GE junction. I am happy to share with you my limited experience. You did not say what kind of cancer - was it adenocarcenoma? Clearly it is better if no lymph nodes are involved. But location of the involved nodes is also important. I had four hot nodes - all close so my staging was still considered locally advanced and not metastasized. I had the surgery, as yourself, and then participated in a clinical trial at Fox Chase Cancer Center. The trial included two cycles of chemotherapy (Cisplatin, Taxol and 5FU) and then 5 weeks of daily radiation while also recieving 5FU Mon - Friday 24 hours a day, and Taxol the first day of each week. The typical protocol that is not a clinical trial involves 2 cycles of 5FU everyday for five days, then three weeks off, followed by 5 weeks of radiation with 5FU the first several days and the last couple of days, then one more cycle of 5FU. From what I have heard and read, the most important thing is to receive chemo while you are receiving radiation.

I wish you the best whatever you decide. Feel free to email me.

I am now on yr 2 of no signs of reocurrance of my cancer. I was diag stage 3 with a tumor in my lower stomach penetrated the wall of the stomach and 1 lymph node out of 12. It appears it just started to make its move outside the stomach. My treatment was to remove the lower portion of my stomach chemo for once a week for 5 months(lucovorin and a protein)infused it took about 5 minutes. I hardly had any side effects minor nausea light hair loss and slight anemic(tired).I did work 35 hrs a week though, I felt it was good mental threapy to keep your mind on other things. I didn't want to feel bad for myself. I was also given radiation i think 6 weeks worth the first week starting with chemo and radiation and the last week ending with chemo and radiation. since then I have had my regular check ups cat scans chest xrays endoscopy with samples taken colonoscopy more samples taken there. Blood work too. Every result has been 100% excellent. there is hope believe me. My dad and brother both died of colon cancer so this was a challenge for me. Best of luck to you

sherrytee

debbie918 said:

I am now on yr 2 of no signs of reocurrance of my cancer. I was diag stage 3 with a tumor in my lower stomach penetrated the wall of the stomach and 1 lymph node out of 12. It appears it just started to make its move outside the stomach. My treatment was to remove the lower portion of my stomach chemo for once a week for 5 months(lucovorin and a protein)infused it took about 5 minutes. I hardly had any side effects minor nausea light hair loss and slight anemic(tired).I did work 35 hrs a week though, I felt it was good mental threapy to keep your mind on other things. I didn't want to feel bad for myself. I was also given radiation i think 6 weeks worth the first week starting with chemo and radiation and the last week ending with chemo and radiation. since then I have had my regular check ups cat scans chest xrays endoscopy with samples taken colonoscopy more samples taken there. Blood work too. Every result has been 100% excellent. there is hope believe me. My dad and brother both died of colon cancer so this was a challenge for me. Best of luck to you

Dear Debbie, thank you for your response. It is so great to hear something positive! God bless you and may your health continue to improve. Keep me posted. ~sherry

njcahill

Hi Sherrytee: I am 46, was diagnosed with stomach cancer Feb. 28, 2001, at age 43. I had a total gastrectomy (complete stomach removed) March 14, 2001, at the University of WA in Seattle. I had infiltrating signet-ring cell carcinoma and had 7 out of 24 lymph nodes with metastatic carcinoma. I had the surgery first and one month later recieved chemotherapy and radiation for 5 weeks. Both at the same time and the chemo was 5FU - 24 hrs. a day, 7 days a week. I lost some of my hair, but not all of it. It just got real thin, but that was the least of my worries at that point! I was told without the surgery, I would have maybe 5 months and with it my chances were only 20%. I just had my 2 1/2 year anniversary and check up. All is looking good and nothing to be concerned about. I was introduced to a lady who had this same surgery and they did the treatments on her first and then the surgery. The same surgeon and hospital. By the way she is 7 1/2 years clean. I was concidered young and in good health, which helped. I had a bleeding ulcer 4 years before I was diagnosed with stomach cancer. My advice to you is to stay positive and surround yourself with positive people. I want to offer you any encouragement that I can. It is just a hard, tough journey, but you can get through this. It is okay to be scared, just remember you are never alone. If I can help, please email me. I wish you courage, strength, and love. njcahill

ZELLARS

debbie918 said:

I am now on yr 2 of no signs of reocurrance of my cancer. I was diag stage 3 with a tumor in my lower stomach penetrated the wall of the stomach and 1 lymph node out of 12. It appears it just started to make its move outside the stomach. My treatment was to remove the lower portion of my stomach chemo for once a week for 5 months(lucovorin and a protein)infused it took about 5 minutes. I hardly had any side effects minor nausea light hair loss and slight anemic(tired).I did work 35 hrs a week though, I felt it was good mental threapy to keep your mind on other things. I didn't want to feel bad for myself. I was also given radiation i think 6 weeks worth the first week starting with chemo and radiation and the last week ending with chemo and radiation. since then I have had my regular check ups cat scans chest xrays endoscopy with samples taken colonoscopy more samples taken there. Blood work too. Every result has been 100% excellent. there is hope believe me. My dad and brother both died of colon cancer so this was a challenge for me. Best of luck to you

DEBBIE I HOPE WE CAN STAY IN TOUCH BECAUSE YOUR CASE IS EXACTLY LIKE MY DADS! HOPE YOU ARE DOING WELL.

karen174

njcahill said:

Hi Sherrytee: I am 46, was diagnosed with stomach cancer Feb. 28, 2001, at age 43. I had a total gastrectomy (complete stomach removed) March 14, 2001, at the University of WA in Seattle. I had infiltrating signet-ring cell carcinoma and had 7 out of 24 lymph nodes with metastatic carcinoma. I had the surgery first and one month later recieved chemotherapy and radiation for 5 weeks. Both at the same time and the chemo was 5FU - 24 hrs. a day, 7 days a week. I lost some of my hair, but not all of it. It just got real thin, but that was the least of my worries at that point! I was told without the surgery, I would have maybe 5 months and with it my chances were only 20%. I just had my 2 1/2 year anniversary and check up. All is looking good and nothing to be concerned about. I was introduced to a lady who had this same surgery and they did the treatments on her first and then the surgery. The same surgeon and hospital. By the way she is 7 1/2 years clean. I was concidered young and in good health, which helped. I had a bleeding ulcer 4 years before I was diagnosed with stomach cancer. My advice to you is to stay positive and surround yourself with positive people. I want to offer you any encouragement that I can. It is just a hard, tough journey, but you can get through this. It is okay to be scared, just remember you are never alone. If I can help, please email me. I wish you courage, strength, and love. njcahill

Thanks so much for this post. My husband has stomach cancer currently, diagnosed Dec 03, surgery Jan 04. The chemo/radiation 5 days a week is really kicking him. The chemo itself was not bad..he had the FU5 treatments once a week. Last three chemo/radiation this week and then 7 more weeks of the FU5. Thanks so much for sharing

huntermunk

hi sherrytee,my husband was just diagnosed with stomach cancer.it has spread to most of his lympnodes.they said it is in stage 4.we are currently starting chemo.he is really weak.we are very optimistic about beating this since he is only 35 years old and otherwise very healthy.do you have any suggestions on anything.i feel so overwelmed.they said we are at the improbable stage which is not good.but they have to try.

tigrace507

njcahill said:

Hi Sherrytee: I am 46, was diagnosed with stomach cancer Feb. 28, 2001, at age 43. I had a total gastrectomy (complete stomach removed) March 14, 2001, at the University of WA in Seattle. I had infiltrating signet-ring cell carcinoma and had 7 out of 24 lymph nodes with metastatic carcinoma. I had the surgery first and one month later recieved chemotherapy and radiation for 5 weeks. Both at the same time and the chemo was 5FU - 24 hrs. a day, 7 days a week. I lost some of my hair, but not all of it. It just got real thin, but that was the least of my worries at that point! I was told without the surgery, I would have maybe 5 months and with it my chances were only 20%. I just had my 2 1/2 year anniversary and check up. All is looking good and nothing to be concerned about. I was introduced to a lady who had this same surgery and they did the treatments on her first and then the surgery. The same surgeon and hospital. By the way she is 7 1/2 years clean. I was concidered young and in good health, which helped. I had a bleeding ulcer 4 years before I was diagnosed with stomach cancer. My advice to you is to stay positive and surround yourself with positive people. I want to offer you any encouragement that I can. It is just a hard, tough journey, but you can get through this. It is okay to be scared, just remember you are never alone. If I can help, please email me. I wish you courage, strength, and love. njcahill

Hi I hope you are doing well. I was wondering if you could help me with some questions I have. My dad recently died of stomach cancer, I am having a hard time with his death because I don't feel that he was given a fair chance. Its a really long story, but to make it short as possible he was suffering for a year and his doctor had no idea what he was doing, sent him for millions of test and blood test and kept saying it wasnt cancer. Finally one day he was in so much pain I took him to the emergency room and 2 hours later he started to internally bleed. They gave him a blood transfusion and exploritory surgery and found out it was a bleeding ulcer which was metastatic carcinoma as you mentioned. He lasted almost 4 weeks in the hospital and died on May 15 of this year. As you can imagine I am so mad that he was not diagnosed and sent to the proper specialist. But my question to you is that you mentioned you also had a bleeding ulcer and you were in late stages. What and how did they stop the bleeding and how long before you were diagnosed. Please help me I am so confused about this and I feel my dad should of never died the way he did, I know something went wrong somewhere especially that they were giving him constent blood test and saying it wasnt cancer. Thanks you can email me at tigrace507@aol.com