Teenager diagnosed with stomach cancer

lizzie0387

My teenage son was diagnosed with stage 3A stomach cancer and had 2/3 of his stomach and 1 foot of his colon removed. He had his first cycle of chemo and will begin what they call a chemo/radiation/chemo sandwich the end of February. He did pretty well with the first three days of chemo, but the last two lost his appetite. I understand it is very rare for a teenager to have and is usually found in adults.
The oncologist said the rate of this cancer recurring was 70% within 3 years and with the chemo and radiation would decrease that to 55%.
Does anyone know of this diagnosis with other teenagers? Any thoughts or information would be greatly appreciated.

bickle

lizzie i do not know of any other teenagagers with stomach cancer but I have gone through the chemo/radiation eating problem. Please tell your son that almost all of us have gone through it and it is a very difficult time.If you have not seen it, the National Cancer Institute publishes a booklet " Chemotherapy and You " that might be of some help. I also received help from the Oncology nurses as wll as the dietitian from our local hospital. Please tell him that, except for the small stomach, everything should come back. Good luck. I will be praying for him

lhoffheimer

bickle said:

lizzie i do not know of any other teenagagers with stomach cancer but I have gone through the chemo/radiation eating problem. Please tell your son that almost all of us have gone through it and it is a very difficult time.If you have not seen it, the National Cancer Institute publishes a booklet " Chemotherapy and You " that might be of some help. I also received help from the Oncology nurses as wll as the dietitian from our local hospital. Please tell him that, except for the small stomach, everything should come back. Good luck. I will be praying for him

Good luck to you.

suey

bickle said:

lizzie i do not know of any other teenagagers with stomach cancer but I have gone through the chemo/radiation eating problem. Please tell your son that almost all of us have gone through it and it is a very difficult time.If you have not seen it, the National Cancer Institute publishes a booklet " Chemotherapy and You " that might be of some help. I also received help from the Oncology nurses as wll as the dietitian from our local hospital. Please tell him that, except for the small stomach, everything should come back. Good luck. I will be praying for him

my dad had his whole stomach and part of his colon removed in March '04. He then went through chemo/ radiation. After all that ended, he started to get well and was able to eat fairly normally for a feww months. Now, he's nauseated and throwing up all the time and he had to go back on the TPN. He has had EVERY test imaginable and there is no sign of any cancer. We don't know what to do now. Any thoughts or similar experiences out there???

magmay

I am a young woman diagnosed, I had all my stomach removed and went through 6 mos of chemo. For the nausea get him sweetened ginger. You can get it at most health food stores. It helps tremendously! Also, he has to do everything in his power to eat, small portions all day. You have to try to make foods as appealing as possible and change the menu often. Don't try to give him chicken soup all the time. It is not going to be easy during treatment, but place yourself in the hands of God and all will be good. God bless you and your family.

Paul420

suey said:

my dad had his whole stomach and part of his colon removed in March '04. He then went through chemo/ radiation. After all that ended, he started to get well and was able to eat fairly normally for a feww months. Now, he's nauseated and throwing up all the time and he had to go back on the TPN. He has had EVERY test imaginable and there is no sign of any cancer. We don't know what to do now. Any thoughts or similar experiences out there???

I am 39 and went through 6 months of just chemo with a stage 4C tumor in my stomach. The U of Texas' M.D. Anderson Cancer Center disolved the tumor, no surgery. that was sept. 03 to feb 04 and one year in remission. I started getting sick eating food again last month, March 05 and M.D. Anderson did a EGD scope and found cancer cells blocking the esophogus. The scooped them out, I am on 2 months chemo for it. I have put on 8 pounds in 2 weeks. Check out M.D. Anderson Cancer Center on the web.

levinsjohnr

I ahve been a caregiver for a woman with this desease for five years!if I can help you with advice, it would be my pleasure.

charles7472

I am very sorry to hear about your son...I had 90% of my stomach removed in Nov.2003 and thus far (18 mos.) my ct scans have been clean...I also had difficulty eating while I was on Chemo in that most foods had a metallic taste to them. This will go away in a short period of time after he is finished with chemo.....Try to have him drink milk shakes made with protien powder and fresh fruit or "Ensure-Plus" protien drink...I am currently down approx. 30lbs form my pre-cancer weight,but I am gaining back approx 1 Lb. per month...Unfortunately the weight gain is not immediate....What I am going to say next is difficult but one of the most important piece to survival is a positive attitude and I know is is at times difficult for I as others have been through what your son is enduring....With respect to the survival rates,do give such a high priority for they are statistics that date back 5 years with medicines and treatments of that time...Also if their are 70% negative numbers there are also 30% positive numbers....concentrate on the 30%....I was told that my chances of recurrence was 80% in the first year and 20% in the second...I am 18 months away from my operation and in the 20% group.....I will include your son in my prayers and look forward to receiving a "Cancer Free" letter from him in Feb 2010...