New diagnosis, a few questions

law1267
law1267 Member Posts: 3
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hi everyone, I've been reading here for a few days now and I must say that I am so impressed with everyones attitudes and honest caring for each other. After much research, I knew this was the place to get answers and support for my friend.

A little background. On Monday of this week my good friend and neighbor went to the doctor after a few days of pain in her right side. She has not come home from the hospital, she was diagnosed with colon cancer and mets on both lobes of her liver. At this point I have not heard a stage mentioned, but if I have read correctly, if it has spread it must be stage 4. They did a colonoscopy and removed one small polyp on Tuesday. Wednesday they went in did a colon resection and checked the liver for mets. The liver is not operable. They placed a port and she poke with her Onc. She said the liver is "treatable" and the chemo is not as aggressive as some out there and should have fewer side affects. She probably will not lose her hair.

My friend is 42 and otherwise healthy. The first day of diagnosis they painted a pretty dark picture. After the Oncologist told them the liver was "treatable" I think they feel better. I want to feel better too. If this chemo is described as "not as aggressive" can I read into this that they dont NEED to be very aggressive? I would think the more severe the mets, the more aggressive the chemo. Please tell me this is good news. I have been printing all of your positive stories and taking them to her and her family to read! Thank you all so much for being here and sharing your experiences. Any advice would be so appreciated!

Comments

  • Fight for my love
    Fight for my love Member Posts: 1,522 Member
    #2
    It's lucky to have you as
    It's lucky to have you as such a good and caring friend when your neighbour is having such a bad time.I can give a little information from what I read:Memorial Sloan-Kettering cancer center in New York is a one of the best cancer centers in the U.S and they are good at treating metastasis to the liver,and there is a specialist whose name is Nancy E. Kemeny who is very good at using HAI pump to do chemo for the liver.I believe several people in this discussion board also got treated by her.Here is the specialist web link:http://www.mskcc.org/prg/prg/bios/123.cfm.Good luck to you and your friend.Hope your friend will get well soon.
  • tootsie1
    tootsie1 Member Posts: 5,044 Member
    #3
    Wonderful friend
    You're a wonderful friend, and I'll be praying that your friend is better soon.

    *hugs*
    Gail
  • kristasplace
    kristasplace Member Posts: 957 Member
    #4
    Aggressive chemo
    Hello, and welcome to the board! I don't blame you for being concerned about the lack of aggresive treatment. One of the first thing my oncologist said to me after my diagnosis was that he was going to be very aggressive about my treatment because i was young enough to handle it, and we were going for the cure. I'm a stage IIIb which means i have spread to four lymph nodes, but not to other organs. I'm not sure what her doctors mean about non-aggressive chemo. Maybe he meant they're not going to do radiation with the chemo? If i were your friend, i would get a second opinion. With nonoperable tumors, i would beg them to be aggressive with my treatment!

    Your friend is very lucky to have you for an advocate! This is going to be a very scary time for her, and she's going to need all the help she can get with gathering information, and retaining it! Chemotherapy is not easy, and coupled with the stress of her diagnosis, she may not remember everything the doctors tell her.

    I hope this helps!
    Many hugs!
    Krista
  • kidlife
    kidlife Member Posts: 8
    #5
    2nd opinion!!!
    I was dx with stage iv May, 2009 with mets. to liver at the Mayo Clinic. I was told my liver was inoperable, but, they would resect my colon and suggested surgery right away. I flew to Sloan Kettering in NYC(home for 20 yrs, prior to moving to Fl 4 yrs ago).

    SK contradicted everything but the diagnoses. First, SK said chemo. before surgery (otherwise you are not treating the cancer). ALSO, liver is operable. On the 30th,they are going to inject a gel-like substance into one lobe and that starts to wilt away that half (with 4 small spots), the blood flow to the other lobe will GROW my liver. There will be a "double" surgery as my colon and liver will be operated on during the same surgery. Finally, I am on very aggressive chemo. I am 43 yrs. old, with no symptoms and familiar background with this evil desease. I am a single mom of 3 childre: twin boys at 2 1/2 and a gorgeous daughter at 4 1/2 yrs. old. The chemo. is the ultimate challenge. After the first treatment I lost all of my hair ( I will doing my 3rd next week), after my second round, I feel the fatigue and some neuropathy. I have been healthy, independent and super energetic my whole life. Now, a week after the treatments, I am totally shot. The vomiting is just not getting under control, so dehyration is a factor. Anyhow, sorry for introducing my story as a reply to your post (this is my first post, so HI everyone!!), but, PLEASE, GET A SECOND OPINION!!!

    One last thing: help your friend dig REAL deep and find that one thing that will offer her endless strength during this mega-challenge stage of her life. Personally, I look at my kids and think about how one of them could have been diagnosed, in which case I would be on my knees praying it were me and NOT them. So, here I am feeling lucky when things get scary and tough that my kids are healthy.

    Sorry for the lengthy post and thanks to all on these boards. Glad I found you guys.

    Naira
  • Buzzard
    Buzzard Member Posts: 3,043 Member
    #6
    kidlife said:

    2nd opinion!!!
    I was dx with stage iv May, 2009 with mets. to liver at the Mayo Clinic. I was told my liver was inoperable, but, they would resect my colon and suggested surgery right away. I flew to Sloan Kettering in NYC(home for 20 yrs, prior to moving to Fl 4 yrs ago).

    SK contradicted everything but the diagnoses. First, SK said chemo. before surgery (otherwise you are not treating the cancer). ALSO, liver is operable. On the 30th,they are going to inject a gel-like substance into one lobe and that starts to wilt away that half (with 4 small spots), the blood flow to the other lobe will GROW my liver. There will be a "double" surgery as my colon and liver will be operated on during the same surgery. Finally, I am on very aggressive chemo. I am 43 yrs. old, with no symptoms and familiar background with this evil desease. I am a single mom of 3 childre: twin boys at 2 1/2 and a gorgeous daughter at 4 1/2 yrs. old. The chemo. is the ultimate challenge. After the first treatment I lost all of my hair ( I will doing my 3rd next week), after my second round, I feel the fatigue and some neuropathy. I have been healthy, independent and super energetic my whole life. Now, a week after the treatments, I am totally shot. The vomiting is just not getting under control, so dehyration is a factor. Anyhow, sorry for introducing my story as a reply to your post (this is my first post, so HI everyone!!), but, PLEASE, GET A SECOND OPINION!!!

    One last thing: help your friend dig REAL deep and find that one thing that will offer her endless strength during this mega-challenge stage of her life. Personally, I look at my kids and think about how one of them could have been diagnosed, in which case I would be on my knees praying it were me and NOT them. So, here I am feeling lucky when things get scary and tough that my kids are healthy.

    Sorry for the lengthy post and thanks to all on these boards. Glad I found you guys.

    Naira

    law1267
    I think if you could get her and her family to come in here and see what we all have with each other then she will be more at ease and able to cope with it a lot easier....You have to just look around in here to see all of the stage3&4 that are living proof of the strides that medicine takes everyday and also it shows how tough these people here are when it gets down to the nut cutting. There is no percentage of living or dying. There is only the percentage of how much love is in your life, or how much is not.....tell her to come in here and speak with us. We don't bite (for the most part) and if we do we have all the meds for it one could hope for...Its a great family, have them come in and join us......You are doing them a great justice being who you are to them...Remember, that a caregiver has just as hard a ride almost as the patient, be sure to let the spouse know so that he also understands where his emotions are.............let us know if we can help in any way.....:)

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