Anyone Opt for No Surgury,

WinneyPooh

Hi all,
changed my photo this is my Winney pooh from when i was a baby, my dad calls me winney pooh,.

For those of you who don't know , I am newly Dx Stage IV with mass in Rectum up high, and 3cm mass in liver,

3rd chemo last week,

Asked ONC if there was ever a way to opt out of Surgury just shrink these tumors and he said No.

Is He wrong? or just being careful?

I send my prayers and good thoughts to all how are feeling bad and a big yippee to all who are doing fine.

Winney

Also i was very bad yesturday and i ate A bacon cheese burger. I know i will pay for that.

dianetavegia

Welcome
Hi Winney Pooh and welcome to the forum.

One of our members had her tumor in her rectum shrink completely away so no surgery there. She'll probably check in and share her story later.

You really should avoid red meat! Once a month and only 4 ounces (lean) is what I've found the general public should be eating. Of course, we all need to treat ourselves once in a while. Try ground turkey! My family can't taste the difference in my recipes.

Diane Tavegia

Sundanceh

Surgery is the Gold Standard
Hi Winnie

I would not opt out of surgery if I were an eligible candidate.

My oncologist and a couple of cancer surgeons have told me that Surgery is the absolute Gold Standard in the fight against cancer.

While I'm not saying chemo alone would not work in and of itself, that's a risky proposition...it only takes One cancer cell. My particular case this was not an option just chemo alone, there has always been a surgery.

Now, there may be others on the board who chemo alone may have gotten rid of their tumor and those are incredible stories. Since we all differ in treatment, it is a really tough call to make.

And while surgery may still allow the cancer back - I'm proof of that - it's always hard to blame the surgery because the mets could have come off the original tumor spot and it just took more time, maybe a few years for that one even, for the cancer cells to build up for the mass to show up in that next spot.

A good example of this is me. I had rectal resurgery, but then had mets to the liver. I had RFA on the liver, but now mets to the pleura of lung. My onc said the mets to the lung could have come from the rectum itself, maybe not the liver...or maybe. But surgery has the chance to cut it out and get some clear margins...and chemo does shrink the tumors but total annihilation of them is in general very hard I think...systemic is so very hard to control.

And as I said above, every medical professional I've spoken to, tells me the same thing - Surgery is the gold standard - and those are the words they use, exactly those same words.

I'll support you which ever way you decide to go. It's a big decision.

That's my experience with it and what I've been told. I hear the othrs coming over the hill behind me now with their input, so we'll read and hopefully learn something from it.

Take care Winnie
-Craig

luv3jay

I'm with Craig!
My oncologist and surgeons all told me the same thing. Surgery gives you the best possible chance of a cure. My 4 cycles of neoadjuvant (pre-surgical) chemo completely melted away my primary rectal tumor and shrank the tumors in the liver considerably, but I still opted to have 1/2 of my rectum removed where the tumor was. That was upon the suggestion of my onc. I agreed with him and the surgeon that there could still be microsopic cells in the rectum. I was very fortunate to not have to have an ileostomy, but even if I did, I would not have regretted that decision. Of course, you have to base your decision on what you feel is best for you and your quality of life. But, in my opinion, surgery is your best bet.

-Sheri

lesvanb

Likewise in agreement with surgery option
Surgery has given me a very good chance for a cure (more than 50%) and as a stage 4 with primary rectal and one met to the liver, that has been wonderful news. Now been through a year's treatment of radiation/chemo, 2 surgeries, FOLFOX chemo with my first 3 month PET/CT coming up next week. So far so good, still NED.

Leslie

snommintj

lesvanb said:

Likewise in agreement with surgery option
Surgery has given me a very good chance for a cure (more than 50%) and as a stage 4 with primary rectal and one met to the liver, that has been wonderful news. Now been through a year's treatment of radiation/chemo, 2 surgeries, FOLFOX chemo with my first 3 month PET/CT coming up next week. So far so good, still NED.

Leslie

bold decision
Not having surgery would be a bold decision in light of all the facts. I would be willing to try ablation in the liver but keeping the rectal tumor is a big challenge. It has already moved to the liver so simply removing the liver tumor would be useless. You would need to find a way to completely kill the tumor. Many people have had success with radiation but the side effects are harsh. Perhaps cyberknife could be used but I have no info on that one way or the other. Keep your options open and don't eliminate anything. Try it your way for a while and if things don't work out, go another way.

Annabelle41415

Welcome
Welcome to the group Winney and sorry you had to find us but you have joined a great group. I think the surgery is the best option to go. Even though they say that all the cancer is gone from the radiation, going at extra length and taking the tumor site out is far more successful in getting the cancer contained.

I had my entire rectum removed and a new one made from the large colon. I do have a temporary ileostomy and to be truthful it isn't near as bad as I thought it would be, but it could be because I know it's temporary, but I'm handling it very well. Only thing I don't like is I can't eat popcorn, corn, no skins of any vegetables.

I bet you enjoyed that bacon cheeseburger that sounds so good right now. I hope you at least had fries and a chocolate shake with it

Kim