Teresa7374

mom_2_3

Teresa,

I am re-posting your post from another thread. Sometimes questions tend to get lost in longer threads and I wanted to make sure the posters here saw your question and responded to you.

This was the post from the other thread:

"Could you please give me some info. i am a 43 yr old female diagnosed with stage iv colon cancer with mets to liver and lungs. should i have surgery on the primary tumor first and then start chemo. or should i do chemo first and then surgery. i have had different opinions from doctors."



As far as my answer to your question, the typical process is to start chemo first and then do surgery at a later date. I know mentally you want to get the primary tumor out. I felt that way when I was diagnosed (with liver mets). But it is a good idea to start the chemo to see how the mets and tumor respond to treatment. That lets the doctors know whether the treatment is working for you or not. And while you could see results of chemo on the liver/lung mets most doctors won't want to delay the start of the chemotherapy treatment as the colon tumor is typically not detrimental to your current health (unless there is a chance of blockage). If you were to have your colon resected you would have to heal for a while (probably 6 weeks) before starting chemo treatments.

I am sure others will post their thoughts here soon as well.

If you want to read about anyone's particular history click on his/her username. Welcome to the site here. Best of luck.

Amy

teresa7374

thank you
i think i'm going crazy just thinking about everything and considering what all the doctors say.

karguy

Chemo
I did the chemo,and radiation before surgery ,and it shrank the tumor alot.So as far as we can tell they got it all.They also took out 11 lymph nodes,and so far so good.I will pray that everything turns out ok for you.Wishing you the best of luck.

mommyof2kds

teresa7374 said:

thank you
i think i'm going crazy just thinking about everything and considering what all the doctors say.

I can't offer much info
I can't offer much info regarding your situation. I was a stage 3 and did the chemo/rad first. But, I do want you to know that I will be praying that whatever plan of treatment you choose will work for you..

snommintj

karguy said:

Chemo
I did the chemo,and radiation before surgery ,and it shrank the tumor alot.So as far as we can tell they got it all.They also took out 11 lymph nodes,and so far so good.I will pray that everything turns out ok for you.Wishing you the best of luck.

chemo 1st
Chemo should reduce or stabilize your current disease. Getting in there and messing around will only intensify your current metastatic situation. Hopefully some of your smaller metastasis will be killed off and you will require less surgery when you need it. No doubt chemo sucks, but it is a necessary evil.

pluckey

I wonder why they did surgery on me first?
I'm stage 4 with mets to liver. One week after I met with surgeon and onco, I had surgery to remove tumor from colon. It was so fast, I didn't have time for 2nd opinions. I wonder if it was due to location of tumor in colon- lower, my back/tailbone was killing me. I was told everyone on cancer/onco/surgical team was of the same mindset as far as treatment plan.

I think it's almost harder when different doctors give you different opinions/options. We are new to dealing with this disease and the anxiety of making important decisions just adds to the stress.

Good luck in whichever direction you take.

Peggy

teresa7374

pluckey said:

I wonder why they did surgery on me first?
I'm stage 4 with mets to liver. One week after I met with surgeon and onco, I had surgery to remove tumor from colon. It was so fast, I didn't have time for 2nd opinions. I wonder if it was due to location of tumor in colon- lower, my back/tailbone was killing me. I was told everyone on cancer/onco/surgical team was of the same mindset as far as treatment plan.

I think it's almost harder when different doctors give you different opinions/options. We are new to dealing with this disease and the anxiety of making important decisions just adds to the stress.

Good luck in whichever direction you take.

Peggy

your exactly right about the stress of decisions
they decided today to do surgery on my colon first, then start chemo in 2 weeks. the doctor explained to me the reason is because he doesnt want my tumor in my colon to give me problems during chemo like bleeding or having to stop in the middle of chemo to do the surgery wouldn't be a good idea.

teresa7374

thank you

thank you