Appendix Cancer newbie

mmikesell

Hi.

I was diagnosed with appendix cancer in late June 2010 after refusing to leave emergency until they explained a sharp pain in my lower right quadrant. The surgeon said he was going to treat it like we were taking out my appendix. The appendix was swollen into two bulges, one attached to the abdomen wall. The surgeon, took it out, sent it to pathology and... appendix cancer.

In July, He went back in and removed my ascending colon (which tested perfect), 25 lymph nodes (5 had cancer), and two cancerous tumors that were growing on the abdoment wall going around my back. He said he took everything he could find and was satisfied. I have done research on him and in the cancer surgery field, he has a stellar reputation.

He told my wife & family that it was stage 4. he said we would wait 6 weeks until I was healed to see the oncologist.

At the followup to get my stitches removed, we got them to make an appointment with the ongologist. My loving wife got them to work us in 45 minutes later. Office was right next door in the hospital.

My oncologist, already knew of my case, not many appendix cancers in my area. He said I am stage 3C. I have a 86% chance of reoccurance w/o chemo, 46% chance of reoccurance with chemo. No brainer, I'm doing FolFOX chemo now, two weeks later. Is the stage 3C just to give me hope?

I've been pretty upbeat about the battle. I don't have a choice there. Because I've been reading here, you people give me hope for the future.

My ex-father-in-law, who I have a good relationship with (because of my son), was diagnosed with stage 4 inoperable pancreatic cancer a week after me. He passed away last week. The funeral was a big attitude hit for me.

I guess the biggest thing wearing me down, is having to make everyone else feel better about me having cancer.

Anyway, just needed to vent somewhere in the middle of the night.

John23

Cancer

Re:
"Is the stage 3C just to give me hope?"

First of all, forget the "staging". People with stage one can die
sooner than people with late stage four (my friend was one that did)

Second, don't put every ounce of trust into any one physician
or treatment. Get other opinions, always. I can't underscore that
enough. A "stellar reputation" does not make the individual
infallible; we are all human and we all make mistrakes. And,
all too often, the "steller" individual sees redundancy where there
was actually a difference, and an opinion was formed wrongly.

So again: Get other opinions. It's your life, dammit.

Thirdly, there are other options aside from western medicine,
so anywhere along the way through your life, never, ever allow
yourself to believe that there is only one way to fight cancer.

Learn to trust your instincts and intuition, and if something
doesn't "feel right", don't allow it. Listen to your body, it was
designed to allow you to live without outside intervention.

We fail, when we fail to listen to ourselves; our soul.

Fourthly....... Do not fear cancer. Do not fear making a mistake
and making things worse, because there are absolutely no
guarantees that whatever you're doing will make a difference.

And just as there are no guarantees that you won't make a mistake,
keep in mind, that giving the privilege to someone else, to make
your decisions for you, is handing over your entire life to another
human being who you never met before, and know nothing about.

Trust yourself to provide life; trust your inner being.


Better health to you!

John

abrub

I'm stage 4 appendix cancer
I was dx'd in April, 2007, and am doing great.

Was your surgeon an expert in Appendix cancer? You need to be seen by someone who knows these tumors. You can't go with someone who has just read up on it.

I've been going to Memorial Sloan Kettering. I had Intraperitoneal (IP) chemo (not the heated kind, HIPEC)) as well as systemic (Folfox.) In my case, the Folfox was less important; in fact of unknown value, but being done "to be on the safe side". The IP chemo was much more important.

I had two parts of my colon removed, total hysterectomy (tumor was found on my ovary during the hysterectomy - boy did my world change quickly), most of my omentum removed. Dr. Paty was able to remove all visible tumor.

Altho they don't do HIPEC at MSK, they now refer out if they feel it is appropriate (to U. Pittsburgh or Duke, I believe). They have determined when HIPEC is preferable to IP; they do IP at MSK.

Click on my name to find out more of my story. Also, if you go to the Appendix Cancer Blog, I am the "Alice" of "Survivor Stories."

I've been told I have a full future ahead of me. (Planning to attend my onc's son's wedding. His son is now 3.) Treatment was horrible, but I'm great now.

Regarding making everyone else feel better - we all know that. We feeling guilty about having people worry about us. Come here, join the chat room, and vent away. You won't need to make us feel better about your situation. We all know it stinks.

And yes, the middle of the night is a time to vent!

Take care,
Alice

AnneCan

Welcome Mike!
I am glad you found this discussion board. I have found it to be unbelievably helpful. I am sorry you are going through this. Sorry for the loss of your ex-father-in-law; that must have hurt. Keep strong. It is hard worrying about how everyone else is feeling, when you need to worry about yourself.

Kerry S

I was supposed to croak
Mike,
Hell I am an old coot with stage 4 rectum – node - liver. I was supposed to croak last April. Just had a recurrence and it is now gone. The PET scan I had before surgery showed only that one little spot. My good old conservative colon doc says he thinks I am finished with this cancer crap now. I don’t even have an Onc. Don’t want one.

I am 100% with what John says. Get more opinions and listen to your own body. You be in charge not them or the damn cancer.

Kerry

lesvanb

Welcome Mike!
"I guess the biggest thing wearing me down, is having to make everyone else feel better about me having cancer."

Yep, and that will get easier because you'll get comfortable realizing that's not your job; it's theirs. I've found that being vulnerable with an open heart coupled with compassion, for me and for others, is a bright side to this whole lousy situation.

all the best, Leslie

Kathleen808

Hi Mike
Hi Mike,
Welcome to the board. Sorry to hear about your father-in-law. That must have been very difficult for you as well as your wife.
This board has been tremendous support for my husband and I the past 20 months.
Hope we can support you.

Aloha,
Kathleen

HeartofSoul

John23 said:

Cancer

Re:
"Is the stage 3C just to give me hope?"

First of all, forget the "staging". People with stage one can die
sooner than people with late stage four (my friend was one that did)

Second, don't put every ounce of trust into any one physician
or treatment. Get other opinions, always. I can't underscore that
enough. A "stellar reputation" does not make the individual
infallible; we are all human and we all make mistrakes. And,
all too often, the "steller" individual sees redundancy where there
was actually a difference, and an opinion was formed wrongly.

So again: Get other opinions. It's your life, dammit.

Thirdly, there are other options aside from western medicine,
so anywhere along the way through your life, never, ever allow
yourself to believe that there is only one way to fight cancer.

Learn to trust your instincts and intuition, and if something
doesn't "feel right", don't allow it. Listen to your body, it was
designed to allow you to live without outside intervention.

We fail, when we fail to listen to ourselves; our soul.

Fourthly....... Do not fear cancer. Do not fear making a mistake
and making things worse, because there are absolutely no
guarantees that whatever you're doing will make a difference.

And just as there are no guarantees that you won't make a mistake,
keep in mind, that giving the privilege to someone else, to make
your decisions for you, is handing over your entire life to another
human being who you never met before, and know nothing about.

Trust yourself to provide life; trust your inner being.


Better health to you!

John

Traditional Chinese Medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine & Cancer Treatment Side Effects

While there is some preliminary evidence that the COMBINED use of conventional medicine and TCM may extend the life of cancer patients, Traditional Chinese Medicine does NOT treat cancer effectively and should NOT be used as a primary treatment modality. Cancer patients who wish to use TCM along with conventional therapy should speak to their physicians and their TCM practitioner, so that a team approach to managing symptoms can be implemented. TCM uses herbs, accupuncture, green tea

TCM plays an auxiliary role in cancer treatment. It treats side effects of conventional therapies, helps control pain, and helps keep the immune system become stronger. Its to help with symptoms from chemo.

To allow one to think that TCM alone can treat cancer is a fallacy and misnomer.