What are people doing to beat stage 4 colon cancer

bruins1971
bruins1971 Member Posts: 227
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hello my name is Bobby Flaherty and at the young age of 38 I was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. To say I was shocked is the understatement of the year. After years of misdiagnosed symptoms by my doctor I switched to another doctor who quickly sent me to a GI and they found a golf ball sized tumor in my colon. Two weeks later I was in surgery having it removed at which point they found it to be in 11 out of 14 lympth nodes as well two tumors in my liver. The tumors in my liver where big as one was the size of a baseball and the other half of that. I started chemo about 6 weeks after the colon surgery and to be honest it was no where near as bad as I thought it would be. I guess I remembered watching my mom's chemo when she was fighting breast cancer that spread to her lung and then to her pancreas. She was a fighter and fought cancer for 18 years before it finally took her. After 5 rounds of chemo I was headed to surgery to remove the tumors from my liver. By the grace of God the chemo had shrunk the tumors 40% and that was great news. Six weeks after that surgery I was back on chemo and that is where I am today. I just finished round 9 with only 3 more to go and then God willing I will be done and cancer free. I have 4 great kids ages 18,13,4 and 4 months so I need to get better for them and be here to raise them to become great people. Pray and support have done wonders for me and I could not imagine fighting this on my own. God has surrounded me with such great people and I feel in my heart that the cancer is gone and that I will be back to work living my life again hopefully in March of next year. I am hoping to help educate people on colon cancer and how to prevent this terrible disease. If anyone needs support I am here for you. Never give up hope no matter what the doctors tell you for they are do not have the final say only God above does.

With that said does anyone have success stories in beating this terrible disease? What foods are best for beating cancer?
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Comments

  • pepebcn
    pepebcn Member Posts: 6,331 Member
    #2
    First of all welcome to the board !
    Congratulations for your success with chemo and surgery !Yes there are successful stories amnog us in beating the disease, l hope to be on the way too!.
    Hugs.
  • mukamom
    mukamom Member Posts: 402
    #3
    my husband
    was dx cciv two years ago at the age of 49. Drs have been very aggressive with treatments and sx. Been mostly on chemo for those two years with a few breaks for sx. Was NED for three months last year. He had cyberknife last week for the one tumor in his liver and will find out in a few weeks if it got killed.

    There are quite a few folks here survivors for years. Some have turned to alternatives, juicing, vegan diets and seem to be very successful with these. Cruise thru this board and you will find LOADS of info and much needed support from people who have been there and done that.

    Sorry you had to come here. Cancer sucks but the people here make it suck less.

    Prayers to you and your family

    Angela
  • Friendinpenn
    Friendinpenn Member Posts: 70
    #4
    Best of Luck Bobby!!
    Bobby we share someting very much in common as most of us do here...

    I just started on this site last month and it has really been like a friend to me....People who truly understand and care ...

    And I've learned so much here as well...

    You appear to be strong and have so much to live for like me....

    I wrote not long ago that after my severe reaction to oxiplatin the next day i split a whole truck load of firewood and stacked it all a few days later...

    Again, Best of luck in your journey to complete recovery!

    FriendinPenn
  • Annabelle41415
    Annabelle41415 Member Posts: 6,742 Member
    #5
    Welcome
    Just wanted to welcome you to the board and let you know that you now belong to a wonderful family. We are here to help you anyway we can. There are many success stories on this board and feel you will beat this as well. Glad that you are tolerating the chemo well. Keep us informed.

    Kim
  • geotina
    geotina Member Posts: 2,111 Member
    #6
    HI
    Just wanted to jump in and say Welcome to the Board. Post away with any questions you may have.

    I really don't have any advice, just stay the course, listen to your body, listen to your docs, don't put off appointments, scans, etc.

    Lots of people on here take lots of supplements. Since you are in active treatment, be sure to not start anything without letting your oncologist know what you are doing and taking and make sure you understand why you are taking something. Some see a naturalpath regarding supplements. If you have any questions regarding supplements, start a new discussion and someone with experience will be on to answer.

    Take care - Tina
  • immbeloved
    immbeloved Member Posts: 37
    #7
    Annabelle41415 said:

    Welcome
    Just wanted to welcome you to the board and let you know that you now belong to a wonderful family. We are here to help you anyway we can. There are many success stories on this board and feel you will beat this as well. Glad that you are tolerating the chemo well. Keep us informed.

    Kim

    just stared chemo
    i have stage 4 colon cancer with mets to 3 lymph nodes and ovary, surgery removed all the cancer the surgeon could get, then, whammo, pet scan revealed 4 large liver lesions. i am on folfiri and avastin now, finished 1st round yesterday. my goal is to have liver resection but i don't know if that will be possible.

    alternatives include essiac tea, baking soda and maple syrup, juicing, colonics, vegan diet and others i'm sure. i'm sticking with the chemo route and just trying to eat a little better although i took care of myself just fine and got it anyway. the way i see it, life ain't worth livin' if i have to eat raw vegetables and get coffee enemas for the rest of my life.

    my children are 21 and 18 so at least i basically got them raised, you are not alone on this board having young children, that makes it so much more important to fight.

    keep in touch.

    amber lyons
  • bruins1971
    bruins1971 Member Posts: 227
    #8
    immbeloved said:

    just stared chemo
    i have stage 4 colon cancer with mets to 3 lymph nodes and ovary, surgery removed all the cancer the surgeon could get, then, whammo, pet scan revealed 4 large liver lesions. i am on folfiri and avastin now, finished 1st round yesterday. my goal is to have liver resection but i don't know if that will be possible.

    alternatives include essiac tea, baking soda and maple syrup, juicing, colonics, vegan diet and others i'm sure. i'm sticking with the chemo route and just trying to eat a little better although i took care of myself just fine and got it anyway. the way i see it, life ain't worth livin' if i have to eat raw vegetables and get coffee enemas for the rest of my life.

    my children are 21 and 18 so at least i basically got them raised, you are not alone on this board having young children, that makes it so much more important to fight.

    keep in touch.

    amber lyons

    Amber
    I sure hope that the chemo shrinks your tumors down to a size where they can be removed. Chemo did help mine to shrink 40% so I am sure it will help you as well. There is a test that can be done to show if your tumors will except or reject the chemo. I think it's called a Kras test. Have you had this done? My tumors where large with one on each lobe of the liver. Where are yours located on the liver. My surgeon told me it's not about how big they are but how many tumors you have as to determine if you can have successful surgery.
  • AnneCan
    AnneCan Member Posts: 3,673 Member
    #9
    Welcome Bobby
    Hi Bobby,

    Welcome to this forum. It sounds like you have been through a lot + have a great attitude; that will get you far. I had two colorectal tumours, had chemo + rads, was going to have surgery but they found out I had spots on my liver. I am on folfiri + avastin + have not had surgery to remove the tumours. The 2 CRC were not detectable after 4 treatments of chemo; + the ones on the liver have shrunk/stabilized. I try to take it one day at a time.

    Are you a Boston Bruins fan?
  • bruins1971
    bruins1971 Member Posts: 227
    #10
    AnneCan said:

    Welcome Bobby
    Hi Bobby,

    Welcome to this forum. It sounds like you have been through a lot + have a great attitude; that will get you far. I had two colorectal tumours, had chemo + rads, was going to have surgery but they found out I had spots on my liver. I am on folfiri + avastin + have not had surgery to remove the tumours. The 2 CRC were not detectable after 4 treatments of chemo; + the ones on the liver have shrunk/stabilized. I try to take it one day at a time.

    Are you a Boston Bruins fan?

    Yes I am a Bruins fan but
    Yes I am a Bruins fan but just an overall Boston sports fan for that is where I am originally from.
  • AnneCan
    AnneCan Member Posts: 3,673 Member
    #11
    bruins1971 said:

    Yes I am a Bruins fan but
    Yes I am a Bruins fan but just an overall Boston sports fan for that is where I am originally from.

    We are
    Toronto Maple Leaf fans at our house; we live just outside of Toronto.
  • lisa42
    lisa42 Member Posts: 3,625 Member
    #12
    welcome
    Hi Bobby,

    Welcome to the board- a great place as a resource for ideas, answers to questions, and just overall support!
    I was just a bit older than you at my stage 4 diagnosis- I had just turned 41, but I think it was in me for a few years, as I also had symptoms that went undiagnosed. My husband and I have three kids- ages 17, 15 (in 3 more days), and 10. They definitely give you a strong reason to live and want to fight this, don't they?!
    You have a great "go get em" attitude, and that's what this takes!

    So far as foods for beating cancer, I'd check out two books... "Nature's Cancer-Fighting Foods" by Verne Varona and "Anti Cancer A New Way of Life" by David Servan-Schreiber. I got both of these on amazon.com.

    Best wishes,
    Lisa
  • immbeloved
    immbeloved Member Posts: 37
    #13
    bruins1971 said:

    Amber
    I sure hope that the chemo shrinks your tumors down to a size where they can be removed. Chemo did help mine to shrink 40% so I am sure it will help you as well. There is a test that can be done to show if your tumors will except or reject the chemo. I think it's called a Kras test. Have you had this done? My tumors where large with one on each lobe of the liver. Where are yours located on the liver. My surgeon told me it's not about how big they are but how many tumors you have as to determine if you can have successful surgery.

    liver lesion location (LLL)
    well i'm not sure, the report did not specify, i know enough about the surgery to realize that location is a major factor due to all of the blood supplies to the liver. after 4 rounds ,will rescan and will be able to plan according. i am going to new york in late feb. with my son's school chorus group, may try and get in to Sloan-keetering while there., i have not had the Kras test.

    amber
  • bruins1971
    bruins1971 Member Posts: 227
    #14
    lisa42 said:

    welcome
    Hi Bobby,

    Welcome to the board- a great place as a resource for ideas, answers to questions, and just overall support!
    I was just a bit older than you at my stage 4 diagnosis- I had just turned 41, but I think it was in me for a few years, as I also had symptoms that went undiagnosed. My husband and I have three kids- ages 17, 15 (in 3 more days), and 10. They definitely give you a strong reason to live and want to fight this, don't they?!
    You have a great "go get em" attitude, and that's what this takes!

    So far as foods for beating cancer, I'd check out two books... "Nature's Cancer-Fighting Foods" by Verne Varona and "Anti Cancer A New Way of Life" by David Servan-Schreiber. I got both of these on amazon.com.

    Best wishes,
    Lisa

    hi
    Hey Lisa what is your status now?
  • maglets
    maglets Member Posts: 2,576 Member
    #15
    bruins1971 said:

    hi
    Hey Lisa what is your status now?

    welcome
    Welcome Bobby....another stage 4 colon to liver survivor here...actually 2 bouts of liver mets and 2 resections....

    I am caurrently ned after finishing oxy and xeloda in the spring of 09....

    welcome to the forum....

    Like Anne....I am Canadian....WELCOME

    msggie
  • pepebcn
    pepebcn Member Posts: 6,331 Member
    #16
    maglets said:

    welcome
    Welcome Bobby....another stage 4 colon to liver survivor here...actually 2 bouts of liver mets and 2 resections....

    I am caurrently ned after finishing oxy and xeloda in the spring of 09....

    welcome to the forum....

    Like Anne....I am Canadian....WELCOME

    msggie

    Yes Bobby it's plenty of canhhufugtzzts MAGGIE!!!! what's the
    word for Canadians you teach me the other day?.
    Hugs.
  • AnneCan
    AnneCan Member Posts: 3,673 Member
    #17
    pepebcn said:

    Yes Bobby it's plenty of canhhufugtzzts MAGGIE!!!! what's the
    word for Canadians you teach me the other day?.
    Hugs.

    Do you mean
    CANUCKS?
  • pepebcn
    pepebcn Member Posts: 6,331 Member
    #18
    AnneCan said:

    Do you mean
    CANUCKS?

    That's the word Anne,
    Here is another Canadian mafia member Bobby !, LOL.
    ( but they are good people)LOL..
  • AnneCan
    AnneCan Member Posts: 3,673 Member
    #19
    pepebcn said:

    That's the word Anne,
    Here is another Canadian mafia member Bobby !, LOL.
    ( but they are good people)LOL..

    Pepe
    See how much you are learning from this board?
  • lisa42
    lisa42 Member Posts: 3,625 Member
    #20
    bruins1971 said:

    hi
    Hey Lisa what is your status now?

    Bobby- my status
    Hi again Bobby,

    My status is that I am fighting it/doing chemo at the moment. My dx was 3 yrs, 3 mos ago. I have had a couple of times of 3-4 months of chemo break, but I've been fighting it most of the time. Don't want to discourage you in any way by hearing that, though- not everyone has to do this & of others that have had it come back again, I think most have had longer breaks than I have. I'm still strong though and in pretty good health, overall. The weird thing is that I always used to get lots of colds and flus before fighting cancer & since then, I've had colds just 4 times, which is amazing for me. I happened to have tonsillitis last week, but a z-pack of antibiotics knocked it out pretty quickly. I still function as busy mom of three- I'm not going to let this stupid cancer get in my way totally!

    Take care and keep strong!
    Lisa
  • chicoturner
    chicoturner Member Posts: 282
    #21
    Hi Bobby, welcome on board.
    Hi Bobby, welcome on board. You sound like a wonderful father, one those little ones will be so proud of! I think you will some of everything here. Lots of difference kinds of battles, but a lot of tough people! I am old enough to be your Mom and I was dx with stage 4 cc in 3/08. I have done all the chemo avail to me (KRAS mutated) at this time, but know there is new stuff in the works. I have small, and very tiny spots all over both lungs and am not a candidate for any surgery. I am currently working with UCSF in my 2nd clinical trial. I am very healthy....(except the crap that shows up on scans) work as a preschool teacher and just stay very busy! I have 1 grandbaby, today is her 3rd bday and a new baby boy grandson due in Jan! I am truely bless and plan to stay that way!! Keep up the good fight! Jean

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