Neoplas - Dr. Cantrell ? Anyone??

janie1

I'm new to CNS. Don't even know how to PM...which I prefer to do. Has anyone been treated by Dr. Cantrell at Neoplas? Could you send PM, too. I'm newly dx. stage 4 with 15 tumors in liver. (Had colon tumor and lymph nodes removed by surgery......now just have tumors in liver). What are the chances I will be able to eventually have surgery or something done to liver. Hopefully tumors will shrink or totally go away with chemo. I am very scared. Seems like you have to be on chemo forever and side effects are horrible. Starting on Avastin and Folfox 4/12/11. Thanks so much for your help.

geotina

Janie:
Welcome to the board. As far as surgery on the liver, it all depends how you respond to the Folfox. I can tell you while Folfox is difficult, with various side effects, my husband continued working full time while on Folfox but for infusion days. Several members had their liver tumors shrink down to the point where liver resection surgery occurred so don't lose hope.

My hubby had mets not only to the liver but also lungs and he is here, doing fairly well, good and bad days, and it has been 2 years. He is not and has never been a candidate for surgery or radiation to his mets, yet.

As far as Dr. Cantrall, we did have a member, Lisa42, treat with Dr. Cantrell. I'm sure Lisa will respond to you with her experience.

Take care - Tina

lisa42

Neoplas
Hi Janie,

I'm Lisa and, yes, I went to see Dr. Cantrell for treatment from early December 2009 through early Feb 2010. I'm sorry to say that the treatment did not work for me. I had high hopes- called and talked with them a couple of months before I started treatment there. I spoke w/ someone on the phone who also got treated there and had amazing results. He was a man who was near death and he said this was a lifesaver for him.
Unfortunately, once I started treatment there, my CEA blood tumor marker (which proved very reliable for me- it isn't for everone) kept rising the whole time. I had a scan in Feb '10 which showed the treatment did not help and that my tumors grew during the treatment. This is not to say that would be the case for everyone because I know it defintely helped the man I spoke to beforehand but because of my own experience, I could not recommend it. While going there, I met three others who were going there also (two from this site and one other who I met in the waiting room there). The two from this site passed away & it did not help them either & the other person I lost contact with, so I don't know how it went for her. Dr. Cantrell himself is a wonderfully kind man- he would personally call me in the evenings and spent quite a bit of time on the phone with me, all for no cost.
His office is in Nashville, TN and there are some pretty decent hotels right next to the office building, which were convenient and reasonable. Plus, I made a fun time out of it and took my sister in law with me and we toured downtown Nashville. Just wish I could say the treatment helped me!

If you have any more questions, I'd be happy to talk to you more in a pm.
I'm sorry about your husband but, as someone already answered to you- don't lose hope. Folfox is a tough chemo regimen, but most people's tumors respond pretty well. I started off as not a surgical candidate and became a candidate and did have surgery after Folfox chemo.
Currently, I am still taking chemo again and it is keeping the cancer from growing. I am nowhere near as bad off as I was when I was first diagnosed- I had a recurrence and it's now "holding". I also recently started treatment under the guidance of a naturopathic dr (with approval from my onc) and my bloodwork results have been getting better.

Take care & feel free to pm me with any more questions about anything and/or about Neoplas with Dr. Cantrell.

Hugs,
Lisa

SisterSledge

PM's
Hi Janie,

To PM someone, click on the left sidebar link to CSN Email. Click on Send Message and paste/type in the name of the person you wish to send to...name needs be exact as you see it. The rest is self-explanatory

Janine

janie1

lisa42 said:

Neoplas
Hi Janie,

I'm Lisa and, yes, I went to see Dr. Cantrell for treatment from early December 2009 through early Feb 2010. I'm sorry to say that the treatment did not work for me. I had high hopes- called and talked with them a couple of months before I started treatment there. I spoke w/ someone on the phone who also got treated there and had amazing results. He was a man who was near death and he said this was a lifesaver for him.
Unfortunately, once I started treatment there, my CEA blood tumor marker (which proved very reliable for me- it isn't for everone) kept rising the whole time. I had a scan in Feb '10 which showed the treatment did not help and that my tumors grew during the treatment. This is not to say that would be the case for everyone because I know it defintely helped the man I spoke to beforehand but because of my own experience, I could not recommend it. While going there, I met three others who were going there also (two from this site and one other who I met in the waiting room there). The two from this site passed away & it did not help them either & the other person I lost contact with, so I don't know how it went for her. Dr. Cantrell himself is a wonderfully kind man- he would personally call me in the evenings and spent quite a bit of time on the phone with me, all for no cost.
His office is in Nashville, TN and there are some pretty decent hotels right next to the office building, which were convenient and reasonable. Plus, I made a fun time out of it and took my sister in law with me and we toured downtown Nashville. Just wish I could say the treatment helped me!

If you have any more questions, I'd be happy to talk to you more in a pm.
I'm sorry about your husband but, as someone already answered to you- don't lose hope. Folfox is a tough chemo regimen, but most people's tumors respond pretty well. I started off as not a surgical candidate and became a candidate and did have surgery after Folfox chemo.
Currently, I am still taking chemo again and it is keeping the cancer from growing. I am nowhere near as bad off as I was when I was first diagnosed- I had a recurrence and it's now "holding". I also recently started treatment under the guidance of a naturopathic dr (with approval from my onc) and my bloodwork results have been getting better.

Take care & feel free to pm me with any more questions about anything and/or about Neoplas with Dr. Cantrell.

Hugs,
Lisa

Lisa, Thank you for your
Lisa, Thank you for your quick response. That was helpful. I(we) are leaving town for a few days to inform the families of my situation. (My parents are 95 & 94, so I was thinking I had pretty good genes.) Take care.

janie1

geotina said:

Janie:
Welcome to the board. As far as surgery on the liver, it all depends how you respond to the Folfox. I can tell you while Folfox is difficult, with various side effects, my husband continued working full time while on Folfox but for infusion days. Several members had their liver tumors shrink down to the point where liver resection surgery occurred so don't lose hope.

My hubby had mets not only to the liver but also lungs and he is here, doing fairly well, good and bad days, and it has been 2 years. He is not and has never been a candidate for surgery or radiation to his mets, yet.

As far as Dr. Cantrall, we did have a member, Lisa42, treat with Dr. Cantrell. I'm sure Lisa will respond to you with her experience.

Take care - Tina

Thanks Tina. I appreciate
Thanks Tina. I appreciate something encouraging. It has been a bad couple of weeks. Was feeling so alone.

lisa42

janie1 said:

Lisa, Thank you for your
Lisa, Thank you for your quick response. That was helpful. I(we) are leaving town for a few days to inform the families of my situation. (My parents are 95 & 94, so I was thinking I had pretty good genes.) Take care.

got confused
Hi again Janie,

I just realized that my response was me thinking it was your husband with the cancer. Forgive my fuzzy brain- I just had chemo yesterday & am really tired and have confused several things today. So, I now know it is you with the cancer and starting treatment soon. I will be thinking of you (praying for you, if that's okay w/ you) about going to tell your family members the situation. Try to keep the prognosis upbeat & know that survival statistics are bad reading for the soul- most of them are outdated, anyhow. You are not a statistic- you can be a fighter and definitely beat those odds, anyhow! Just wanted to mention that in case you or your family members have or soon come across statistics. Things have improved and I know of several people here who are long term survivors- definitely beat whatever those lame survival statistics state-

Stay strong!

Hugs,
Lisa

janie1

lisa42 said:

got confused
Hi again Janie,

I just realized that my response was me thinking it was your husband with the cancer. Forgive my fuzzy brain- I just had chemo yesterday & am really tired and have confused several things today. So, I now know it is you with the cancer and starting treatment soon. I will be thinking of you (praying for you, if that's okay w/ you) about going to tell your family members the situation. Try to keep the prognosis upbeat & know that survival statistics are bad reading for the soul- most of them are outdated, anyhow. You are not a statistic- you can be a fighter and definitely beat those odds, anyhow! Just wanted to mention that in case you or your family members have or soon come across statistics. Things have improved and I know of several people here who are long term survivors- definitely beat whatever those lame survival statistics state-

Stay strong!

Hugs,
Lisa

Thanks again, Lisa. I do
Thanks again, Lisa. I do plan to downplay the cancer and treatment to the family. I may not even tell my sisters the Stage, because they will surely go on the internet, and I don't want them to see all of that. It took me until this week, to start reading these discussion boards. Please do pray, and I will do the same for you. I can see that you have great strength and it will continue to carry you on. Joan

janie1

lisa42 said:

got confused
Hi again Janie,

I just realized that my response was me thinking it was your husband with the cancer. Forgive my fuzzy brain- I just had chemo yesterday & am really tired and have confused several things today. So, I now know it is you with the cancer and starting treatment soon. I will be thinking of you (praying for you, if that's okay w/ you) about going to tell your family members the situation. Try to keep the prognosis upbeat & know that survival statistics are bad reading for the soul- most of them are outdated, anyhow. You are not a statistic- you can be a fighter and definitely beat those odds, anyhow! Just wanted to mention that in case you or your family members have or soon come across statistics. Things have improved and I know of several people here who are long term survivors- definitely beat whatever those lame survival statistics state-

Stay strong!

Hugs,
Lisa

Thanks again, Lisa. I do
Thanks again, Lisa. I do plan to downplay the cancer and treatment to the family. I may not even tell my sisters the Stage, because they will surely go on the internet, and I don't want them to see all of that. It took me until this week, to start reading these discussion boards. Please do pray, and I will do the same for you. I can see that you have great strength and it will continue to carry you on. Joan

AnneCan

Janie
Welcome to the forum, although I am sorry you need to be here. This is a great group, who will help you navigate through the issues of colon cancer. I want to wish you all the best with your treatment.