Had colon removed 23 yrs ago and now have spots on liver

Meg2003

My dad was diagnosed with colon cancer 23 yrs ago and had his colon removed and has been cancer free ever since. He has tests done every year and his liver counts go up and then my mom will put him on an insane diet to get them under control and then a few years later the same thing will happen. For the past few years they have been perfect.

For the past few months he's been having digestive problems and they determined it was his gallbladder so he went in for surgery today and they had to stop before removal because they found 3 spots on his liver. They called pathologist in to do the biopsy and now WE WAIT.

Being the impatient person that I am, all the possibilites are running through my mind. Is it possible for him to develope liver cancer after this time has passed after colon cancer? Would his panel come back high if this was the case or would his white blood cell count be up or could it just be so early that it hasn't affected those yet?

The doctor seemed very concerned.

Sundanceh

Hi Meg
This is some kind of record for being clear for that long period of time.

I would think that the spots on the liver are not mCRC cells to the liver - perhaps, it is primary liver cancer. With this long of a period being clear...it leads me to those thoughts.

But, we're guessing until we see what the big biopsy reveals - it will be "show and tell" then.

It's hard to speculate further until more information is gathered.

Welcome to the forum and as soon as you know something, please post and we'll try to respond if we have any information or experience.

-Craig

Meg2003

Sundanceh said:

Hi Meg
This is some kind of record for being clear for that long period of time.

I would think that the spots on the liver are not mCRC cells to the liver - perhaps, it is primary liver cancer. With this long of a period being clear...it leads me to those thoughts.

But, we're guessing until we see what the big biopsy reveals - it will be "show and tell" then.

It's hard to speculate further until more information is gathered.

Welcome to the forum and as soon as you know something, please post and we'll try to respond if we have any information or experience.

-Craig

Update
Odds are 60/40 that it's cancer per doctor and they're located on the front of the liver and abdominal wall. We'll know for sure tomorrow what it is.

The odd thing is, when they scheduled the gallbladder removal, it wasn't for stones. They ruled out acid reflux and decided it had to be the gallbladder causing his stomach flu-like symptoms for the last few months. It sounds to me like that's not the case, now that they found these.

jjaj133

Meg2003 said:

Update
Odds are 60/40 that it's cancer per doctor and they're located on the front of the liver and abdominal wall. We'll know for sure tomorrow what it is.

The odd thing is, when they scheduled the gallbladder removal, it wasn't for stones. They ruled out acid reflux and decided it had to be the gallbladder causing his stomach flu-like symptoms for the last few months. It sounds to me like that's not the case, now that they found these.

Hi meg, I am praying for the
Hi meg, I am praying for the best results possible.
i had a colon resection and was told they got it all. 5 yrs and 2 months later, colon cancer mets to liver. But 23 yrs? hope you get results soon.
judy

westie66

jjaj133 said:

Hi meg, I am praying for the
Hi meg, I am praying for the best results possible.
i had a colon resection and was told they got it all. 5 yrs and 2 months later, colon cancer mets to liver. But 23 yrs? hope you get results soon.
judy

Liver and gallbladder
Hi: Are they checking his gallbladder for tumours? I had my gallbladder removed in April 2010 and lo and behold there was a tumour growing through the gallbladder wall to the liver so they cut that all out and a piece of the liver. My GP noted a problem with an elevated liver enzyme on a blood test. I also have cancerous peritoneum nodules that we are working on with chemo. However, the last scan I had 3 wks ago showed questionable areas on my liver which 2 years had been identified as cysts and hemangiomas. Now they aren't too sure! So I'm having a special test on Thursday whereby they take a blood sample from you, separate out the red blood cells, reinject the blood back into your body with a small amount of radioactive material. If the questionable things light up, it isn't a tumour but rather an hemangioma.
I hope it isn't a tumour - most of the time it isn't. Keep us posted.
Cheryl

pscott1

westie66 said:

Liver and gallbladder
Hi: Are they checking his gallbladder for tumours? I had my gallbladder removed in April 2010 and lo and behold there was a tumour growing through the gallbladder wall to the liver so they cut that all out and a piece of the liver. My GP noted a problem with an elevated liver enzyme on a blood test. I also have cancerous peritoneum nodules that we are working on with chemo. However, the last scan I had 3 wks ago showed questionable areas on my liver which 2 years had been identified as cysts and hemangiomas. Now they aren't too sure! So I'm having a special test on Thursday whereby they take a blood sample from you, separate out the red blood cells, reinject the blood back into your body with a small amount of radioactive material. If the questionable things light up, it isn't a tumour but rather an hemangioma.
I hope it isn't a tumour - most of the time it isn't. Keep us posted.
Cheryl

Hi Cheryl,
When they first spotted anything on my liver they also told me that one was a cyst (which they still see and it hasn't changed in size) and on the left lobe they saw an undefined mass which they believed to be a hemangioma. A month later when I had my MRI, I had 30+ lesions across both lobes of my liver and no more hemangioma. ??? That's very interesting about the test you are doing. I go for treatment on Friday and also see my Onc; I'm going to ask about that.

Pam

pscott1

Meg,
23 Years cancer free? What I would give to have THAT record! That is marvelous. I'd also love to know the diet your Mom puts him on. I will be praying for you and your Dad (your mom too as I'm sure it's wearing on her as well). Please keep us updated.

Hugs,

Pam

Meg2003

Bad news
We received confirmation that it is cancer. It started in his gallbladder and spread to his liver and it's inoperable due to location. Some one asked the horrible question as to how long he has and the doctor said a few years. I'm not sure exactly what kind it was, I was not there and my mom said it was all foggy. The doctor did refer to it as a rare form.

He will hopefully get in to see the oncologist this week. Does anyone know which cancer center in the midwest is the best?

Meg2003

pscott1 said:

Meg,
23 Years cancer free? What I would give to have THAT record! That is marvelous. I'd also love to know the diet your Mom puts him on. I will be praying for you and your Dad (your mom too as I'm sure it's wearing on her as well). Please keep us updated.

Hugs,

Pam

Diet was lowfat (no red
Diet was lowfat (no red meat) and high vegetable and tofu intake focusing on all those cancer fighting foods. They saw an herbalist which actually suggested the diet. The woman kept her son alive for 30 yrs with cancer and she was on this diet as well (70yr old woman who looked like she was in her 40's). The herbal remedies were by no means cheap.

My mom is contacting that herbalist to see what she can do. My dad did not have to do chemo last time around and as of right now has decided to weigh everything out once he knows what the side effects will be. He's only 62, so I'm struggling with the idea that he may not choose to fight it (very selfish, I know).

westie66

Meg2003 said:

Bad news
We received confirmation that it is cancer. It started in his gallbladder and spread to his liver and it's inoperable due to location. Some one asked the horrible question as to how long he has and the doctor said a few years. I'm not sure exactly what kind it was, I was not there and my mom said it was all foggy. The doctor did refer to it as a rare form.

He will hopefully get in to see the oncologist this week. Does anyone know which cancer center in the midwest is the best?

Gallbladder Cancer
Yes, that is what I suspected. Gallbladder cancer is very rare (it's what I have) and hard to treat especially once it has spread but it can be treated. You have to be very assertive to get treatment. Did they cut out his gallbladder and any tumours? Did they cut out the bad bits on his liver (you can lose up to 70% of your liver)? What chemo will he be on? It is important that if they haven't cut out the gallbladder yet, that when they do so, they do the complete job - he may lose other bits like some intestine, etc. There is a protocol for this. Go to the Rare Cancers and Other ... discussion thread and you'll see the experiences of the few of us that have this. I know several people that went to the Mayo Clinic outside of Minneapolis for treatment even from Canada (I am from Canada). It is important to get someone who has experience with gallbladder cancer and they have them there. Talk to Lily50 who has, for 6 years, conquered gallbladder cancer (see in Rare.... discussion thread and also click on her bio). She had to fight to get the surgery in the first place and had lots of chemo. As I said on an earlier post, I started out with cisplatin/gemcitibine and that may have done some good but oxaliplatin + irenotecan + 5Fu pump worked better for the peritoneum cancer (that resulted from the gallbladder seeding). Please keep posted and I'd advise checking out the Rare.... discussion threads too.
Cheryl

westie66

pscott1 said:

Hi Cheryl,
When they first spotted anything on my liver they also told me that one was a cyst (which they still see and it hasn't changed in size) and on the left lobe they saw an undefined mass which they believed to be a hemangioma. A month later when I had my MRI, I had 30+ lesions across both lobes of my liver and no more hemangioma. ??? That's very interesting about the test you are doing. I go for treatment on Friday and also see my Onc; I'm going to ask about that.

Pam

Liver Junk
Hi Pam: I've back through the 15 scans I've had (both CTs and MRIs) and it's a mess. Sometimes they identify the various "lesions" on my liver, sometimes they don't. They've got the segments wrong in some cases (the liver is divided into 8 segments for describing locations of things). One radiologist says it's an hemangioma, the other says it is a cyst, yet another says it is a tumour. It's driving me crazy. So after the test we will know which is an hemangioma and which is a tumour but not which are cysts. So, the MRI does seem to be more sensitive? I'm hoping so as the MRIs have told a different (nicer) story than the CTs! What do they think the lesions are then (lesions can be anything - cysts, hemangiomas, tumours, etc.)?
Cheryl

tootsie1

Meg2003 said:

Bad news
We received confirmation that it is cancer. It started in his gallbladder and spread to his liver and it's inoperable due to location. Some one asked the horrible question as to how long he has and the doctor said a few years. I'm not sure exactly what kind it was, I was not there and my mom said it was all foggy. The doctor did refer to it as a rare form.

He will hopefully get in to see the oncologist this week. Does anyone know which cancer center in the midwest is the best?

Sorry
I'm so very sorry about this. I hope things won't be too bad for your dad.

*hugs*
Gail