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KMORROW27
KMORROW27 Member Posts: 3
in Colorectal Cancer #1
MY HUSBAND WAS DIGNOISED ON MAY 3, 2012 WITH STAGE 4 COLON CANCER, THEY REMOVED THE TUMOR A WEEK LATER, WE WILL START CHEMO ON JUNE19, WE WOULD HAVE STARTED SOONER BUT HE HAS BEEN SICK. I HAVE A QUESTION HE HAS 3 METS TO THE LIVER THEY ARE APPROX 2.4 CCM EACH WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IS THAT THE DOCTOR SAID WE DO CHEMO TO SHRINK THEM AND TRY TO AVOID SURGERY IS THIS NORMAL? THE REASON I AM ASKING CAUSE I HAVE HEARD OF PEOPLE HAVING THEIR TUMORS REMOVED FROM THEIR LIVER AND WAS WONDERING WHY OUR DOCTOR DOES NOT WANT TO DO THAT. ANY RESPONSE WOULD BE A GREAT HELP. WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

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  • LynnieB
    LynnieB Member Posts: 1
    #2
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    This something that you and
    This something that you and your husband should discuss with your doctor. He should have discussed all the options with both of you. I'll keep you both in my prayers.
  • pepebcn
    pepebcn Member Posts: 6,331 Member
    #3
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    LynnieB said:

    This something that you and
    This something that you and your husband should discuss with your doctor. He should have discussed all the options with both of you. I'll keep you both in my prayers.

    That's very normal.
    some times you can't be operated due to location or size of the tumors and just with an small shrinkage they can do it, maybe that's what they are looking for! ask directly to the surgeon!
    God bless you and welcome to the board!
  • Momof2plusteentwins
    Momof2plusteentwins Member Posts: 509 Member
    #4
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    Liver needs resection!
    According to my research, the gold standard to a stage IV colon cancer cure is a resection of all liver tumors by surgery if all tumors are located on part of the liver that is resectable and there are no other metasis to other organs. Some liver tumors are not resectable, however. Chemo only treatment is not a cure, however. I have read and know personally some people that had chemo only treatment and their liver tumors went away.....but they came back within a year. Sometimes after chemo liver tumors that werent resectable become resectable.
    Good luck with your treatment and everyone has to make their own decisions.
    Sandy
  • John23
    John23 Member Posts: 2,122 Member
    #5
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    KMORROW27 -

    You should get another opinion regarding his complete care
    from a colorectal surgeon. I would do that before beginning
    any further treatments!

    Best wishes for you both,

    John

    (and please turn off your "caps lock"? When you type in
    CAPITAL LETTERS it looks like you're yelling! :-)
  • Semira
    Semira Member Posts: 381 Member
    #6
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    Welcome...
    to this journey nobody wants to travel...

    You found the right place for answers and support. I'm also caregiver to my husband with stage iv CC (so far 2 mets to liver which were resected during his CC surgury) and I'm so glad I found this community with so much wisdom and so many nice people.

    I also would suggest a second opinion because as fas as I know it's alwas better to cut the mets out than to do "only" chemo. But as mentioned before, sometimes it is neccessary to do chemo first to shrink them and get them resectable.

    All the best and
    Greetings from far away Germany
    Petra
  • PhillieG
    PhillieG Member Posts: 4,866 Member
    #7
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    John23 said:

    KMORROW27 -

    You should get another opinion regarding his complete care
    from a colorectal surgeon. I would do that before beginning
    any further treatments!

    Best wishes for you both,

    John

    (and please turn off your "caps lock"? When you type in
    CAPITAL LETTERS it looks like you're yelling! :-)

    Agreed
    We may have cancer but we're not deaf!


  • Doc_Hawk
    Doc_Hawk Member Posts: 685
    #8
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    Liver mets
    Welcome to the forum, this is a great place to get answers and support. I have tumors all over my liver and am not eligible for resection or even transplant. My older sister offered to be a donor, but both of my oncs have said that I'm not a candidate, so it's just going to be a chemo slug-fest.
  • dmj101
    dmj101 Member Posts: 527 Member
    #9
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    there are many factors to consider
    You may not have heard or understood what they were saying.. I know sometimes the info goes right past me the first time and I have to revisit the conversation,..
    Possibly the cancer is controllable with Chemo and may be surger is not needed.
    Possibly there is a another issue that is more important to controll first...
    Maybe the mets are not resectable.
    Go back and ask for clarity..
    <<HUGS>>
    Donna
  • herdizziness
    herdizziness Member Posts: 3,624 Member
    #10
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    Shrinking the Tumors
    Normally they like to shrink the tumors first. In my case I was told I would NEVER have surgery because my tumors were too numerous, too large, to far gone.
    After chemo shrunk them and a few even disappeared I was able to get the surgery.
    Surgery according to my onc is the best way to get rid of tumors, i.e. cancer, but it has to be resectionable first. If they tell you they will never be able to do a resection, don't despair, they had originally told me the same thing too.
    You might want to ask your onc specifically WHY they do not want to do the resection and go from there, sometimes they say something, we take it as a given and never think to ask WHY, I've been guilty of that a few times myself.
    Welcome to the board, you and your husband are in my thoughts.
    Winter Marie
  • tootsie1
    tootsie1 Member Posts: 5,044 Member
    #11
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    Praying
    Praying that you and your husband will find the right course of action.

    *hugs*
    Gail
  • thingy45
    thingy45 Member Posts: 632 Member
    #12
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    tootsie1 said:

    Praying
    Praying that you and your husband will find the right course of action.

    *hugs*
    Gail

    second opinion
    A second opinion is always a good idea. keep your options open and investigate every avenue before making up your mind what the best course of action is for you.

    wishing you all the best and welcome to the board.
  • PhillieG
    PhillieG Member Posts: 4,866 Member
    #13
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    More than One Normal
    When I was diagnosed 8+ years ago, I had a large tumor in my liver that made surgery impossible (or very risky).
    Doing 6 months of chemo to shrink the liver tumor(s) worked perfectly and made me a candidate for surgery.
    Generally speaking, if you can shrink tumors before you remove them you are off to a good start.

    Every case is different so there's really no right or wrong...

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