Remission in Stage IV is long term possible?

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  • ron50
    ron50 Member Posts: 1,723 Member
    #42
    My friend Virginnia

         From New zealand was dxed with stage4 colon cancer with a met to the liver . She had surgery to remove the primary as well as a wedge resection to remove the liver met. She then had chemo therapy , the same as mine ,weekly infusions of 5Fu enhanced every second week with levamisole. At last count she was out over twenty yeras still cancer free. Unfortunately like myself she has been plauged by autoimmune peoblems. The last I heard she was hving some problems with her heart. She is one tough survivor. She used to frequent these boards under the name Foxy. Hugs to you mate if you still check in. Ron.

  • Phil64
    Phil64 Member Posts: 838 Member
    #43
    Hey people. I believe Stage

    Hey people. I believe Stage IV colon cancer can be beat. considering myself very Blessed. Diagnosis in 2013. Six occurrences (two colon resections, one lung resection, THREE liver resection! Last surgery was on 12/5/2014. No chemo or treatment since Feb 2016. I know I’m not out of the woods but I’m doing well, trusting in God, taking it one day at a time. 

    Love and Light to you all.

    My doctor’s office did a nice article on me :-)

    https://healthblog.uofmhealth.org/cancer-care/beating-colon-cancer-trust-treatment-and-community

    My blog: http://pscamihorn.me

     

     

  • abita
    abita Member Posts: 1,152 Member
    edited December 2017 #44
    Phil64 said:

    Hey people. I believe Stage

    Hey people. I believe Stage IV colon cancer can be beat. considering myself very Blessed. Diagnosis in 2013. Six occurrences (two colon resections, one lung resection, THREE liver resection! Last surgery was on 12/5/2014. No chemo or treatment since Feb 2016. I know I’m not out of the woods but I’m doing well, trusting in God, taking it one day at a time. 

    Love and Light to you all.

    My doctor’s office did a nice article on me :-)

    https://healthblog.uofmhealth.org/cancer-care/beating-colon-cancer-trust-treatment-and-community

    My blog: http://pscamihorn.me

     

     

    When you say six occurences,

    When you say six occurences, do you mean you had it come back after treatment?

  • abita
    abita Member Posts: 1,152 Member
    #45
    ron50 said:

    My friend Virginnia

         From New zealand was dxed with stage4 colon cancer with a met to the liver . She had surgery to remove the primary as well as a wedge resection to remove the liver met. She then had chemo therapy , the same as mine ,weekly infusions of 5Fu enhanced every second week with levamisole. At last count she was out over twenty yeras still cancer free. Unfortunately like myself she has been plauged by autoimmune peoblems. The last I heard she was hving some problems with her heart. She is one tough survivor. She used to frequent these boards under the name Foxy. Hugs to you mate if you still check in. Ron.

    Thank you for helping me

    Thank you for helping me maintain my hope. I had my colon tumor removed, will have 4 infusions, then surgery to remove 3 lesions on my liver, then finish up with 8 more infusions to finish killing any cancer cells we may not have seen. Do you think the autoimmune issues are caused by the treatment you and she had?

  • abita
    abita Member Posts: 1,152 Member
    #46
    Phil64 said:

    Hey people. I believe Stage

    Hey people. I believe Stage IV colon cancer can be beat. considering myself very Blessed. Diagnosis in 2013. Six occurrences (two colon resections, one lung resection, THREE liver resection! Last surgery was on 12/5/2014. No chemo or treatment since Feb 2016. I know I’m not out of the woods but I’m doing well, trusting in God, taking it one day at a time. 

    Love and Light to you all.

    My doctor’s office did a nice article on me :-)

    https://healthblog.uofmhealth.org/cancer-care/beating-colon-cancer-trust-treatment-and-community

    My blog: http://pscamihorn.me

     

     

    What is maintenance therapy?

    What is maintenance therapy?

  • Ruthmomto4
    Ruthmomto4 Member Posts: 708 Member
    #47
    abita said:

    What is maintenance therapy?

    What is maintenance therapy?

    Maintainence therapy

    Is usually regular doses of chemo for extended periods of time to usually keep cancer that is not surgically removable (at that time)from growing or spreading. Some people have more than one recurrence. They can go many years with no evidence of disease then have it come back, go through treatment or surgery again and be NED for years. some people never have a recurrence, you just don't know. In my husband's case this is the second time it came back in his liver, and if his scans show it has shrunk enough for surgery it will be his second liver resection. He will then do more chemo and we will hope it stays away for good. I hope that after your treatments it's gone for good!

  • abita
    abita Member Posts: 1,152 Member
    #48
    Ruthmomto4 said:

    Maintainence therapy

    Is usually regular doses of chemo for extended periods of time to usually keep cancer that is not surgically removable (at that time)from growing or spreading. Some people have more than one recurrence. They can go many years with no evidence of disease then have it come back, go through treatment or surgery again and be NED for years. some people never have a recurrence, you just don't know. In my husband's case this is the second time it came back in his liver, and if his scans show it has shrunk enough for surgery it will be his second liver resection. He will then do more chemo and we will hope it stays away for good. I hope that after your treatments it's gone for good!

    Thank you. I am hoping for

    Thank you. I am hoping for the best for your husband. I wonder if this is why the oncologist has me doing all 12 infusions, even though the liver lesions will be removed after 4. My tumor perforated, so the tumor in my colon was removed first before I started chemo. There was no cancer in the infection, thank goodness. There was in 4 of the 20 lymph nodes. 

  • Annabelle41415
    Annabelle41415 Member Posts: 6,742 Member
    edited December 2017 #49
    Trubrit said:

    Its hard, isn't it

    In my time here, I can name far too many forum friends who have passed. At one point, we lost three in one week. It is so very hard and discouraging. That is why these good survival posts are so important. 

    Vikilg and Doc_Hawk, passed away the same day. I have often wondered if they got to meet somewhere, in the great beyond?

    Tru

    Isn't it sad

    I've been here for quit some time before all those and remember all the ones before these.  I've seen many pass, but always remember their posts.  There were times during treatment I'd be up all night because of the steroids and there were many on the board at 3:00 a.m.  It was quite a party - sadly a lot are gone but their stories are always in my heart.

    Kim

  • Phil64
    Phil64 Member Posts: 838 Member
    #50
    abita said:

    When you say six occurences,

    When you say six occurences, do you mean you had it come back after treatment?

    Yes, I had six different

    Yes, I had six different tumors in the following order:

    1. Tumor found in colon via a colonoscopy (April 2012).  Removed via surgery (May 2012).

    2. Tumor found in my right lung (May 2012). Removed via surgery (June 2012).

    3. Tumor found in my liver (Jan 2013). Treated with chemo. Removed via surgery (April 2013).

    4. Tumor found in colon via PET, confirmed via ultrasound (October 2013). Removed via surgery (December 2013)

    5. Tumor found in liver via MRI (January 2014). Removed via surgery (February 2014).

    6. Tumor found in Liver via MRI (August 2014). Treated via strong chemo. Removed via surgery (December 2014).

     

    I was then treated with Erbitux alone for a year. This is what my doctor referred to as clean-up chemo. The thought being that this would erradicate any cancer cells that were remaining.

    I will also add that my doctor tested and found I was vitamin D deficient and presribed a D3 supplement. He reported that the latest data shows that this may be important in battling cancer. I also know that many on this forum are also taking this vitimin supplement.  

     

     

  • abita
    abita Member Posts: 1,152 Member
    #51
    Phil64 said:

    Yes, I had six different

    Yes, I had six different tumors in the following order:

    1. Tumor found in colon via a colonoscopy (April 2012).  Removed via surgery (May 2012).

    2. Tumor found in my right lung (May 2012). Removed via surgery (June 2012).

    3. Tumor found in my liver (Jan 2013). Treated with chemo. Removed via surgery (April 2013).

    4. Tumor found in colon via PET, confirmed via ultrasound (October 2013). Removed via surgery (December 2013)

    5. Tumor found in liver via MRI (January 2014). Removed via surgery (February 2014).

    6. Tumor found in Liver via MRI (August 2014). Treated via strong chemo. Removed via surgery (December 2014).

     

    I was then treated with Erbitux alone for a year. This is what my doctor referred to as clean-up chemo. The thought being that this would erradicate any cancer cells that were remaining.

    I will also add that my doctor tested and found I was vitamin D deficient and presribed a D3 supplement. He reported that the latest data shows that this may be important in battling cancer. I also know that many on this forum are also taking this vitimin supplement.  

     

     

    I am so sorry that the

    I am so sorry that the original chemotherapy did not eradicate all the cancer cells. Happy for you that you finally got them gone! And here I was hoping that the 8 infusions that I will complete after my liver surgery in January would erradicate any cancer cells. I will ask about the D3 again. I took it as a supplement before I was diagnosed.

  • Mikenh
    Mikenh Member Posts: 777 Member
    #52
    abita said:

    What is maintenance therapy?

    What is maintenance therapy?

    A coworker is back in the

    A coworker is back in the office after taking short-term disability for a few months. He has a lung tumor and is taking a targeted chemo drug which originally shrunk the tumor but the tumor is now stable in size. So he has to stay on this medication until a better medication comes along to kill the rest of the tumor or until a procedure comes along that can remove it. The benefit of the targeted therapy is that the drug only targets the tumor cells, not all cells. Traditional chemo is nuclear in that it attacks the cell replication process which is what kills your RBCs and WBCs and gives you the general tiredness.

  • abita
    abita Member Posts: 1,152 Member
    #53
    Why not always use targeted

    Why not always use targeted chemo then?

  • Mikenh
    Mikenh Member Posts: 777 Member
    #54
    abita said:

    Why not always use targeted

    Why not always use targeted chemo then?

    Targeted is not available for

    Targeted is not available for most kinds of colorectal cancer. I think that this area will improve a little in a few years and a lot in ten years. But for now, we mainly have conventional chemo for colorectal cancer.

  • carrieh
    carrieh Member Posts: 146 Member
    #55
    Stage IV

    The docs told me I wouldn't see my 33rd Bday and I'm 37, 38 in Febuary...there's always hope. Always...no matter what happens now..NED forever or recurrence, I feel loke I've won. I'll never be sorry I experienced this fight. C'mon immunotherapy! 

  • Tom M.
    Tom M. Member Posts: 223 Member
    edited May 2019 #56
    I love reading all your

    I love reading all your positive comments. My journey began February of this year. Had colon resection done and I am now doing the chemo treatments. I'm stage 4 and I really want to remain upbeat through all of this.

  • Trubrit
    Trubrit Member Posts: 5,804 Member
    edited May 2019 #57
    Tom M. said:

    I love reading all your

    I love reading all your positive comments. My journey began February of this year. Had colon resection done and I am now doing the chemo treatments. I'm stage 4 and I really want to remain upbeat through all of this.

    Welcome Tom

    You keep upbeat. There are many of us who are surviving the big 4 and you can come and join us. 

    Why not start your own thread on the home page. Here is the link https://csn.cancer.org/forum/128

    There are many of us here, and we're all ready and willing to help you along in your journey.

    Tru     

  • Tom M.
    Tom M. Member Posts: 223 Member
    edited May 2019 #58
    Trubrit said:

    Welcome Tom

    You keep upbeat. There are many of us who are surviving the big 4 and you can come and join us. 

    Why not start your own thread on the home page. Here is the link https://csn.cancer.org/forum/128

    There are many of us here, and we're all ready and willing to help you along in your journey.

    Tru     

    Thank you Tru. I look forward

    Thank you Tru. I look forward to hearing all the wonderful things from all here. God bless you.

  • StacyGleaso
    StacyGleaso Member Posts: 1,233 Member
    #59
    Tom M. said:

    I love reading all your

    I love reading all your positive comments. My journey began February of this year. Had colon resection done and I am now doing the chemo treatments. I'm stage 4 and I really want to remain upbeat through all of this.

    Dx 2001

    I used to be crazy active on this board along with many great people I met on here.  Many of us are still around, enjoying life and not really visiting here on the boards like we used to.  I was dx Oct 3, 2001 with stage 4, liver mets and have been clear ever since my 10 hr surgery in Jan 2002.  Miracles happen, we just need to fight the best fight we can. Just remind yourself every day is one day closer to healthy! 

    Have a fabulous day!!! 

     

    Stacy

     

  • Helen321
    Helen321 Member Posts: 1,460 Member
    #60
    Yup my friend is now at the

    Yup my friend is now at the two year mark. No spots or anything. 

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