Ascites with Mets to Liver,Lungs,Pleura,Peritoneum & Omentum

Fighting4Rick

My husband was just (2 months ago) diagnosed with Stage 4 Adenocarcinoma colon cancer with mets to his liver, lungs, pleura, peritoneum, and omentum.  It had been misdiagnosed as diverticulitus and untreated for many months.  His oncologist told us in Feb when the true diagnosis was made that it is inoperable -- he said that there were a large amount of tiny tumors in his peritoneum (the way he described it was that if you were to lay his abdominal wall out on a table and sprinkle it with pepper, each pepper speck would represent a tumor).  The doctor said that without treatment, he only has 4-6 months to live, and with treatment, we are hoping for a few years (at best).  

Upon diagnosis, he had significant ascites in his abdomen.  After his first 2 chemo treatments, his ascites was nearly completely gone.  Tomorrow, he will undergo his 4th chemo treatment, to be followed a few days later with another PET scan to see if the chemo has helped.  We are hoping for the best, but bracing for the worse.  Just wondering if anyone else out there has had this many mets with a colon primary, and what has your outcome been?  I made the mistake of googling "peritoneal metastasis with colon primary" which then led me to peritoneal carcinamatosis/PC, and then what I read about all of it just made me so heart-sick.  Apparently the survival rate is very slim and the prognosis very grim.  We are believing for a miracle, but I just really would love some feedback from anyone who is familiar with or has personally experienced these same mets.  Thank you. 

LMighty

Not too similar experience but also stage IV

I am sorry to hear what you are going thru. I would like to share my experience as the caregiver to my 64-year old mom.

My mom was diagnosed last July with Stage 4 Adenocarcinoma rectal cancer with mets to pleural cavity, causing pleural effusion in both sides. No visible tumour was detected on PET scan but the fluid kept accumulating. The onc said it is inoperable as it is located in the pleural cavity instead of on the lungs themselves.

Since then my mom went thru 6 cycles of Xelox, 2 cycles of Xeloda + Avastin as maintenance therapy (but failed recently). The fluid was gone by January, then came back in the left side a month ago and we have to restart chemo with Irinotecan + Cetuximab, starting today. The previously undetectable mets now appear on X-ray as small shadowy area so it's a bit worrying but we hope the change of drugs will mean the tumour is more sensitve to them.

My mom was given a similar prognosis. When you look at numbers, it's always frightening, but they are years and even decades old of stats including patients of various conditions. Every person has a different outcome. I always keep in mind that despite the grim probability, there is hope for achieving long-term NED as long as the possibility is above 0%. Ignore the stats and keep fighting to fall into the successful group.

Keep your hopes up -- a lot is happening in recent years regarding treatment options especially immunotherapy, and a lot can happen within a few years.