New Member and scared

PhillieG said:

Hi Judman
Sorry to hear of your diagnosis. It certainly is scary at first, then one often gets used to it. You can't let fear overtake you because it becomes easy to make poor decisions.

It is VERY often a good idea to get a second opinion on things to see all of the options that are out there for you. The majority of the members here have done mainstream treatments with great success, others have done surgery then gone TCM (traditional chinese medicine) or juicing/dietary changes and have had great success. It's also possible to do either of those protocols and not have great success. That's the thing with cancer, one size does not fit all. What may kill one person may save another's life.

I was DX with stage IV over 7 years ago, did chemo then surgery. Then more chemo and another surgery, repeat a few more times...and here I am. My liver was not operable at the time but going on Avastin for about 6 months made be operable by shrinking the tumors. It's seems VERY early to try to determine if your liver is operable to me. I also would investigate what options you have prior to doing a phase II clinical trial. It just seems so premature given the information that you've provided. Actually, if you could give more details we might be able to offer more suggestions. Did they mention Avastin, Erbitux, FOLFOX?

You are right, side effects vary from person to person. One thing that I believe is that where you're treated and what you do first makes a HUGE difference in your outcome. It's hard to un-do something that someone screwed up. Given the chance to go back in time, I would do the same treatment that I've done. I have no regrets.
All the best Judman
-phil

Trial
I think my original post was a little confusing I typed it fast. I actually go to a very well respected oncologist in the Effingham, IL area. The trial that I was going to be a part of was to test whether taking the chemo pump home was beneficial to treatment. The way they did that was to stick large needles into your liver and get tissue samples. I had that test done last Friday. I only have one tumor that is big in size the rest of the tumors cannot be seen on a catscan and can only be seen on a Pet Scan. I am starting chemo next Wednesday and I am worried about the side effects but my oncologist explained that every person reacts to chemo differently and that some people have several side effects and some have none. I have a great support system with awesome co-workers, friends, family and girlfriend and I am going to beat this and keep on living. I have found support from a local church which is helping. Thank you for the response I appreciate all the support this forum is going to give me and I will continue to pray and put my faith in my doctors and God.