No more colonoscopies?

jmaddox915
jmaddox915 Member Posts: 80 Member
in Colorectal Cancer #1
My oncologist told me yesterday there is no need to put me through any more colonoscopies as it would not change his approach to my Stage IV disease.

My cancer spread to my abdomen area and at this point our goal is to keep everything stable. I have built up a resistance to the chemo that I could take to possibly kill it or shrink. I have also had the HIPEC surgery back in January.

My CT scan did show everything stable yesterday so I started another round yesterday.

However, it still bothers me about the colonoscopy...has anyone else been told that?

Comments

  • Brenda Bricco
    Brenda Bricco Member Posts: 579 Member
    #2
    Maybe he is just trying to
    Maybe he is just trying to spare you the yuckiness of the colonoscopy since you are stable now. If you asked him to continue to order them, would he?
  • LivinginNH
    LivinginNH Member Posts: 1,456 Member
    #3
    Actually yes, they told my
    Actually yes, they told my Rick that as well (he's had HIPEC too). Although they will do one if you have a blockage or something - it's just not done as a routine check anymore. In fact Rick is going for a upper GI tomorrow due to a recent blockage.

    All my best,
    Cynthia
  • Annabelle41415
    Annabelle41415 Member Posts: 6,742 Member
    #4
    Opinion
    If you can, just get another opinion. It's hard after relying on a doctor for so long to make a doctor change or opinion, but this is your life. Just wishing the best for you. Colorectal cancer is where it began for you and for your not to have a colonoscopy is hard to imagine that a doctor would tell you no more. Maybe talk to your surgeon. Good luck on your decision.

    Kim
  • abackhou
    abackhou Member Posts: 77 Member
    #5
    why do it
    why do it when CT scans will show all the tumors in the abdomen and chest areas. My ONC told me 2 years ago there is no need to have further colonoscopy because it will not make any difference to the Stage 4 treatment plans. Anyway, I have enough to worry about with the original metastatic nodules. The chemo "will/may/not " affect all tumors including the ones not identified/discovered. My main priority is to keep this disease stable and not progressing which happened to me until Nov 2011. Now my disease has progressed quite notably, especially in the lungs. I stopped chemo 12 months ago.

    Best wishes.....Andrew
    Dx Stage 4 - Apr 2009
  • smokeyjoe
    smokeyjoe Member Posts: 1,425 Member
    #6
    abackhou said:

    why do it
    why do it when CT scans will show all the tumors in the abdomen and chest areas. My ONC told me 2 years ago there is no need to have further colonoscopy because it will not make any difference to the Stage 4 treatment plans. Anyway, I have enough to worry about with the original metastatic nodules. The chemo "will/may/not " affect all tumors including the ones not identified/discovered. My main priority is to keep this disease stable and not progressing which happened to me until Nov 2011. Now my disease has progressed quite notably, especially in the lungs. I stopped chemo 12 months ago.

    Best wishes.....Andrew
    Dx Stage 4 - Apr 2009

    I'm sorry I'm confused, did
    I'm sorry I'm confused, did you say you've built up resistance to the chemotherapy, but you got another round of it. Why be on a certain drug if it doesn't have an affect on the cancer. Do you have tumors somewhere that show on scans? I suppose the thinking of the doctors is if you have cancer showing up elsewhere that is already being treated, what would they do if they found something on a colonoscopy. Would they do a colon resection if you had inoperable tumors elsewhere?
  • jmaddox915
    jmaddox915 Member Posts: 80 Member
    #7
    smokeyjoe said:

    I'm sorry I'm confused, did
    I'm sorry I'm confused, did you say you've built up resistance to the chemotherapy, but you got another round of it. Why be on a certain drug if it doesn't have an affect on the cancer. Do you have tumors somewhere that show on scans? I suppose the thinking of the doctors is if you have cancer showing up elsewhere that is already being treated, what would they do if they found something on a colonoscopy. Would they do a colon resection if you had inoperable tumors elsewhere?

    I have built up an allergy
    I have built up an allergy to the oxy which is what my oncologist would use to kill the cancer that has shown up in my abdomen. I was able to take the "normal" regimen of oxy, 5FU,etc when I was first dx but when it recurred, I had terrible reactions to it and no longer an option for me.

    This is one reason I tried the HIPEC procedure hoping it would take care of it. Instead it came back in about 3 months so now the plan is to keep me stable. I am on a chemo called panatumamed (I know I didn't even come close to spelling that right). It's job is to keep everything stable.

    I know it is confusing...I get tied up with all myself :)
  • Kathryn_in_MN
    Kathryn_in_MN Member Posts: 1,252 Member
    #8
    I'd agree with your oncologist
    It is actually not very common to have spread in the colon while on chemo. Most is at distant sites anyway. Rectal cancer has a higher incidence of local recurrance, so that would possibly make me more nervous if you have rectal rather than colon. But, would your treatment change at all if they found anything anyway? If your treatment will stay the same, why take the risk? It sounds like you couldn't go off chemo long enough for surgery with your spread, so you have to trust that the chemo would have the same reaction on any new tumor in the colon or rectum as it would anywhere else in your body for now.

    Keeping an eye on the rectum and colon for those with stage III and below disease is very important. They aren't on chemo, and are higher risk for new polyps to form, which you want removed asap. But for those stage IV and on chemo it is a different story. There truly is no "one size fits all" when it comes to cancer. Rectal is very different from colon, and stage IV is very different from other stages. If you are uncomfortable about it, get a second opinion. My bet is any other oncologist will agree with yours.

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