Venting my worries

I'm so sorry to hear your news of your husband.

In colon cancer, it does usually go to colon, liver, lungs then brain or bone usually.  

When you find yourself diagnosed with colon cancer with mets (metastasized) to lung and brain, it isn't that it came on all of a sudden, it's something that was probably happening for a long time, but unfortunately with colon cancer, (unless you had a scheduled age 50 colonoscopy as recommended and it was discovered) you have no symptoms, until usually diagnosed at that time as a Stage IV, when mine was discovered due to a pain in my side like appendicitis, which brought me to the ER at age 50 I was diagnosed Stage IV and probably had it for years with all the many places, amount of tumors and activity that was found.

The symptoms don't often show until after you have had it for sometime.  So, don't look back at this or that and blame yourselves, healthy active people get it, couch potatoes get it, meat eaters get it, vegetarians get it. And although the government in their ads talk about getting your colonoscopy at age 50 must realize that people are getting this disease at younger and younger ages often without a family history of colon cancer.  It's an insidious disease sneaking into younger peoples lives more and more. There are quite a few here that were diagnosed before age 50 as Stage IV.

Keep your hopes up, your faith intact, and above all else keep th love between you two flowing, colon cancer isn't an easy world to be thrown into.

My best wishes and hopes for you both,

Winter Marie

Yolllmbs said:

Prayers

For everyone. This forum has been such a blessing. I'm in total admiration of all the warriors that are fighting cancer with strength and determination. I'm honored to keep everyone in my prayers. Your strength reinforces mine. 

Yolanda

Welcome and like the others said, sorry you had to come here. Winter is correct usually it is liver and lungs where metastasis ends up.  Sounds like he has fast growing tumors, I hope they can control them.   For now, I personally would concentrate on exercise, even if it's in a chair, eat lots of fruit and veggies, limit my meat, take  vitamin D3, to ensure he is getting his sunshine benefit.  He can ask to have it checked, I was short quite a bit, put me on 5,000 units.  Maybe take some tumeric, vitamin c, some calcium. Check with your ONC but mine was fine with it.  Juice and make fruit smoothies, get some greens in powder form like from Trader Joe's (super greens).  

I made sure that I was dressed each morning, and not just laying around. Of course I worked 12 hrs days during my first run with chemo in Folfox, and 14 hrs on Xeloda when I said, enough, I need time off. 

So work for body fuel, and exercise.  This is what I have read for almost 6 years, fruit and veggies, limit the meat, especially red meat, and exercise any way you can. Juice those greens. There is the Anti Cancer book written by a doctor that had brain cancer and he lived 10 years with it and he did it through diet. We are all different, different genes and some have a better immune system, and we have tumors that grow at different rates  Yes, we are all different, what works for one may not work for another, but what I mentioned is a consensus of what most ONC's say.   Stay Stromg, stay positive, pray (if you are religious), eat healthy, juice, and don't give in to poor me, it's easy to fall into That mode. We need to try and stay normal. Eventually, his normal will be quite different, but we learn to live with it. Can't do as much as we used to do but we try.  One foot in front of the other. 

Me:  Stage 4 with mets to liver, Nov 2008

NED (no evidence of disease) for almost four years, then back on chemo June 2012.   I did slack off, on what I was doing but I'm back on track and won't stop, going forward with all my supplements.  I now have 6 tumors instead of the two (the first time), went up to Stanford and having two procedures done, some cyber knife and radiation.  Hoping for good results. 

As as a care giver, you must take care of yourself.   The more active he is,  the better for both of you 

Also, watch the pain meds for possible constipation.   Ducolax and child suppositories is what I used. 

Is is he taking Avastin or Erbitux with his Folfri?   

Sending prayers and good vibes your way.   Hugs!!

Raquel 

I am truly sorry that you and your husband are having such a rough time. Although brain mets from colon cancer isnt as common as liver or lung mets its not rare either. Please vent as much as you need to. This IS the place for venting. We all need to vent and do so here me included.