Mom has colon cancer stage 4

John23 said:

Second opinions

Second opinions

ALWAYS get a "second opinion" from a -colorectal surgeon- that is not of the same group or organization as your present physician.

Surgery is the best way to remove cancer. The colon can be removed entirely, all 5 foot of it. The liver can be surgically sliced up to 25% of it's size and it grows back. Lung nudules can be "blasted" with radio waves.

There are new surgical technology and procedures that enables a surgeon to do now what he never could do before. There are no "new" chemical treatments that will do as much as surgery.

Get other opinions. Chemical and radiation treatments can weaken the body and make survival difficult.

Get other opinions from Colorectal surgeons.

My best to you and your Mom.

John

Thank you very much John. We got a second opinion with a different health group before she started chemo and they said that the treatment for her case is what they would be doing as well. It made me feel a little at ease because I think second opinions are so important, it's your body. She had surgery, but it was a bypass so she doesn't have a bowel obstruction because the tumor in her colon was too big to remove at the time. Now I'm waiting to see how/if the chemo shrinks it, what's going to happen next. 

i am going to look into the types of methods you mentioned that was very helpful thank you! All the best. 

phuckcancer said:

I have found, in my short few

I have found, in my short few weeks of dealing with this C, that trying to do normal day to day stuff is a good way to help my hubby feel "normal". I babied him the first 3 weeks (now on our 4th week) and he wants to do more and I have been letting him.

 

Getting out of the house seems to help also.

I agree same here I babied my mom a lot in the beginning weeks and then realized I should be as normal as possible so I don't overwhelm her constantly and do things for her she can still do. I think it's because we want to be there for them every step of the way, even if it's the tiniest thing. I wish you and your husband the best and stay strong always. Take care and thank you for the reply. 

JanJan63 said:

I'm sorry you're here and I

I'm sorry you're here and I hope your mom will get through this and move on and have a long life. If you read about some of the members on here you'll see that stage four is something some people are able to live with. It depends on how it goes and the battle is different for everyone so there's no way to predict what will happen with your mom. Try to stay positive and encourage your mom to do so as well because stress will only decrease her body's ability to fight. That being said, if she gets very down and needs your support in that don't try to bring her up by not addressing her fears and sadness. That's one of the worst things I've dealt with. My husband did it a few times and I get that he just couldn't deal with it at the time but I needed someone to talk to about if things really do go south.

I was a stage three and have had mets since then in my lung. Oddly, that means I'm still a stage three but I see it as a stage four. As John said, surgery is the first treatment for cancer with chemo and radiation being secondary treatments. I had radiation and chemo before surgery in an attempt to reduce the size of the tumour.

Be strong and take care of your mom. Hugs!

Jan 

Thanks so much Jan, I appreciate the kind words and hope you're doing well now. I'm trying my best, she's been such an amazing mom and shes my best friend. I'm going to stay positive because you're right everybody is different and there are positive outcomes to these conditions, she has been healthy up to the point of her diagnosis so we're hoping her body will be able to fight it somehow, as bad as it is. Staying strong is key, I agree. Thanks again and take care. Hugs! 

lizard44 said:

Sorry

Sorry you and your mom are having to deal with this. I agree with what phuckcancer said about staying active. Encourage your  mother to get up and move around or take a short walk, weather permitting.  I've found that I have to pace myself and may only be able to do  some activities for  fifteen or twenty minutes  before I need to rest, but  have been able to   keep up with housework, gardening, cooking,  shopping, and attending  some  events, etc.  I try to avoid crowds and avoid being around people with obvious signs of colds, flu, etc. but I do think being as active as possible actually helps to combat the fatigue and helps keep your body in better shape to fight   the  disease and handle the treatments.

Be sure to let  the doctors know about any side effects, like nausea, etc.  They can probably give her something to lessen the effects. Also, I've found that even though I have always eaten  "healthy" foods, I've had to modify my diet even more to avoid  diarrhea, constipation, etc. so it helps to  take notice of  whther eating certain foods makes the side effects worse and avoid those foods in the future.

And while it may be very hard, try not to let thoughts about cancer and all it entails  fill your entire  brain- take a break from it occasionally and recharge your batteries by doing something you enjoy. And try to do it without feeling guilty.If you don't feel you can leave your mother alone, find a relative or friend to spend the day with her.  There will be good days and bad days for both you and your mom.  Learn to enjoy the good days and  expect there to be many more. 

Grace/lizard44

Thank you very much Grace. I try to encourage her to walk and she does when she has energy, but a lot of the times ever since the first round of treatment she lies down a lot. She did walk this morning longer than usual since its been 2 weeks since her first treatment. I'm trying to not let this all consume my thoughts and keeping busy with work as well, since I still have to work on my projects. I'm just taking it a day at a time and hoping for the best. Thank you for all the advice and all the best to you.

beaumontdave said:

Don't project the future,

Don't project the future, It's hard to resist but anything can happen , so anticipating your pain is worse than useless. Stay in the present and see to your mama's needs and happiness. The rest takes care of itself, however it goes. I'll turn 58 in May so this feels close to home to me, there's lots of folks here around our age, your mom and me, and many had the mets in lungs and liver and are keeping it at bay or are ned so have faith and keep a good thought as I will for your mom.............................Dave

Thanks so much Dave you're right I shouldn't think too far ahead and take it a day at a time. I hope you're doing well. Thanks for the advice. She was in good spirits today and I definitely enjoyed seeing her smile and not weak like she was last week. Best wishes to you.