Peritineal Carcinomatosis

Hi Taelor,
I am very sorry to hear that you are going through this, especially at such a young age. It's a scary thing, I am also 30 and my mom was diagnost with stomache cancer on Dec.02/02, so now I'm also worried everytime I get stomache upset.
My mother is in the same boat as you - they were going to operate, but when they looked in, they saw that it had spread so the doctor felt as though the surgery would be fatal. This was sad at first, but now I look at it almost as a blessing. My mom is back home and eating like a horse - she still is having a hard time putting on weight, but I think that could be the chemo. I'm not exactly sure what the cancer my mom has is called, but she had a tumor grow and block off the stomache to the intestine, so she could not eat anymore. They put in something called a stent to open the blockage and like I said, she is eating more now then she ever has - and solids too! The doctors said she would never eat solids again.
You'll have to read the other messages about getting the stomache removed, from what I read, it's pretty harsh, but you are young, strong and I'm sure you will pull through fine. My mom is 66 years old and she is determined to live longer than what they have given her and I think she is getting better everyday.
Good luck to you and keep me posted as to your progress. By the way, how did you find out you had stomache cancer? Does it run through your family and just happened to get checked? From what I understand stomache cancer is hard to spot, that's why is spreads so quickly. I'm just wondering if I should be getting checked too...

Taelor said:

Dear Karver,
Thank you for sharing with me about your mother. I will be starting Chemo next week. But I was wondering what types of medicine your mother is using in chemo. I'm going to be taking a combination of 3 different drugs called Irinotecan(CPT-11)and Cisplatin in combination with Flavopiridol. The Flavopiridol is a new experimental drug that is supposed to increase the effectiveness of the Irinotecan(CPT-11)and Cisplatin. I hope it is very efective. I'm having trouble keeping the weight on due to lack of appetite and it is hard to take in a large amount at once. I fpund out I had cancer beacause I had previous GI bleeds. On a follow up visit to my GI doctor a biopsy was done leading to further tests. I only wish I was schedueled for an earlier follow up visit. Thank you for your encouraging word and best of luck to your mother.

Hello Taelor,
I hope this message finds you feeling well. I'm not sure of the chemo my mom is on. One of them, I beleive, was the Flavo one, and one of them did start with a C, but I think it was cyclo-something. She is also on 3 chemo drugs. They did end up changing her drugs after the first treatment because she ended up having to get a blood transfusion - all the white blood cells died in her body. So I'm not sure what they changed it to at this time. She is going to get me the list. She was a little better after this last injection though.
Just make sure you are constantly eating small meals- everything counts. And on the days you DO feel good, just keep packing in the food as much as you can, because that chemo can have a real impact on appetite.
I hope you have alot of family or friend support to help you through the chemo.
Good luck next week, I've been thinking of you and sending out positive vibes...
Karver (cold in Canada!)

Hi Taelor,

My mom also had GI bleeds and peritoneal carcinomatosis. Just so you know there is a doctor in DC, Dr. Paul Sugarbaker who has a very risky procedure that pours chemo into the abdominal cavity during surgery to try to attack the cancer. I heard that it is best used for what is known as 'jelly belly', but my mom wouldn't have made it since the surgery lasts over 10 hours. If it's possible, you may want to check it out, but know I don't know if what you have would benefit from that kind of procedure. The one thing that my mom's surgeon wished he would have done is inserted a gastric tube directly into my mom's stomach. It would have greatly improved her quality of life after her stomach surgery. If you are going to have some of your stomach removed, you will have a nasal gastric tube to pump your stomach until it starts working again. In my mom's case, the cancer prevented my mom's stomach from functioning again so she had to have the gastric tube down her nose for the rest of her life. At a minimum, ask your doctor if that is something that would make things more comfortable for you. Good luck with your surgery and chemo treatments. Our thoughts are with you.

Best always,
Thankfuld