Semi Colons, I need advice...

BusterBrown · March 2005

I was dx on 12/17/05 with colorectal cancer and liver mets, the primary tumor was 2.5cm and I have 3 lesions on my liver,2 on l lobe and 1 on the other. Since dx, I have went through 6 rounds of chemo, after the 3rd round I got a cat scan and they no longer see the lesions on my liver and my primary sight is now down to 2.2cm The chemo is working. My onc ordered a petctscan for next week to see where I'm at. The next step is surgery, he's recommending a colon resection, removal of 1 or two lymp nodes, and possibly some RFA, if needed, and insertion of a catheter/port directly into my liver. I have met with my surgeon once when I was diagnosed. I will meet with him again after the petctscan.
I'm totally dredding this surgery, however I know it's necessary and I will reluctantly do it. Im only 43 and I know I will recover.
I guess my big question is this: when you get a colon resection, does it automatically mean temporary ostomy or possibly colostomy? Have any of you had a colon resection without an ostomy??? How do they determine whether a patient needs a temp ostomy?
Thanks for your help...
Buster

HowardJ · March 2005

Buster,

It depends on where the lesion is in the colon anatomy, and some other factors. I had a right hemicolectomy (they took out my right colon) and I don't have a colostomy. If it's on the left side it may or may not be needed.
Howard

BusterBrown · March 2005

HowardJ said:
Buster,

It depends on where the lesion is in the colon anatomy, and some other factors. I had a right hemicolectomy (they took out my right colon) and I don't have a colostomy. If it's on the left side it may or may not be needed.
Howard

Howard:
The tumor is roughly 30cm from the end. I'm not sure how that translates, but that's where it is and the surgeon didn't seem to concerned, he would have been if it was lower..Hope this helps...
Buster

slammer · March 2005

Hi there Buster Brown, I am 44 now but when I was 42, I had a bowel resection, found actually during an appendix surgery, but I awoke without a colostomy, (thank God), so it can be done but as Howard said too just depends on where it is at. Sorry I could not be more help, by the way mine was on my right side about 6 inches removed yes I did chemo but did have a re-occurance this last yr, so am doing chemo again but all looks good so there is a way to beat this Beast! Good Luck & sorry I have'nt been too imformative but hang in there! Live Stong!
Love Amy

ron50 · March 2005

Hi Buster,
Mine was on the left side ,descending, they took about 13 inches but both ends were about the same diameter so they just reconnected the plumbing. It is only when one end is larger than the other that they have to give it time to shrink thus the temp ostomy. Good luck with your treatment ,sounds like it is working fine as is the mind set, keep up the good work ,cheers Ron.

timlou · March 2005

My husband is 51 had surgery in May of 2004 for a grapefruit size tumor in the sigmoid colon. He did not wake up with a colostomy. The surgery itself went well and he was up out of bed the very next day, little pain to report due to new avenues for pain medicine and he went home within the week. He was then diagnosed Stage 3 with multiple lymph involvement but no metastisis. He is now starting the latest testing to see if the chemo kept everything at bay. Good luck to you, it sound like you have had success with your chemo and that's what we want to hear. Let us know how your surgery goes. Louise

Btrcup · March 2005

Buster, my hubby, also 43, was dx Feb 2004 and had colon resection. He did not need any type of bag (it was ascending colon). Good luck to you.

Linda (Baltimore)

scouty · March 2005

Hi Buster,

My situation is almost identical to yours except surgery is still not an option for me. Before we found the mets, my colon tumor was low, but the surgeon was very confident he could save the spincter (that is the key to whether you get a bag of not). My surgeon's speciality was actual called "spincter management"...seriously!!!!

Yours sounds high enough that they can get it and have plenty of room to get good margins too.

Please keep us posted.

Lisa P.

markatger · March 2005

Hi,

I too unfortunately was recently dx with crc with 2 liver mets in Feb. I just started chemo - 5-FU,leuco., oxaliplatin, and avastin.

I'm not sure what is going to happen next. Have you had any radiation? Is you liver un-resectable and they are doing RFA instead? I am told that I am likely a candidate for liver resectino but it is not positive. I'm wondering if my liver tumors will shrink and die, but will they still want to re-sect.

SOrry not much help about the bowel surgery. I have heard though from many that if the ostomy is necessary that it really is not that bad.

Maria

madu · March 2005

Buster,

I had a colon and liver resection (1 small met -they removed that lobe) and did not require a colostomy. My tumor - lemon sized - was in the rectal-sigmoid area - my surgeon said he could feel it during an exam - so it was pretty close to the surface. He went into surgery saying he didn't expect a colostomy. I understand recovery from a colon resection is not too bad - I was in for 10 days but they said that was due to the liver. Also know you'll have a pretty big scar if they do anything with the liver - mine starts just under the breastbone and goes almost all the way down. I swore if it was ugly I was going to get a tattoo for it! but I hardly notice it anymore (6 1/2 years out).

Good luck!

Heidi

bsrules · March 2005

Buster,

I was caregiver for my husband Bob. He had a colon resection. His rectum was clean but they did remove his entire Colon. They were able to reconect his system without a colostomy. He had a large scare that healed beautifully and was in the hospital about 10 days. His system was working overtime after the surgery as he said, " He was glad to take a good dump after all these years." So just so you know you have options. Just talk to you Dr. and find out what their plan of attack is.

Best of Luck!!! Let us know how things are going!!

Sue

BusterBrown · March 2005

markatger said:
Hi,

I too unfortunately was recently dx with crc with 2 liver mets in Feb. I just started chemo - 5-FU,leuco., oxaliplatin, and avastin.

I'm not sure what is going to happen next. Have you had any radiation? Is you liver un-resectable and they are doing RFA instead? I am told that I am likely a candidate for liver resectino but it is not positive. I'm wondering if my liver tumors will shrink and die, but will they still want to re-sect.

SOrry not much help about the bowel surgery. I have heard though from many that if the ostomy is necessary that it really is not that bad.

Maria

Maria,
Because of the positive results the chemo, my Onc has held of on radiation therapy. In a week I'll be getting a petctscan to determine where I'm at, I'm hoping the liver mets are gone as they did not show up on the latest ct scan.
Sorry to hear about your dx, hang in there, chemo treats us all a little differently, I've been breezing throuhg mine and it looks like we're getting the same cocktail, although I'm not on avastin.
Good luck with your treatments and think positive.
Buster

markatger · March 2005

BusterBrown said:
Maria,
Because of the positive results the chemo, my Onc has held of on radiation therapy. In a week I'll be getting a petctscan to determine where I'm at, I'm hoping the liver mets are gone as they did not show up on the latest ct scan.
Sorry to hear about your dx, hang in there, chemo treats us all a little differently, I've been breezing throuhg mine and it looks like we're getting the same cocktail, although I'm not on avastin.
Good luck with your treatments and think positive.
Buster

Buster,

I wonder why you are not on Avastin. I guess its still not accepted as standard treatment. I'm going to be re-evaluated in May to see where I'm at after the chemo. I haven't had any surgery just one round of chemo. So I'm really just getting started. They are talking about afterwards maybe doing radiation and just 5-FU and then rectal surgery, more chemo and then finally liver surgery. But this plan may be totally changed depending on how it goes.

It is encouraging to hear that some people breeze through this and come out ok on the otherside depsite being Stage IV.

I wish you good PETscan results this week.

Maria

kangatoo · March 2005

bsrules said:
Buster,

I was caregiver for my husband Bob. He had a colon resection. His rectum was clean but they did remove his entire Colon. They were able to reconect his system without a colostomy. He had a large scare that healed beautifully and was in the hospital about 10 days. His system was working overtime after the surgery as he said, " He was glad to take a good dump after all these years." So just so you know you have options. Just talk to you Dr. and find out what their plan of attack is.

Best of Luck!!! Let us know how things are going!!

Sue

Hi Buster. As previously said. A colostomy will depend on a lot of factors but the "higher" the cancer from the anus the better the chances of a bag not being needed. My cancer was a 2/3 blockage, stage 2, in the sigmoid colon. However there were 2 other polyps looking to turn cancerous. I was told I was to have an "high anterior resection" which was explained as from just above the rectum to the top of the sigmoid colon. I was also told a colostomy "may" be required depending on what was seen during surgery. I was lucky to avoid one although the surgeon took more colon than originally thought. They resected most of the descending colon and sigmoid to the rectum. Incision was from the breastbone to the pubic bone. 6 days in hospital then 6 months on 5FU/Leucovorin.
Welcome to a great group Buster and all the best to you. Your surgeon should give you a thorough explanation of surgery.
Hey--you will be fine mate. Keep the questions coming, kanga n Jen from "down under"

Semi Colons, I need advice...

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