Yawkey in Boston

Hey there M,

I am a 34 yr old cancer survivor. I had stage 3 w/ 3 positive nodes, but then got a lung met. Had radiation, chemo x 2, surgery x 2; and now NED (no evidence of disease.)
Just to make you feel better. I am from New England, went to med school at UMass in Worcester - but now live in Houston. I get all my care at MD Anderson. When my lung nodule was discovered my onc told me if I wanted a second opinion I should go to NY or Boston. I think he talked about Dana Farber, but MGH is a great place.
Cure is ALWAYS a possibily. Read Lance Armstrong's book and you'll see. Stay strong. You can always as Dr. Ryan about research and get some names of MD's at Dana Farber; get as much info as you can. Go to a hospital with a large GI center. I don't know if MGH has one, I bet Dana Farber does. But I just don't know.

I haven't had liver surgery, but my thoracotomy was a snap compared to my rectal resection. It all depends on the location of the tumors and the skills of the surgeon.

Best of luck... jana

Hello, I just wanted to let you know that I had a liver resection 2 years ago for a met to the liver. I was 32 at that time. It was about the size of a walnut apparently. It was discovered at my first checkup after 6 months on 5-FU/Leukovorin. Following the liver resection I had Irinotecan/Xeloda like you say you had. I have not had any more problems w/ the liver since then. In case you do not already know, the liver is the only organ in the body that can regenerate itself (like a lizards tail!). They can remove up to 70% of it, I believe, and it will grow back in a matter of weeks. Amazing.
You also said you feel good - I have never felt bad through this process w/ the exception of the chemo drugs. I have been off chemo for 1 1/2 years now. I did have 2 lung mets removed in October, but thankfully they were "encapsulated" and no additional chemo was necessary. They think they had been there from the very beginning - when I was diagnosed, but took this long to develop to the size that they could be seen. So far so good. At any rate, what to expect, IMO the emotional aspects of surviving cancer are much more difficult than the physical. You have to believe that you will be cured. I hope that you will have the option of a liver resection.
Take care, Susan.

Know this is coming too late for you but wanted to respond anyway. When I finished my treatment in FL and was getting ready to move back to TX, I asked my radiation oncologist and oncologist, where was the best place to go for colon cancer. They told my MD Anderson was the best in the country for CC. but, of course, you couldn't go wrong with Sloan Kettering. I have to say I never went to a cancer center and never regretted it. I was diagnosed 8/98 (age 31) with stage IV rectal sigmoid cancer with a 3 cm met to liver. I had both a colon and liver resection. I think whether you can have a resection depends on size and location of met. After my surgery, my onc was sure mets would return and he told me the plan would be to catch them early (under 2 cm) and then do RFA - radio frequency ablation - basically stick a probe in and microwave the sucker. If they were larger he wanted to consider a port into the liver. I'm happy to report that I've been cancer free and in remission for almost 7 years. Hope all went well with your appt.!

Heidi