Need advice

VonnieKai
VonnieKai Member Posts: 30
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hi all
It's been a long time since I have posted. My husband has been on Erbitux for about a year and it has kept his lung mets from growing for quite awhile. We got the results of his PET scan last week and it wasn't good. He has a new growth in the liver and it shows a possible new growth in the rectum. The lung mets appear to have increased in number. The oncologist added daily Xeloda to his weekly Erbitux regime starting last Thursday. I asked if it was possible to get RFA on the liver met and the oncologist refused to consider it because of all his other mets. I was reasoning that if the lung mets were growing slowly, that staying on the Erbitux and zapping the liver met would give my husband more quality time. Since he's been on the Xeloda, his mind is already getting bad again, even though the oncologist refuses to believe that Xeloda causes his memory loss. My husband is 74, and had surgery for rectal cancer in 2002. Right before his surgery, he had a stroke - so his recovery has been complicated. He has almost fully recovered from the stroke, but he has no energy from the constant treatments. Does anyone know of anything more we could try? Does the oncologist seem to be on the right track with this? I about half trust the oncologist and half think that if there were something more we could try, he wouldn't tell us about it. Lemme know what y'all think.

Comments

  • tkd3g
    tkd3g Member Posts: 767
    #2
    HI there.

    I really am not qualified to help you medically. I didn't have any mets and was not on your husbands treatment plan.

    I can offer this...good nutrition. Many here do juicing. Veggies, fruits, low or no red meats, whole grains. It everything you've always heard. I have to say it really makes me feel better. Sometimes it's hard to eat anything, but nurishing the body really helps it heal.

    I think in one of the posts below, Emily ( 2behealed) wrote about a couple of books that are really good.

    Best to you and your husband.

    Barb
  • johnom
    johnom Member Posts: 86 Member
    #3
    Dear VonnieKai,
    I'm not sure where you are located, but after reading your post a second time I think I would go get a second opinion at a cancer center somewhere. If you are losing confidence in the oncologist or he seems too timid to treat your husband as aggressively as you like, you have legitimate reasons to get new, different or the same opinions from another expert. It's your husband and you fighting this disease, not the oncologist alone. What can it hurt to let someone else review your situation, which is obviously quite complicated now, by anybody's measurements (surgery, chemo, stroke, etc.)
    I would make an appointment today. If the oncologist gets his feelings hurt then you know you did the right thing. If he encourages you to get a second opinion all 3 of you know you did the right thing.

    You must be exhausted with this fight. Take care of yourself as well as your husband. You are obviously a very competent caregiver.
  • KKLoop
    KKLoop Member Posts: 73
    #4
    What about Avastin????? New drug for Stage III and IV colorectal met. patients.

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