Help... Questions....thanks....

hillby
hillby Member Posts: 31
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hi All,

Just another person here to say thanks for always giving the upside to this crappy disease (no punn intended)!!

My husband has finished 11 rounds of FOLFOX with Avastin at this point and is an inspiration to me. Question for you semi-colons.....can chemo cause an absess????? He developed what we thought was a pimple on his rear end (as if things weren't bad enough) and two days later it was the size of a baseball. We went into the ER yesterday where they had to surgically drain it and then put him on 2 different antibiotics. He was scheduled for his last (12th) chemo today and they postponed it a week. Will this effect his progress??????

He has multiple liver mets and I am afraid that any delay will just allow the cancer to pick up speed again. Does a break in treatment do this????

His tumor marker started at 466 and is down to 2.5 now. As of April CT, doc's didn't think resection was going to be a possibility - still too many tumors in his liver. I am praying continously to prove them wrong. With his CEA being in the normal range - is it possible that what shows on the CT is scar tissue????

You are sll so awesome, I just can't thank you enough. My husband is not the most computer savvy man, that's why I am here doing the typing. I print out the posts so he can read them and they are of such encouragement to us both.

I find myself laughing with you all and I don't know you at all. Your posts give me a splash of what your personalities are like and I just love you all. I found myself in tears when I read of Grandma (Judy) passing away, as it reminded me of how wretcherous of a disease this is. I must say it scared me too, I know my husband is fighting the fight of his life.

You all ROCK!! Thank you for being so open about your disease and issues. This is no disease for the modest or proud that is for sure!!

Hope to meet you in Las Vegas!!

Hilary (and Byron)

Comments

  • bsrules
    bsrules Member Posts: 296
    #2
    Hilary and Byron,

    Hello!!! Glad to hear the treatments are working well! You have the same concerns that I ad with my husband Bob. Skipping a week will be fine. I don't now if the CT scan will show scare tissue. Ask your Dr. about it when you seen him.
    Keep up the good fight!!!!! You guys are doing a wonderful job!!!!

    Best Wishes and Prayers!!!

    Sue
  • taraHK
    taraHK Member Posts: 1,952 Member
    #3
    Hi Hillary,
    I've just finished 3 rounds of FOLFOX (out of 12) so the first thing I want to say is that Byron is my new hero!
    I'm not a doctor but my unprofessional first reaction to the absess is that chemo probably wouldn't cause an absess, but might interfere with the body's ability to fight one off (due to supressed white blood cells). I hope the absess now resolves quickly.
    My chemo was delayed by one week due to low white blood cell count -- and this happened once to me when I was receiving chemo 2 years ago. My understanding is that such delays are relatively common and do not interfere with the efficacy of the chemo. For your own peace of mind, I hope you can check this out with your oncologist/medical team.
    Finally, my understanding is that sometimes "spots" on a CT can be scar tissue -- have your doctors discussed PET scan as an option to supplement the CT scan?
    Best wishes to you both.
    Tara
  • alihamilton
    alihamilton Member Posts: 347 Member
    #4
    Hi Hilary,

    Firstly, congrats to your husband as he nears the end of his chemo. I would think it very unlikely that a break in his treatment at this stage would affect his recovery...he has so nearly finished anyway.

    His CEA levels are great! I would presume he had a PET scan to prove that the lesions on his liver were in fact mets. CT scan cannot show that for sure. Ct/PET would be more decisive.

    Hope his absess heals quickly...he really could do without this discomfort I am sure.

    All the best,

    Ali
  • kangatoo
    kangatoo Member Posts: 2,105 Member
    #5
    alihamilton said:

    Hi Hilary,

    Firstly, congrats to your husband as he nears the end of his chemo. I would think it very unlikely that a break in his treatment at this stage would affect his recovery...he has so nearly finished anyway.

    His CEA levels are great! I would presume he had a PET scan to prove that the lesions on his liver were in fact mets. CT scan cannot show that for sure. Ct/PET would be more decisive.

    Hope his absess heals quickly...he really could do without this discomfort I am sure.

    All the best,

    Ali

    Just thought I would drop in and say hi to you and Byron, Hilary. Your hubby is not alone...in more ways than one. Monika's Bert also had a pet aversion to using these crazy pieces of technowledgy. Nonetheless wish your hubby all the best from Kanga n Jen n oz.
    Oh........and as far as personality goes Hilary if you continue to come here you gotta put up with my ozzie slang, Spongers chronic humour and all the gals who gang up against all the guys. Ain't that right Bud, Howard , Steve, Jimmy, Rodney???.....guys? guys??
    Glad you joined us Byron(could have been under better circ's tho). The gals only outnumber us about 70 to 10 now....or thereabouts...lol!
    cheers, kanga n Jen

    btw Hilary...you are pretty much a rock too...join our "angel" club for carers.

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