Colorectoral with Liver Mets

afraidinindy
afraidinindy Member Posts: 80
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
My husband will have colon resection with an ileostomy on August 1st. They will later do another PET Scan and CT Scan to see if there are more mets in his liver or elsewhere. Can anyone tell me what to expect as far as liver surgery following the colon surgery? Is the prognosis very good in this type of cancer? Thanks for any information you can give me.

Comments

  • AlexD
    AlexD Member Posts: 8
    #2
    Hi! First of all I hope that you don t find any mets!
    But if you do, there are still some treatments. If the mets are concentrated on one liver lobe and small, then liver resection is possible. Which is the only method that may result in cure (I am saying just what doc said for my dad s case). If mets are unresectable because of size, then you can trie to shrink them trough chemotherapy. There is also the possibility of Radio Frequency Ablation, which "cooks" cancer and destroys it. And there are many other options and combinations!But docs are the most appropriate to tell you about that stuff.
    Hope you really won t need any of that!
    Best wishes for your husband!
  • hicarm
    hicarm Member Posts: 57
    #3
    Hi. I too cross my fingers for you that your husband will have no mets. My dad was dx 2005 November stage 4 with 8 liver mets. Colon resection in December 05, 8 treatments of chemo on avastin, Oxilaplatin, and xeloda. The liver mets shrank to be resectable, so the liver resection took place in April 06. As of now, he has a heptatic pump with 5-FU, Xeloda, Cpt-11 and avastin. Doctor said he could be"cured". The chemo (esp. cpt-11) is hard on his body and all along, he has been taking Reishi, and now maitake on the side. Here is a link if you would like to read about this more.

    All the best
    Carm
    http://www2.mdanderson.org/depts/oncolog/articles/06/4-apr/4-06-1.html

    Hope that this will help
  • StacyGleaso
    StacyGleaso Member Posts: 1,233 Member
    #4
    I was (key word WAS) stage 4 with liver mets. Will be 5 yrs clear this October. I was 33 when I was diagnosed. There is hope! I had chemo and radiation prior to surgery. During surgery is when they found it spread to my liver. They removed 40% of my liver (still retaining more of that organ, though!), and I have been cancerfree ever since. I did have chemo after the surgery to address any microscopic stragglers, and have been ok with that, too. Temporary ileostomy reversed 9 months after surgery.

    Although everyone is different, I am a firm believer that attitude and determination work with everyone. In my unprofessional opinion, I also believe that detection is key. You cannot cure what you don't find. So find it all, address it all, and move on with life. Sometimes I think we get so involved in the battle, and we let actually "living" fall off to the side.

    I had 5 fu, leucovorin, and camptosar as my chemo cocktail. No side effects. Never missed a day of work during any of this with the exception of surgery recovery. Keep the hope alive!

    Please e-mail me through this site if I can help you further....we hoosiers need to stick together! (I live in Lowell, IN, about 1.5 hrs north of Indy).

    Take care,

    Stacy
  • dannyxx
    dannyxx Member Posts: 8
    #5
    StacyGleaso said:

    I was (key word WAS) stage 4 with liver mets. Will be 5 yrs clear this October. I was 33 when I was diagnosed. There is hope! I had chemo and radiation prior to surgery. During surgery is when they found it spread to my liver. They removed 40% of my liver (still retaining more of that organ, though!), and I have been cancerfree ever since. I did have chemo after the surgery to address any microscopic stragglers, and have been ok with that, too. Temporary ileostomy reversed 9 months after surgery.

    Although everyone is different, I am a firm believer that attitude and determination work with everyone. In my unprofessional opinion, I also believe that detection is key. You cannot cure what you don't find. So find it all, address it all, and move on with life. Sometimes I think we get so involved in the battle, and we let actually "living" fall off to the side.

    I had 5 fu, leucovorin, and camptosar as my chemo cocktail. No side effects. Never missed a day of work during any of this with the exception of surgery recovery. Keep the hope alive!

    Please e-mail me through this site if I can help you further....we hoosiers need to stick together! (I live in Lowell, IN, about 1.5 hrs north of Indy).

    Take care,

    Stacy

    hi stacey

    congrats on your good news.my father has just been diagnosed with liver mets from the colon ,he is due for 40 per cent resection in three weeks.i am worried he isnt getting the right chemo ,only oxiplatin and 5fu .i wonder if the uk is different in there thinking about avastin .do u have any tips or advice on coping with this .
    thank you

    dan 32

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