1 year and still alive and living

midnte0708
midnte0708 Member Posts: 166
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
1 year ago today my fathers doctor gave his opinion that he had "1 year to live" (diagnosed Aug 2005 with colon cancer recurrance to the liver (very large liver mets)
This not only shocked my father but really depressed him for a long time (which I'm sure did not help his health)
Well, the year is up and my father is still alive receiving the same chemo (FOLFIRI + Avastin) as scheduled every other week and working full time and maintaining a fairly normal life despite chemo side effects.
He has had some shrinkage to his livers mets in the past year from the chemo but mostly maintained stable disease.
The funny thing is last month the doctor sent him to a liver surgeon to investigate if he could have a resection since he has been doing so well. Unfortunately that surgeon said the tumors were to close to a very important artery. Oncologist said continue chemo maybe try again in the future.
Maybe my story will help give some hope to others that the doctors don't have much hope for.
I still remember posting on this board about the "1 year diagnosis." Half of me didn't want to believe it and the other half of me was so scared. I really appreciated everyones responses that day and I remember one about how the doctor should also pick the winning lotto number if he is so good!


Sue

Comments

  • mindy10
    mindy10 Member Posts: 182 Member
    #2
    Hi Sue, im so happy to hear that. Its great that he can tolorate chemo so well. I believe him being on chemo non stop is what has kept his cancer stable. See you cant always listen to what dr's say. You just have to live day by day and have faith. Your father is living proof. Mindy
  • spongebob
    spongebob Member Posts: 2,565 Member
    #3
    Sue -

    Great post! Wishing your dad MANY more annaversaries of this this - obviously misguided! - day.

    Cheers

    - SB
  • sandyjg
    sandyjg Member Posts: 71
    #4
    YEAH!!! Those surgeons give the scariest news. My hubby was dx July 05, and was told his median life expectancy was 21 months. He is just like your dad, been on non-stop chemo except during the reconnection of his colon, works full time, plays golf, and is 85% of his normal self. We had an initial shrinkage in the liver mets, but nothing since then. We are living in the moment, right now our oncologist says his disease is stable, I am very jealous of the NED's, but stable means we are enjoying life. Give your dad a hug.

    Sandy
  • KathiM
    KathiM Member Posts: 8,028 Member
    #5
    Sue,
    Yeah, sometimes stats are wrong. My favorite story...
    When my rectal cancer was diagnosed, the stats gave me a 37% chance of survival, and 8 months of survival time. That would have been June of 2005. Well, in June of '05, I was past my resection, and NED on the rectal cancer, just facing the fight of the breast cancer!

    Naked happy dance for Dad!!!!!!

    Still alive and kickin', unless I missed the memo....

    Hugs, Kathi
  • lfondots63
    lfondots63 Member Posts: 818 Member
    #6
    Hi Sue,

    Thanks for posting this. We have had a few new people recently that their doctors were doom and gloom too. I'm sure this is an inspiration to them. Happy dance for dad too (boy I'm getting my exercise today). I love the post about the docs picking the winning lottery number too. Too bad we can't say that when they give us an expiration date!

    Lisa F.
  • Betsydoglover
    Betsydoglover Member Posts: 1,248 Member
    #7
    Sue -

    Congrat's to your father - so glad that "1 year to live" crap turned out to be just that.

    Betsy
  • jams67
    jams67 Member Posts: 925 Member
    #8
    http://www2.mdanderson.org/depts/oncolog/articles/06/4-apr/4-06-1.html
    I guess I don't know how to post a website. I can't get this to work right, but maybe you can look it up. Someone posted this on this site and I have bookmarked it, because it gives us hope that the doctors are working hard for a cure. So glad your dad is doing so well. jams
  • vinny3
    vinny3 Member Posts: 928 Member
    #9
    The doctors are mainly guessing when they predict how long someone will live except in the patient's last few days. It's nice to hear that your dad is doing well. The longer he can keep the beast at bay the better the odds are that something else will come along that works better. He's very fortunate to have you looking after him.

    ****
  • pink05
    pink05 Member Posts: 550
    #10
    Sue,

    I don't know why doctors give numbers. So many times they have predicted wrong. As I have said before, each individual person is different. How can doctors predict how long one has to live? Do they have some sort of crystal ball the rest of us don't know about? I'd like to know how your dad's doctor has reacted to the fact that your father has survived this beyond his expectations. Anyway, this is great news and your dad is such a fighter. He obviously has a strong will to beat this thing. You both remain in my prayers.

    -Lee-

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