Oncologist says No chemo

Glv49
Glv49 Member Posts: 206 Member
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hi,

My husband had laprascopic liver resection two weeks ago, he is doing good. They removed the spot that was about 1 cent. The surgeon said it was colon cancer, but was removed with clean margins.. and thats a good thing. We saw the oncologist today, and she said she will see him once a month, and every 3 mos. he will have a PET/CT. He has one scheduled for July. We asked about chemo, and she said since the FOLFOX 6 didn't work for him he developed the liver met while on it. She would not do that protocol again, because of the side effects like neuropothy would be great. She said there is no maintenance chemo. She said she wants to save Avastin for him, in case it would return. She said the surgery could be very curative for him. So, I guess I am glad in a way, but still scared that without follow up chemo it will return, but I guess 3 mos he will get checked. I guess you only can hope it never comes back, but if it does you will still have some options. The surgeon said the liver was left in its original form so it could be resected again later if needed. My yearly PET/CT will be coming up in May, it is such an anxious time. Now when my hubby has his scan, he will have it early in the morning, see the surgeon in the afternoon with the results the same day.. no waiting so thats good.. waiting as we all know is the worst part.

Thanks,
Gail

Comments

  • kimby
    kimby Member Posts: 797
    #2
    Adjunct Chemo
    Gail,

    There are not good studies on 'mop up' chemo after liver resection. The debate seems to be 50-50 depending on the onc experiences and since there is not documented evidence, no chemo sounds good! With such close follow up, you'll be on top of it. I'm so happy to hear that the resection went well.

    Hugs,

    Kimby
  • dixchi
    dixchi Member Posts: 431
    #3
    kimby said:

    Adjunct Chemo
    Gail,

    There are not good studies on 'mop up' chemo after liver resection. The debate seems to be 50-50 depending on the onc experiences and since there is not documented evidence, no chemo sounds good! With such close follow up, you'll be on top of it. I'm so happy to hear that the resection went well.

    Hugs,

    Kimby

    Chemo or no
    Your husband's cancer area was so small that it probably is good to have
    regular check ups for a while and postpone any chemo. By the time my
    area was discovered it was very large and then four treatments with
    FOLFOX were supposed to shrink it but instead "liquified" it; for
    some reason it spread out instead of shrinking????? After surgery
    I got 8 Folfox treatments.....who knows which worked or if both worked
    surgery and/or chemo.....but I am NED right now. Sounds like your
    oncologist knows what she is doing.

    Barbara
  • Glv49
    Glv49 Member Posts: 206 Member
    #4
    kimby said:

    Adjunct Chemo
    Gail,

    There are not good studies on 'mop up' chemo after liver resection. The debate seems to be 50-50 depending on the onc experiences and since there is not documented evidence, no chemo sounds good! With such close follow up, you'll be on top of it. I'm so happy to hear that the resection went well.

    Hugs,

    Kimby

    Thanks Kimby,
    I know I did a
    Thanks Kimby,

    I know I did a little research and found that out also. Yes, his resection was robot assisted, and he did really well.. he has 7 small incisions, and they are healing nicely.
    Alot easier than colon surgery thats for sure! I was glad they were able to do it laproscopic, that saves you alot of healing time for sure.

    Be Well,
    Gail
  • Glv49
    Glv49 Member Posts: 206 Member
    #5
    dixchi said:

    Chemo or no
    Your husband's cancer area was so small that it probably is good to have
    regular check ups for a while and postpone any chemo. By the time my
    area was discovered it was very large and then four treatments with
    FOLFOX were supposed to shrink it but instead "liquified" it; for
    some reason it spread out instead of shrinking????? After surgery
    I got 8 Folfox treatments.....who knows which worked or if both worked
    surgery and/or chemo.....but I am NED right now. Sounds like your
    oncologist knows what she is doing.

    Barbara

    Congrats! On the NED.. that
    Congrats! On the NED.. that is just wonderful

    Gail
  • tootsie1
    tootsie1 Member Posts: 5,044 Member
    #6
    Good news
    That's wonderful that you won't have any waiting for results! I hope everyhing goes swimmingly.

    *hugs*
    Gail
  • impactzone
    impactzone Member Posts: 555 Member
    #7
    same result for me
    After my 1st lung met resection in 11/07 the onc said the same thing for me. If it helps that is waht they recommended at Stanford with NED. I did have a second met show up and was removed 3/30/09 and I will meet with the onc on 4/30 to discuss the next steps but they seem very reluctant to give chemo to Stage 4 people who are currently showing NED. It seems like if you are stage 3 they give you chemo but for the 4 er's they want to hold it back until something shows up. Congrats on successful surgery
    Chip
  • PhillieG
    PhillieG Member Posts: 4,866 Member
    #8
    Sounds sound
    Glad they got it all, I agree with the Onc, it's good to have an ace up one's sleeve in case it's needed. The Avastin could be just that.
    -p
  • 2bhealed
    2bhealed Member Posts: 2,064 Member
    #9
    No chemo yea!
    Hi Gail,

    You could do CHEMIA instead which is "the juice of the plant" by ingesting fresh, organic veggie juices. That's what I did for my Stage 3 colon cancer and have remained cancer free for 7 1/2 years with absolutely no chemo!

    Beets are great liver cleansers too.

    Just a thought.

    peace, emily
  • VickiCO
    VickiCO Member Posts: 917
    #10
    2bhealed said:

    No chemo yea!
    Hi Gail,

    You could do CHEMIA instead which is "the juice of the plant" by ingesting fresh, organic veggie juices. That's what I did for my Stage 3 colon cancer and have remained cancer free for 7 1/2 years with absolutely no chemo!

    Beets are great liver cleansers too.

    Just a thought.

    peace, emily

    Emily
    Beets...

    I did not know they were liver cleansers. I love beets and have been actually craving them lately. In the past (before cancer) my snacks were the usual M&Ms, chips, etc. Now, I snack on beets, apples, and the like. I have been concerned about the narcotics I am on, particularly Vicodin, messing up my liver. Maybe I have offset some of the damage with all the beets I am eating!One can hope.

    Thanks for this info...it is encouraging to me! Vicki
  • 2bhealed
    2bhealed Member Posts: 2,064 Member
    #11
    VickiCO said:

    Emily
    Beets...

    I did not know they were liver cleansers. I love beets and have been actually craving them lately. In the past (before cancer) my snacks were the usual M&Ms, chips, etc. Now, I snack on beets, apples, and the like. I have been concerned about the narcotics I am on, particularly Vicodin, messing up my liver. Maybe I have offset some of the damage with all the beets I am eating!One can hope.

    Thanks for this info...it is encouraging to me! Vicki

    Liver Cleanses
    Hi Vicki,

    There are liver cleanses you can do. A clean liver is so important since everything goes through there. That's funny that you crave them. I did too after my surgery--ate them steamed all the time with some flax oil drizzled on them. YUM! And of course I put them in my juice sometimes.

    Enjoy!

    peace, emily

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