Teresa7374

Teresa,

I am re-posting your post from another thread. Sometimes questions tend to get lost in longer threads and I wanted to make sure the posters here saw your question and responded to you.

This was the post from the other thread:

"Could you please give me some info. i am a 43 yr old female diagnosed with stage iv colon cancer with mets to liver and lungs. should i have surgery on the primary tumor first and then start chemo. or should i do chemo first and then surgery. i have had different opinions from doctors."



As far as my answer to your question, the typical process is to start chemo first and then do surgery at a later date. I know mentally you want to get the primary tumor out. I felt that way when I was diagnosed (with liver mets). But it is a good idea to start the chemo to see how the mets and tumor respond to treatment. That lets the doctors know whether the treatment is working for you or not. And while you could see results of chemo on the liver/lung mets most doctors won't want to delay the start of the chemotherapy treatment as the colon tumor is typically not detrimental to your current health (unless there is a chance of blockage). If you were to have your colon resected you would have to heal for a while (probably 6 weeks) before starting chemo treatments.

I am sure others will post their thoughts here soon as well.

If you want to read about anyone's particular history click on his/her username. Welcome to the site here. Best of luck.

Amy