Rectal To Liver Cancer

Hello, all. I'm brand new.

tpmack37's post on the Rare Cancer Support Forum (which I read yesterday)...

http://www.rare-cancer.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3626

...brought me to Google his alias and it brought me to this place, specifically his thread @ http://csn.cancer.org/node/190358

So here I am.

My family is currently living in Southern California, and I'm the son of a father who has cancer, diagnosed less than a week ago. It's been rough, and surreal. I'm numb...emotional...possibly in some level of denial...just all over the place.


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My dad, 55, has had ulcerative colitis for the past 12 years. I believe he'd had a total of 7 colonoscopies up until missing his annual last year (I know...), and since his recent condition flare up that has been for almost 2 months (which was progressively getting worse), his gastroenterologist ordered some blood tests and scans. On the morning I drove him to get some blood taken, which he'd been fasting for, he was already feeling dizzy and lightheaded. He ended up passing out for a short time before the nurse could even get blood from him. His blood pressure was 97/57 before we left for the ER.

Being admitted to the hospital after that, he had an abdominal CT scan amongst other tests, and the doctors were concerned about various spots on his liver from those images. He had the biopsy and it didn't come back with pus in the specimens (3), so that apparently indicated it wasn't abscess/infection. Not good news, well, at least until later on the GI doctor said to us ironically that would have been more life-threatening than with what we're dealing with now. Likely tumors.

He had his 8th colonoscopy scheduled 2 or 3 days after the preliminary biopsy results, and that came back with colon cancer, a tumor, despite the fact that blood work suggested things were normal there. Things started to make sense at this point.

My dad had a successful colostomy just days ago to remove the colon cancer, which was actually discovered to be in the rectum, not higher up into the colon as it was thought to be from the colonoscopy.

At this point in time we're waiting for him to recover so he can undergo whatever treatment(s) necessary for the liver issues. In a nutshell. It sucks to have to wait, but it's understandable.

I want to do everything I possibly can to lengthen his life, as much as possible. I'm looking at specific liver cancer diet for when he can eat (post-op and all, being the kind of surgery it was--waiting for his new digestive system to come together), what could help, possible mushroom remedies included, and of course what aggressive treatments are actually going to be the best come the time...NOT just going by what our oncologist is saying. Not just "chemo."

His cancer pathology points to SQUAMOUS cell, by the way. I hear that is not the most common, it's a bit harder to treat, and a bit faster growing than the other, more typical kind of colorectal and liver cancer found.

Reading what I've read so far on this place, namely from fellow user "winnipeg" from Los Angeles...

http://csn.cancer.org/user/120603

...about a particular cocktail for the liver that has worked for her, I like to think I've found some hope in these dark times. Truly. Like, I want to run to San Diego and have my dad see this oncologist.

Read this post of hers if you have not already:

http://csn.cancer.org/node/190358#comment-817872

But I guess that's it for now. I just want to check in here, and ask for all the advice I can get. Please!

Please and thank you.

/Adam