More chemo or surgery for Stage IV colon cancer???

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dj121561
dj121561 Member Posts: 4
in Colorectal Cancer #1

My husband was diagnosed with colon cancer in May 2014 and underwent surgery to remove the baseball size mass and 6 inches of colon on both sides of the tumor.  They also removed 11 lymph nodes and got negative readings which meant the cancer was gone.  We dod CT scans every 6 months for follow up and on the last one they saw another mass.  So they did surgery in August 2016 and said they didnt get all the tumor because it was deep in his pelvic area by his iliac artery and also around his ureter.  They also said it had seeded to his omentum.  Theu suggested chemo of 5FLU without Avastin since they planned on doing surgery soon and the Avastin would make for a longer recovery time.  So he did 6 infusions of chemo, every 2 weeks for 3 days at a time and then a reevaluation.  One hospital says they want to do surgery now because the tumors have shrunk and they SHOULD be pretty easy to get to but they will have a vascular surgeon and a urologist present at the surgery in case they are needed to reconstruct his ureter or arteries.  Then we went to MD Anderson in houston for a second opinion and they suggest 3 more chemo infusions because besides the tumors there is also disease present in his peritoneum and retroperitoneum.Surgery will not remove this disease - now we have to decide which route to take.  I'm leaning toward the chemo and my husband wants to do the surgery to just get it out.  But Im afraid if they open him up that may make the disease spread or rapidly and he'll have to recover completely from the surgery before they can do any more chemo.  And chemo is the only treatment to get rid of the disease in his peritoneum and retroperitoneum.  Neither doctors recommend the HIPEC surgery (chemo wash) because it wont get to the disease in his retroperitoneum.  Anyone else have a similar case to this?? or thoughts on surgery vs more chemo?

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  • JanJan63
    JanJan63 Member Posts: 2,478 Member
    #2
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    I have no advice or similar

    I have no advice or similar experience. They do say that the best and first treatment for cancer is surgery with anything else coming in second. But for those roving cells it might be good to have the chemo along with the surgery. I know there's kind of a belief that once someone with cancer is opened up it spreads quicker. I think it's an old wive's tale and is untrue. It probably just seems that way. And surgery will always make someone feel a lot worse for a while.

    Just my opinion and not based on any vast knowledge on my part.

    Jan

  • traci43
    traci43 Member Posts: 773 Member
    #3
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    similar situation

    When I first had surgery in 2007, they removed my omentum because the first CT scan showed seeding.  There were tumors in my omentum, but nowhere else in the peritoneum and the fluid that had built up in my abdomen was negatve for cancer.  My surgeon, trying to be nice and focusing on what we thought was ovarian cancer, did not open me above my belly button.  As a result, a bit of omentum was left and two years later I had my second surgery, HIPEC, to remove the tumors.  I never had seeding to my peritoneum or positive lypmh nodes, but still the cancer came back.  I think I had small spots down very low in my pelvis that no one saw.  For my most recent surgery in 2014, the tumor was really close to the iliac artery and they nicked it and I lost 2 units of blood which stressed my heart and I ended up with a permanent rather than temporary colostomy because my surgeon didn't want to take the extra time to reconnect and form a temporary ostomy.  Also, my surgeon was concerned about cutting my ureters and actually had a urologist put in temporary catheters for the surgery so they would be more prominent and easier to see.  It's been 2 1/2 years and I'm still cancer free, the longest time in my 9 1/2 year journey.  For me, surgery has always provided the most relief, chemo shrinks tumors but does not kill everything, that's my experience.  When your husband has surgery, he should take omeprazole, 80 mg, a day, after for 3-6 months.  Some studies have shown that helps any free-floating cancer cells from settling down and multiplying.  I did that and I think it helped.  Others on this board have done the same.  I think that coriolus mushrooms are also good for that.  Try to get a perscription for the omeprazole, at that high a dose it's perscription only, otherwise it's 4 OTC pills a day.  Hope this helps, Traci

  • dj121561
    dj121561 Member Posts: 4
    edited January 2017 #4
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    traci43 said:

    similar situation

    When I first had surgery in 2007, they removed my omentum because the first CT scan showed seeding.  There were tumors in my omentum, but nowhere else in the peritoneum and the fluid that had built up in my abdomen was negatve for cancer.  My surgeon, trying to be nice and focusing on what we thought was ovarian cancer, did not open me above my belly button.  As a result, a bit of omentum was left and two years later I had my second surgery, HIPEC, to remove the tumors.  I never had seeding to my peritoneum or positive lypmh nodes, but still the cancer came back.  I think I had small spots down very low in my pelvis that no one saw.  For my most recent surgery in 2014, the tumor was really close to the iliac artery and they nicked it and I lost 2 units of blood which stressed my heart and I ended up with a permanent rather than temporary colostomy because my surgeon didn't want to take the extra time to reconnect and form a temporary ostomy.  Also, my surgeon was concerned about cutting my ureters and actually had a urologist put in temporary catheters for the surgery so they would be more prominent and easier to see.  It's been 2 1/2 years and I'm still cancer free, the longest time in my 9 1/2 year journey.  For me, surgery has always provided the most relief, chemo shrinks tumors but does not kill everything, that's my experience.  When your husband has surgery, he should take omeprazole, 80 mg, a day, after for 3-6 months.  Some studies have shown that helps any free-floating cancer cells from settling down and multiplying.  I did that and I think it helped.  Others on this board have done the same.  I think that coriolus mushrooms are also good for that.  Try to get a perscription for the omeprazole, at that high a dose it's perscription only, otherwise it's 4 OTC pills a day.  Hope this helps, Traci

    Thanks for the info Traci - I

    Thanks for the info Traci - I'll definitely ask about the omeprazole for after his surgery.  Good to hear that you have been cancer free for so long!!

  • dj121561
    dj121561 Member Posts: 4
    edited January 2017 #5
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    JanJan63 said:

    I have no advice or similar

    I have no advice or similar experience. They do say that the best and first treatment for cancer is surgery with anything else coming in second. But for those roving cells it might be good to have the chemo along with the surgery. I know there's kind of a belief that once someone with cancer is opened up it spreads quicker. I think it's an old wive's tale and is untrue. It probably just seems that way. And surgery will always make someone feel a lot worse for a while.

    Just my opinion and not based on any vast knowledge on my part.

    Jan

    Thank you Jan!

    Thank you Jan!

  • blessed39
    blessed39 Member Posts: 90 Member
    edited January 2017 #6
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    "How I Beat Stage Four Colon Cancer"

    Dear dj121561. If you would be interested in my story "How I Beat Stage Four Colon cancer" just go to my site and click on blog and my story will come up. I have no medical advice, just what worked for me. God Bless   blessed39

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