Folfox chemo before APR surgery?

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PatriceMc
PatriceMc Member Posts: 2 Member
in Colorectal Cancer #1

Hello I am new to this forum but have been reading a lot on here as my husband who is 60 years old found out in July he has Stage 3a rectal cancer. He had the 5 weeks of chemo radiation and added a few more radiation days to try to eliminate the cancer. Unfortunately the tumor shrank a lot but it's still there. The surgeon did an endoscope and did some biopsies and said those came back negative for cancer. But it could be the test samples just missed the cancer. Because his tumor is within 1 cm of the anal verge the surgeon said his only option is APR surgery. We already had another surgeon tell us the same thing. But the surgeon did say he could have the FOLFOX chemo first in hopes that eliminates the cancer rather than having the surgery first. Has anyone tried FOLFOX in hopes of eliminating the need for surgery? He really does not want to have that surgery and live with a bag for the rest of his life.

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  • Trubrit
    Trubrit Member Posts: 5,796 Member
    #2
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    Welcome to the forum PatriceMc

    I am sorry to hear about your husband's diagnosis. 

    I am just here to welcome you, as I had surgery and then chemo, so cannot answer your question. 

    What I do know thuogh, is at the end of the day LIVING with a bag is better than dying without one.  While they can be a pain - I have been told - you do get used to them. It becomes your friend in ways. 

    Wishing you both the best, and look forward to getting to know you here on the forum. 

    Tru

     

  • AnneO1965
    AnneO1965 Member Posts: 182 Member
    #3
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    I had 28 days of Xeloda

    I had 28 days of Xeloda/Radiation, then I had 4 months of Folfox and then surgery. I was supposed to have the first chemo/radiation, then surgery, then the folfox but my docs switched it up in the hopes of shrinking my tumor even more so that I could avoid the bag. While it shrunk the tumor considerably, I still wound up with the bag. It took me a little while to get used to it, but now it's no big deal.  Hope this helps.

    Anne

  • SoCal42
    SoCal42 Member Posts: 78
    #4
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    APR surgery

    I had 25 chemoradiation treatments, then APR, then 4 months of CAPOX chemo three years ago. My two APR surgeons' opinions were: "The radiation might shrink the tumor or even make it disappear, but we still don't want to leave the (cancer) graveyard behind." I was in my early 50's with two teenagers at home, so I wanted to go for the most aggressive treatment possible, which included the APR surgery. Now that I've had a permanent colostomy for almost three years, I would say tht while having a colostomy takes some learning and adjustment (it's a lot easier after the first year), it doesn't need to restrict your activities. People who go into it with a super negative attitude, thinking it's the worst thing that could ever happen to them, do seem to have a much harder time with the adjustment. I have a good imagination, so I can imagine LOTS of things that could happen to me that would be worse than having a ostomy! WOC nurses are very a very helpful medical resource for solving individual ostomy problems, and there are lots of inspirational people making You Tube videos about their experiences. You can learn to manage your diet and use techniques like ostomy irrigation to help manage/control your ostomy output. After my initial year of treatment, I returned to work full-time as a health care provider in a very busy clinic, running around all day long, and nobody would have known that I had a colostomy.

  • PatriceMc
    PatriceMc Member Posts: 2 Member
    #5
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    Thanks the responses. We are

    Thanks the responses. We are meeting with the oncologist and a stoma nurse next week.  Surgery has been schedule for Jan 3 if my husband decides to do it. We have till Dec 26 to decide. Our thinking now is maybe try the Folfox first, maybe he can be cured with that and if not he could have the surgery later. From what I've read on the Internet some people have tried this. Or after our meetings we might go with surgery. As you can see we are on the fence.

     

  • Lovekitties
    Lovekitties Member Posts: 3,364 Member
    #6
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    PatriceMc said:

    Thanks the responses. We are

    Thanks the responses. We are meeting with the oncologist and a stoma nurse next week.  Surgery has been schedule for Jan 3 if my husband decides to do it. We have till Dec 26 to decide. Our thinking now is maybe try the Folfox first, maybe he can be cured with that and if not he could have the surgery later. From what I've read on the Internet some people have tried this. Or after our meetings we might go with surgery. As you can see we are on the fence.

     

    colostomy or not?

    I was given same choices as your husband when I was diagnosed at 62.  I chose surgery as I want the cancer out as best as they could do with surgery.

    I have been living with a colostomy for nearly 10 years now and find that it is not as bad as one can imagine.  I was given this book...  

    The Ostomy Book: Living Comfortably with Colostomies, Ileostomies, and Urostomies.  Barbara Dorr Mullen and Kerry Anne McGinn RN BSN OCN

    I found it very helpful in removing some of my fears.

     

    Hope this might help.  Book may be found at your local library or on Amazon.  I got mine as a loaner from the ostomy nurse.

    Marie who loves kitties

     

     

     

     

     

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