My Mom has colon cancer in 2004, surgery, told everything good. Cancer reappeared 2006, more surgery and did some kind of pill form of chemo that she took at home. That seem to go well. Then about a year ago she was told that she had a bone marrow disorder (mylordesplysia (spelling) where her bone marrow had pretty much stop producing. She has shots to help increase her red and while blood cell counts and has had a few blood transfusion. In March she had two tumors that actually burst through her skin. Malignant. PET scan done, shows cancer in colon, upper part of right lung and under chest wall on left side Is told that chemo not a treatment option due to her already low immune system, but they do radiation on the tumors. 17 Treatments. Now a lump has shown up on her neck neck, and a new MRI shows that the cancer has gone to her pelvic area and at least into the bones and soft tissues of her left leg. The will do ten treatments of radiation to try to help with pain in legs, as she is barely able to move. They say palliative care is all they can provide, what they are not telling us is how long they thing she can live with all this disease. I know it’s an unknown, but would like thoughts and or opinions on what others think. Thanks for your replies. I am currently provided care for her. Thinking about looking into hospice so that I can get some help, but is it too early for that?

I’m 20 and am going through the chemo for it. Its bothered me ever since I was diagnosed that its not common to get it at a young age, and even more when I’m at the chemo clinic and everyone there is literally in their 60s and over. So I was wondering whether there was anyone else out there who’s young and been affected by it.

She is 79 yrs old. After surgery they did not remove the large mass on her sigmoid colon because it was to vascular to remove and she would more than likely bleed to death if they tried. It will be one week since her surgery and she is still very very weak, gets out of breath with us daughters helping her to bathroom. Even when they gave her a portable pottychair to use she gets severely cold and clammy, extramely nausous, shivers, very rapid heartbeat, and has a hard time taking a breath. When she tries to speak to us during these attacks of her sitting up moving around, she is so winded and it takes so much just to finish a single sentence. Mom is very anemic and her heme count dropped to a 7.2 she will not accept any blood transfusuions due to her beliefs religious wise and the past few days docs given her iron pills and that has raised her count to a 9.4 but its still low…. Her tummy is still so very bloated and her urin output is not that much even though they are pumping her with several IV fluid bags. Could it be the cancer is just wiping her out she is not on any chemo yet. We are trying to figure out WHY she is so winded, weak and slightly feverish at times … clammy, chills… Could it be her heart they have not noticed yet?.. OR is this a common reaction after this type of surgery? We are aware that the Doctors told us without the surgery, she probly wouldnt have lived more than 2 weeks. But since she had the surgery, it may extend her time who knows.. is this symptoms of the end her weakness?? They placed her on a clear diet but she does not eat any of that.. no broth jello or anything but a sip of water or two thats it. she has been without food for 14 days now… but what can we do or possibly suggest to the doctors do to help her in this situation? Cancer has masestize to her liver and lungs i forgot to mention above. Anyone who has had a loved one with the same symptoms that she is going through please let me know how I can help her, what can we do, and how much longer did they live after going through these symptoms after surgery? I want to keep her as long as possible but I need to make her as comfy as possible. I wonder why her tummy is swelling up again??? Anybody with ideas or experience I apreciate your help. God Bless

My mother had Stage 3 Uterine Cancer, which she had a total hysterectomy and all organs were removed in October, and she finished her last chemo on April 29th, but just this week was back in hospital for partial lower bowel obstruction and fluid build up in abdomen, especially around liver.

The good thing is they drained the fluid and the obstruction was not large, but I was wondering if all this could be a way her body is trying to rid itself of toxins from radiation and chemo. She is feeling weak, so I was wondering about any good regimens for helping her to cleanse her system and detox to get stronger and get rid of the toxins?

I already found out about Milk Thistle and Dandelion for the liver, so if any other remedies are known please share!!

Thanks so much.

I had stage IIIC colon cancer earlier on this year, and went through 6 months of chemo for it. Last week a precancerous polyp was found in the colon.

What would the treatment be? Just the removal, or chemo as well?

I’m really scared as to what happens now.

My dad is going through chemo (again)…he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer last september…Hes had chemo/radiation then surgery a few weeks ago…then they say he needs more chemo for another 6 months….Last time he had it it made him really tired/sick and he was sort of depressed….He started treatment this week and already i can tell hes not in a good mood. Anyone who knows what im talking about i could really use some advice. I love him to death and i hate seeing him like that. Im always the one who makes jokes and tries to lighten the mood but i just need some help to keep his spirits up..Thank You

has to go through 6 months of chemotherapy. How awful is that? Now will the drugs make her very sick? Or will the doctors give her anti-nausea medication. That is a long time to be on "CHEMO." The cancer was in 3 of the 12 lymph nodes. She is around 50 or 60. I do not ask age due to it is personal.

My father in his early 50′s got diagnosed with Colon cancer stage 3. Had surgery about 7 weeks ago. VERY little has spread past his colon wall to his lymph nodes (less than 3)

His chemo is about to start in 4 days through a PICC line. The medicine in the chemotherapy is Oxaliplatin, Leucovotin, 5-Fluorouracil insfusion.

He’ll be in chemo for 2 months, the radiation with chemo and then chemo… Is this kind of treatment good for this stage of colon cancer? More information on the drugs?? Could he possibly find another treatment? What is the best thing for him to do right now?

b/g: mom has ovarian cancer, however all recent (past few months) ct-scans, x-rays, and ultrasounds show no tumors. About two months ago severe vomitting (from an oral chemo) resulted in no mobility of the gut and thus no eating or bowel movements.

question:
recent x-ray of abdoemn said:
"Positive bowel gas is noted. Organ shadows and osseous shadows are grossly negative. No significant stools are identified." Prior ct-scan (about 1 to 2 mo ago) said scan shows consistent with ileus vs sbo.

So does this sound like it is ileus and not a sbo? miralax is not really working and I’m not sure what to do to make the bowel ‘active’ again (there are no sounds). What does ‘positive bowel gas’ mean in relation to what’s going on?

Thanks in advance for any assistance

I’m 20 and have just finished chemo for bowel cancer. I experienced quite a few of the symptoms, including tingling in hands and feet, darker skin on hands and feet and exhaustion, and have a temp ileostomy, which should be reversed soon. I was just wondering, how long before your body went back to normal? And have you had any issues with fertility?

I had stage IIIC colon cancer earlier on this year, and went through 6 months of chemo for it. Last week a pre-cancerous polyp was found in the colon.

What would the treatment be? Just the removal, or chemo as well?

I’m really scared as to what happens now.

WARNING — LOTS OF DETAIL — MAY UPSET SOME

Someone I know has advanced colorectal cancer. The tumor perforated his intestines recently. As a result, he’s had a colostemy and is currently being treated with chemo. He has no history of hemmrhoids. Since the perforated intestine/colostemy, he’s had considerable rectal bleeding, apparently of sufficient volume to be compared to the first day or two of a menstrual cycle. The bleeding has not increased/decreased since the chemo began a couple of weeks ago.

His doctor is out of town, the on call physician won’t address the issue, and we’ve not found much online to tell us why this could be. Again, it’s not hemmhroids and since he has the colostemy, shouldn’t be anything related to his intestines. Furthermore, we’ve read that tumors don’t bleed so it shouldn’t be that either. Does anyone have any ideas on possibilities/places to research?

Thank you.

My mother was diagnosed with Colorectal Cancer in Sept. 2007. She since has had chemo and radiation, colostomy bag, and liver resection. She has been in remission since January 2009. She gets her blood checked every 3 months and a PET scan every 6. So far everything has been fine. As of a month ago, her white blood cells have been really low (neutropenia). She has been dealing with a tooth ache as well as plantar faciitis. She was given antibiotics and her blood drawn 2 weeks later to see if that was the problem.

Well, the WBC are still low and they are going to do a bone marrow biopsy to rule out that the cancer has not spread to her bone marrow.

Has anyone ever encountered this?? The oncologists exact words were "it was damn near impossible for her type of cancer to spread to her bone marrow" but I guess they want to rule it out.

My mother is now in panic mode and constantly crying thinking the worst and in all honesty, so am I.

Any info anyone can provide would be appreciated.

Thanks!!

My mother was diagnosed with colon cancer at the end of October 2008. After emergency surgery to remove her colon, the doctors informed us that it had metastasized to her liver (completely filling it) as well as the outer wall of her pelvic bone, and lungs. She is half way through her 3rd round of chemo, and she is so severely sick all the time from it, in and out of the hospital, that she has decided to stop treatment. She would be on Chemo for the rest of her life, so she has decided this is no way to live. She is only 48 years old, and has been so healthy prior to this.. I know I should be asking her doctor, but he is impossible to get a hold of, and always resists giving any sort of time line to us.. I was wondering how long it usually takes for someones liver to fail when it is consumed with cancer? And how long it usually takes for a person to pass away after their liver fails?

Thanks!

my dad was diagnosed with colon cancer around 9/2009 and was told to go on leave ASAP for treatments such as IV chemo and radiation. After the treatments he had an operation to remove the cancer around 02/2010 and the surgeon had attached a temporary colostomy. A few weeks after he was back to chemo pills for weeks. he has been very weak throughout his treatments and can barely walk. Around 09/2010, he had his 2nd operation to remove the colostomy. He had an open wound. I change his dressing twice a day. I’m still changing his dressing til now. He has been updating work with everything paperworks he comes up with from his surgeon or when HR needed information. Last week, he receives a letter from work stating that he had already exhausted all of his options and that they can no longer accomodate him. My dad had told me that from what the letter says, they want him back to work in 2weeks or they’re going to have to terminate him at the date of the letter. He had called HR, he was told that someone from HR will give him a call today but never did. Is that possible? Is that fair?
He’s on disability at this time and was asked to recertify so it’s pending. He’s also in process of apply for LTD as well as Social Security. Everything is pending at this time. I’m not quite sure yet if my dad still has PTO with the company, would it matter?

Experimental Cancer Treatment?

I’m 22 years old, to some this may seem dumb, but I need to try everything. But you never know if someone out there knows of a good experimental treatment that has high counts of success.

My mom has been battling cancer off and on. It started in my freshmen year with stage 4-colon cancer. 7 years later it has spread into different organs but she has been able to concur the problem at times, and even went into remission. She has been in remission for almost a year, and about three months ago she found out the cancer had spread to her liver. After of having been on several different forms of chemotherapy, including being on the pump, the doctors had her try the one last form of chemo they could think of to battle the cancer. After 2 months the doctors said the treatment hadn’t helped her at all.

After consulting with several doctors they seem to feel that they have no treatments left to try on my mom to fight off the cancer and the only option was experimental drugs.

Has anyone heard of any experimental drugs having high success? If she doesn’t find one that does they’re not sure how much longer she could fight off the cancer.

Thank You

working mom with disabled husband has been stricken with pancreatic cancer that has spread to colon. she has no sick days from work – husband gets ssi and is not able to work. she has no health benefits from her job but is receiving Cobra – which is not enough for her chemo and radiation. please if someone knows of a means of help, please answer.

He has stage III, possibly IV, colon cancer. He has had a portion of his large intestine, along with the cancer removed. However 6 out of 10 lymph nodes in that portion contained cancer. Also the cat scan showed something in the liver but he is to get an MRI to determine if that is cancer or not. He will be receiving chemo. through a port, 2 days every week for 6 months. Are there any alternative or additional treatments available?

How long does it take the chemo to start working ?

Should you show improvement on the first treatment ?

Are you given a scan after every treatment to see

if the chemo and radiation are working ?

Will a scan show that the cancer is gone from the lymph nodes ?

My mom found out she had a tumor in her colon during exploratory surgery. Two weeks following surgery, her anastomosis failed leaking stool out the incision site. We were told she has a colocutaneous fistula. Since then (11/17/06) she has been nothing by mouth, has a PICC line to infuse TPN. She has developed C-Diff three times and is currently on Vancomycin by mouth. The doctors treating her are not real experienced with this condition and are not very informative. Our question is, how sucessful would surgery be at this point and is there someone that could be recommended. We will travel with cash if someone can help us. PLEASE. We need to get her chemo started and cant wait forever.

I have done some research on this subject and it is very unfair in my opinion. This is what i would like to hear from you and that is your opinion. I have a friend who did 21 years of active duty military service and retired from the air force at the age of 41. He has been employed in the construction industry as metal building erector since his retirement. Three years after retirement his wife wanted and was granted a divorce along with 49% of his military retirement. He was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in Sept.07 and has underwent pre surgery radiation and chemo and had the surgery in Feb 08. He is now having post surgery chemo to help prevent the cancer from returning. This man has spent all his savings on medical treatment and other care and here is the big one.He has been denied any type of government assistanc except for ten dollars a month in food stamps and is about to be evicted from his home. What is wrong with the system or do i just not understand?

My mom was diagnosed w/ stage 4 colon cancer in May 2007 she went though 2 yrs of chemo and just recently under went radiation to a tumor that has broke through her skin. It is located in her abdomen and is coming out of her navel. Please tell me with your best guess how much time we have left with her. Her liver and lungs are clear no signs of cancer there. Thank you

My daughter who was recently diagnosed with Colorectal Cancer a week ago, won’t actually begin her chemo until the 19th of March (today is the 10th). She had her "port" put in on the 8th (Friday). Why does it take so long before they can start the treatments??? This is so incredibly scary!!!

To whomever answered my other questions regarding her cancer… God Bless you…. you told me that colorectal cancer was easily treated (which is what she said her Oncologist told her) because so far, the cat scan (done last Sunday on the 4th) showed that her other vital organs were clear so far. We are praying so hard that she comes through this… but why is it they can’t "stage" her cancer until the surgery… and why is it taking so long to start her treatment??? Aren’t these cells spreading in the meantime???? (I’m freaking out, I’m sorry!!) Thanks for any insight and for whomever sent me all those links… God Bless you…. I will be checking each one out.

i was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in september 07. I have since gone through chemo and radiation treatment and had surgery on the 28th of february 08. I developed problems after the surgery and have not been able to work but three weeks since september 07. I am a military retiree and most of the hospital bills have been taken care of but money for everyday living expenses such as rent,utilities.groceries has also ran out. Due to being a military retiree I am not eligible for any government programs and i was just wondering if someone had any information on any other programs that i could check into. I am not asking for a handout as i fully intend on paying any money i might receive for assistance back in full. thank you for any assistance in this matter

my father, aged 57 years, weight: 78 kgs
Past History:

30/07/2004: colorectal anal cancer. APR surgery with colostomy

12/08/2004: cycle of 3 Chemo prescribed by oncology physician, drugs prescribed: oxaliplatin, leucovorin etc.

3/11/2004: Repeat cycle of above 3 chemo with radiation therapy.

25/06/2008: little raised CEA around 25. Whole body PET Scan is normal.

Now my father has re-occurence of cancer with badly damaged liver & a condition called hepatomegaly with metastasis. its stage 4. Can anybody please advice me more regarding the options of treatment, how much time does he have. He had a pathological fracture last week at the outer thigh-hip joint & underwent DHS surgery. The Dr feels the cancer has also spread in his bones. So he will be immobile (in bed) for atleast 5 weeks.

please explain what is hepatomegaly with metastasis. guide & help me. aany direction u point out or guidance u give is above all forms of thanks.