Stanford For Stage 4 Gi Junction/Stomach Cancer

Hello, new to the site..my husband 57 was diagnosed  07/07 with stage 4 GI junction/stomach cancer with mets to the liver and lymph nodes. He began his chemo in August. Oxaliplatin, Xeloda and epirubicin...he had done pretty well with the first 5 rounds, had to stop when he developed extreme flank pain. He is now back on therapy and pain is resolved. He had a ct after the 4 cycles showed the liver mets gone, the primary tumor shrinking, but the nodal disease with little change. A recent endoscopy showed the primary tumor to be reduced by nearly 50% but his oncologist still says that it is non operatable. We are trying to get into Stanford for a second optinion...Has anyone had experience with them? Anyone on the same regime? This is one scary and cruel disease....we pray...

tbtahoe,

So sorry you had to join this club, there are definately better ones to join, but welcome to the battle. My partner, 62 yo, was diagnosed with stage IV stomach cancer 02/07 after losing 50 pounds. Surgery was scheduled to remove the entire stomach, however, laproscope was done prior to gastrectomy and it showed the cancer had already penetrated the 5 layers of the stomach and was floating in the abdomen. They did not remove the stomach. Not any reason to remove it at that point. They inserted a J-tube, for use down the road to deal with bile backup and vomiting, and we went home. Fortunately, the J-tube fell out about a month later. He hated it. We started doing the same Oxaliplatin, Eprirubicin, Xeloda regimen that you are doing, in April of last year. Have had continuous treatments since, every three to four weeks, depending on blood counts. All CT scans since have come up clean. With lots of butter, cream, high calorie foods, he has put back 28 pounds and is looking and feeling great. (I, as the excellent supporting partner, have managed to put on 28 pounds. Isn't that special). We have been able to travel just about every three weeks, in between chemo treatments. Side effects seem to mainly be from the Xeloda, neuropathy in the hands and sensitivity to cold in the throat for about a week after infusion.

Truly, we were apprehensive about even starting chemotherapy after all the horror stories, but it has been a BLESSING for us. We are hitting the one year mark of diagnosis in two weeks. We have celebrated birthdays, our 24th anniversary, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and everyday in between. These are all days we thought were gone. Each and every one is a blessing. We have had excellent "Quality of Life" since we started this journey. We know the end will come at some point, but in the meatime, why not enjoy the ride?

God bless you and your husband and your friends and families. Make the best of each day, and if he is half the fighter of my spouse, you will have many days left to enjoy. Hang in there, spring is coming soon.

Prayers to you both,

Scott

My wife (43years old) was diagnosed with Stage IV in April 07.  She received 4 rounds of ECF (epirubicin, cisplain, and 5FU).  She had received the 5FU through a continous pump.  Post the 4 rounds her scans came back clean (she originally had a 1cm tumor at the junction and a 1-2 cm tumor in her liver but no other sites that we could se).  She completed 2 more rounds of ECF post the clean scans.  Now in remission (since Aug 07) she is on another regimen of Oxaliplatin and Xeloda. 

Orginally surgery was presented as an option (by our Hartford, Ct based oncologist) but this was not an option according to a second opinion we obtained from Sloan Kettering and later Dana Farber.  Due to the fact that it had already spread, they felt chemo was the only way to go.  Tough decisions lie ahead for you both but do what you can to research and obtain second or third opinions.  Since everyones situation is unique, it will ultimately come down to what you want to do.  There never appears to be a straight forward answer just a best guess.

Good luck and may your progress continue.

Steve

Hartford, CT

My wife originally presented with acute pain at the top of her stomach.  This was post eating three spicy meals in a row around mid Feb, 07.  It was diagnosed as a possible ulcer BUT we asked for an endoscopy anyhow.  Thats when we found out what we were dealing with.  She had modified her diet and the symptoms had gone away.  NOT doing the endoscopy would have been a BAD move.  She had a ultrasound of her gallbladder as we thought that might have been it, but the cancer did not show on that test.

My best to your husband and I hope yesterdays appointment brought you good news.