My Husband Has Stage 4 Colon Cancer

Hi, my husband was diagnosed with colon cancer almost a year ago. it had metastisized to his liver and lungs before we knew he had it. He had surgery to remove part of his colon, then six weeks after that he started chemo. he gets ironotecan. avastin, 5 fu, and erbutux. He gets cat scans every 8 weeks. he is 49 years old. we go to mass general hospital in boston mass. the chemo is shrinking his tumors and he is stable, but they say there is no cure ,and he can;t have surgery because it is throughout his liver and parts of his lung. we just pray and hope for a miracle...  any one out there have the same diagnosis? Thanks Diane

Hi,

Never say never when it comes to miracles!!! I am living proof!  I was diagnosed at age 41 w/ stage 4 rectal cancer in 10 mos. ago in August 2007.  I, too, had it already spread to my liver and lungs at that time.  I was told I was not a surgical candidate because it was too widespread.  Rather than focusing right away on my rectal tumor, they started in right away with the major chemo (Folfox- Leucovorin, Oxalaplatin, 5FU- and Avastin).  I had 10 treatments of it every other week.  I went from 12+ liver tumors down to 3 and from numerous in both lungs down to just one 1 cm. in my upper right lobe.  The even better news... none of those that remained showed up on the PET scan after that point!  My rectal tumor had shrunk some & showed just a low level of metabolic activity on the PET.  I then got 6 wks of radiation and weekly chemo for the rectal tumor & guess what... it went completely away!  I did not end up having the colorectal surgery.  I DID just have a liver resection 2-1/2 weeks ago, which I wouldn't have been able to have prior to the chemo.

I had an oncologist who told me not to listen to the statistics and that I would "not be one of those statistics!"  I know all the statistics for stage 4 colon and rectal cancer are terrible- but that doesn't have to be your husband's situation!!  I'd find a new oncologist/set of Doctors if I were you who have a more positive/aggressive attitude in treatment!

Also- Almighty God played a MAJOR role in my success, I believe & He can for your husband too!  I heard of a few other success stories early on that really helped me have faith and believe that I could get past the cancerous beast.  It's hard, but take courage!!!!  Read about the many miracles Jesus performed in the Bible's book of Matthew.  He loves you and your husband- take heart!!!

Blessings to you-

Lisa 

I am recently diagnosed and seem to be on the same clinical trial, and have the same organs involved.    I'm on the weekly arm of the trial.  I kindly refer to my treatments as Big Mo and Little Mo.  I have Little Mo this week which is just the Erbutux/Cetuximab.  I'm a 37 year old female.

 I receive my treatments in Colorado Springs, but am familiar with your area as I have family in Brockton.  Great Chowda their. 

 Best of luck to you both.

Great chowda there.  (spelled it wrong originally, that's what I get for picking on the New England accent.  I myself, have a Jersey accent.)

Thank you Lisa... I needed to hear your story!  It is so encouraging.   I was diagnosed in late Dec 07. Had a right Hemicoloectomy in Jan and started chemo on Valentines Day.  I am responding well to treatment. 

 Glad things are going well for you.

I have stage 4 colon cancer  with two tumors 3cm in size in my liver I had my liver and colon resected and Im happy to say my cea level is 0.4  and there is no way I could have made it with my Lord Jesus Christ he gives me power to over come this Cancer battle. Im cancer free right now and if it comes back Im going to fight like hell and get it into remission...so Girl stay strong, pray and dont forget there is hope, if you ever need to chat im here

I too have stage 4 colon cancer. In March 2007 I had a CT scan that showed a 4cm tumor in the left inside of my colon and a 6cm tumor on the right outside of my colon, plus a whole lot of litte stuff. When they did a biospy they took pictures of the inside of my abodmin and it looked like an alien landscape. After 12 rounds of Avastin + FOLFOX I had a pet scan that detected no cancer. My CEA count had dropped from 307 to 9.0.

I'm not finished, some little stuff came back. I sit here with a 5FU pump over my sholder feeling a bit of nausea. But you just take it a day at a time. I except to be fully cured. Pray, have faith, believe.

I have stage4 recurrant jan1 2005 . Never give up, my first doc said 6 months. When to rochester 2nd opion and with the right chemo mix my tummor shrank to the point of surgery. they removed everthing they could see in liver and colon. Tomorrow is my 70 round of chemo to keep the beast at bay.Its not easy but l charish life

Verlin

 

hi, thanks for your message. we live one day at a time, i hope my husband is as lucky as you. i love him so much.