Is there really a chance?

My beautiful, loving mother was diagnosed with T3,N1 (stg 3a) stomach cancer 6 months ago.  The docs decided to administer neoadjuvant chemo (xeloda, cisplatin, and epirubicin) and when the surgeon went in and removed the stomach he got all the cancer out.  Post op has not been as bad as we thought it would be, but it hasn't been a walk in the park either.  She is weaker but doing well considering all the trauma.  Which leads me to my question.  The Onc wants to start her adjuvant therapy and I'm not sure its the right thing anymore.  Alot of my reading says it really does'nt make a difference.  I'm scared for her....does all this stuff really work?  I'm at a loss.........I want to make her feel better, but there's nothing i could do.  She sacrificed her entire life for me and now in her moment of need I feel helpless.

I am so sorry about your Mom and a cancer diagnosis. I am happy though that the surgery was successful. It is a very rough course after surgery.

 How old is your Mom? If she is 70, maybe the adjuvant therapy is not worth it.

Yet, most times cancer will return without post op adjuvant therapy. I do believe that with adjuvant therapy a better long term survival exists. I know this i not an easy decision, in fact there is nothing easy about this whole cancer thing.

My only recommendation is ---"No regrets". You don't want to look back 6 months or 6 years from now and say "If only we had done this or that". Make a decision that you are 100% comfortable with and don't look back and do second guess yourselves.

Take care and many blessings to you,

Caregiver LeAnne

(my sister and Dad both have stage IV cancer)

On 6/3/2009 ataloss wrote:

My beautiful, loving mother was diagnosed with T3,N1 (stg 3a) stomach cancer 6 months ago.  The docs decided to administer neoadjuvant chemo (xeloda, cisplatin, and epirubicin) and when the surgeon went in and removed the stomach he got all the cancer out.  Post op has not been as bad as we thought it would be, but it hasn't been a walk in the park either.  She is weaker but doing well considering all the trauma.  Which leads me to my question.  The Onc wants to start her adjuvant therapy and I'm not sure its the right thing anymore.  Alot of my reading says it really does'nt make a difference.  I'm scared for her....does all this stuff really work?  I'm at a loss.........I want to make her feel better, but there's nothing i could do.  She sacrificed her entire life for me and now in her moment of need I feel helpless.

 

 

On 6/4/2009 Nurse LeAnne wrote:

I am so sorry about your Mom and a cancer diagnosis. I am happy though that the surgery was successful. It is a very rough course after surgery.

 How old is your Mom? If she is 70, maybe the adjuvant therapy is not worth it.

Yet, most times cancer will return without post op adjuvant therapy. I do believe that with adjuvant therapy a better long term survival exists. I know this i not an easy decision, in fact there is nothing easy about this whole cancer thing.

My only recommendation is ---"No regrets". You don't want to look back 6 months or 6 years from now and say "If only we had done this or that". Make a decision that you are 100% comfortable with and don't look back and do second guess yourselves.

Take care and many blessings to you,

Caregiver LeAnne

(my sister and Dad both have stage IV cancer)

On 6/3/2009 ataloss wrote:

My beautiful, loving mother was diagnosed with T3,N1 (stg 3a) stomach cancer 6 months ago.  The docs decided to administer neoadjuvant chemo (xeloda, cisplatin, and epirubicin) and when the surgeon went in and removed the stomach he got all the cancer out.  Post op has not been as bad as we thought it would be, but it hasn't been a walk in the park either.  She is weaker but doing well considering all the trauma.  Which leads me to my question.  The Onc wants to start her adjuvant therapy and I'm not sure its the right thing anymore.  Alot of my reading says it really does'nt make a difference.  I'm scared for her....does all this stuff really work?  I'm at a loss.........I want to make her feel better, but there's nothing i could do.  She sacrificed her entire life for me and now in her moment of need I feel helpless.

 

 

Thanks for your response LeAnne, my mom is a young 61 yrs old.  How is your Sister and Father coping with it?  Did they both have a total gastrectomy? And if so did they have adjuvant chemo and how did they deal with it?  Sorry for the barrage of questions, and I know you have a ton on your own plate, but any little bit of info could help.  I really appreciate your help.

 

God bless

Hi Caregiver,

That does make a different if you mom is 61 years young.

With both my DAd and sister, there have been very,very tough times and very good times and inbetween times.

My sister had a larger surgery (liver resection, removal of right side of diaphram, gallbladder removal, omentum removal, uterus, tubes, ovaries and appendix removed, plus all the lymph nodes. This was on March 6th. She has been in the hospital probably 5 times since the discharge from the surgery. Chemo was restarted May 6th. In the last month she has been in the hospital twice and ends up spending entire days in outpatient chemo or infusion for hydration and correction of electrolyte imbalances.

My Dad's cancer is lung cancer with mets to the brain and now the spine. He is having radiation. He had 5 months of chemo too. He was diagnosed 7 months ago.

Chemo and radiation do 'buy time' plus give opportunity for total remission and a longer term survival. There are so many nocks and crannys in the abdominal cavity where one or two cancer cells can hide even though there is 'no visible cancer'. I do believe that advjunct chemo is part of treatment after surgery but you (or your mother) always has a choice. It is her body and her life so she can decide but if she does not have the chemo and a couple months from now the cancer returns, would you regret it?

Caregiver LeAnne

On 6/4/2009 ataloss wrote:

 

On 6/4/2009 Nurse LeAnne wrote:

I am so sorry about your Mom and a cancer diagnosis. I am happy though that the surgery was successful. It is a very rough course after surgery.

 How old is your Mom? If she is 70, maybe the adjuvant therapy is not worth it.

Yet, most times cancer will return without post op adjuvant therapy. I do believe that with adjuvant therapy a better long term survival exists. I know this i not an easy decision, in fact there is nothing easy about this whole cancer thing.

My only recommendation is ---"No regrets". You don't want to look back 6 months or 6 years from now and say "If only we had done this or that". Make a decision that you are 100% comfortable with and don't look back and do second guess yourselves.

Take care and many blessings to you,

Caregiver LeAnne

(my sister and Dad both have stage IV cancer)

On 6/3/2009 ataloss wrote:

My beautiful, loving mother was diagnosed with T3,N1 (stg 3a) stomach cancer 6 months ago.  The docs decided to administer neoadjuvant chemo (xeloda, cisplatin, and epirubicin) and when the surgeon went in and removed the stomach he got all the cancer out.  Post op has not been as bad as we thought it would be, but it hasn't been a walk in the park either.  She is weaker but doing well considering all the trauma.  Which leads me to my question.  The Onc wants to start her adjuvant therapy and I'm not sure its the right thing anymore.  Alot of my reading says it really does'nt make a difference.  I'm scared for her....does all this stuff really work?  I'm at a loss.........I want to make her feel better, but there's nothing i could do.  She sacrificed her entire life for me and now in her moment of need I feel helpless.

 

 

Thanks for your response LeAnne, my mom is a young 61 yrs old.  How is your Sister and Father coping with it?  Did they both have a total gastrectomy? And if so did they have adjuvant chemo and how did they deal with it?  Sorry for the barrage of questions, and I know you have a ton on your own plate, but any little bit of info could help.  I really appreciate your help.

 

God bless

 

 

On 6/3/2009 ataloss wrote:

My beautiful, loving mother was diagnosed with T3,N1 (stg 3a) stomach cancer 6 months ago.  The docs decided to administer neoadjuvant chemo (xeloda, cisplatin, and epirubicin) and when the surgeon went in and removed the stomach he got all the cancer out.  Post op has not been as bad as we thought it would be, but it hasn't been a walk in the park either.  She is weaker but doing well considering all the trauma.  Which leads me to my question.  The Onc wants to start her adjuvant therapy and I'm not sure its the right thing anymore.  Alot of my reading says it really does'nt make a difference.  I'm scared for her....does all this stuff really work?  I'm at a loss.........I want to make her feel better, but there's nothing i could do.  She sacrificed her entire life for me and now in her moment of need I feel helpless.

 

Your concerns are based on fact.  The new research is showing that it is not clear if the follow-up chemo (ECF or ECX) reduces recurrence.  The impact on the person's immune system, morale and general health is usually bad to terrible.  Personally, I am not against chemo at all.  Even in your mother's case, one could make the justification.  In this situation, one could consider getting her stronger, rehab, weight gain... A good dietician and or naturopath could help in that area. 

Don't hesitate to ask any questions.  

Erik

 

Erik, i did ask the oncologist if maybe we should wait, and although up until now he's been great,  when i told him my findings about adjuvant chemo he really got defensive and ended up scaring the hell out my parents. Now, my parents are both immigrants from Italy so they have an old school mentality, "don't question the doc".  It's a really difficult situation and the doc didn't help with his attitude. I just don't know what to do anymore, my mom is withering away.  Thanks for your response Erik, i appreciate it

 

On 6/5/2009 ataloss wrote:

Erik, i did ask the oncologist if maybe we should wait, and although up until now he's been great,  when i told him my findings about adjuvant chemo he really got defensive and ended up scaring the hell out my parents. Now, my parents are both immigrants from Italy so they have an old school mentality, "don't question the doc".  It's a really difficult situation and the doc didn't help with his attitude. I just don't know what to do anymore, my mom is withering away.  Thanks for your response Erik, i appreciate it

Oncologists generally do not want to deal with different views.  Old school immigrants want to follow the dr. exactly.  Thus, all you can do is explain to your parents in this way perhaps, non cé la pruova che questa chimioterapia po aiutare...Maybe get a second opinion (from an oncologist)

 

I had Stage IV adenocarcinoma of the gastric/esophageal junction.  I was diagnosed Jan. 2007.  It had spread to four lymph nodes.

Treatment included three months of chemo (carboplatin and xeloda), surgery that removed most of my stomach and part of my esophagus, five weeks of chemoradiation and finally two more months of chemo.  It was a total of 11 months for treatment.  I finished Nov. 07.

So far, I have had no recurrance.  CTs and endoscopies are clean.  I gained back all the weight I lost.  I have some permanent GI problems from the gastrectomy and rib pain from the thoracotomy, but it is not a huge deal.

I agree with Leann.  I am fairly young, 58, and felt I would regret it if I didn't go for as much treatment as I could tolerate.  I know there are no definitive studies proving that adjutant therapy works.  But, even if I don't stay in remission, I think the treatment has extended my life with fairly good quality.  

Tom

sorry i took so long to respond Erik, I'm presently trying to get them to do so and i think its working....mille grazie per tutto.

hey Tom, glad you're in remission... if you don't mind answering this question for me...... my mom also had 4 lymphs involved but no organs or distant mets involved, yet they staged her a 3a.  did you have any organ involvment?   

Thanks so much