help... stomach cancer

Hello..

It looks as if this website has not been active in quite sometime, but hopefully someone can help me..

My father who is 58 years old was recently ( couple of weeks ago ) diagnosed with stomach cancer. It is in 3-4 stage, in the first cat scan it showed that the tumor had not spread and doctors said after chemo and radiation it could be surgically removed. A second cat scan was done yesterday, it revealed that the tumor was coming out of the stomach and had got into the stomach fluids ?? i honestly have no idea what that means.. and after researching it for hours.. i still have no clue. The doctor says surgery is no longer an option and it would be pointless.. he also said it is treatable but not curable. Has anyone ever been in this situation? or knows anyone? Any bit of knowledge would be so helpful, i would really apprecaite it.

 And to everyone on the site, you are in my prayers, never give up, someday there will be a cure. god bless.

erica j.

Dear Erica,

So sorry to hear that your Dad is in this cancer boat. You are right, there has not been many postings here as of late. However, if you take the time to review previous postings in this Stomach Cancer section, you will find lots of helpful information.

My partner Rick is in the SAME situation as your Dad. He was diagnosed February 1st, 2007, Stage IV, inoperable after a laproscopic procedure just prior to a scheduled gastrectomy showed the cancer had already penetrated all the layers of the stomach into the peritoneum. He has now had 38 chemo treatments with number 39 coming next week.

First treatment regimen was FOLFOX for one year, FOLFIRI with Avastin for the next year, and now on Taxotere as his "Last" regimen. These treatment regimens have now covered 30 months and counting. He continues to flourish, despite the minimal amounts of side effects from any of the treatments. Weight continues to drop in small increments, now at 138 pounds, but still above his low of 122 pounds.

My personal belief is that it was a BLESSING that his stomach was not removed. I feel it is much easier to put on and maintain weight if you still have your stomach intact.

Just know that there are lots of medications available to combat any of the side effects from whatever chemo regimen your doctor recommends. Rick has had very minimal problems with the effects of the chemo treatments.

Attitude, faith, family and friends all seem to play a huge part in dealing with any cancer and it is no different with this one. We do know that we will have to look at some clinical trials when this current regimen of Taxotere has run it's course. His current CA19-9 tumor marker is at 92, and has been dropping steadily since the change to Taxotere.

Life with this disease has really become more of a chronic condition as opposed to a terminal diagnosis. While we do live with the awareness of waiting for the other boot to drop, we really do live in the now. For now, life is very good and we are thankful for every morning that comes our way.

Just let your Dad know that there ARE people that live valuable lives with a great quality of life with this disease. Never give up hope, keep the faith, and live every day.

As questions come up, always throw it out here and someone has gone down the road ahead of you. It does seem like after a bout of bad news here, we all have to process it a while, before resuming posting. Don't know why that is, but it is what it is.

Our best to you and your family as your start down this road of beating down the Stomach Cancer monster.

Peace and Love to all of you...........Scott

On 7/3/2009 Erica J. wrote:

Hello..

It looks as if this website has not been active in quite sometime, but hopefully someone can help me..

My father who is 58 years old was recently ( couple of weeks ago ) diagnosed with stomach cancer. It is in 3-4 stage, in the first cat scan it showed that the tumor had not spread and doctors said after chemo and radiation it could be surgically removed. A second cat scan was done yesterday, it revealed that the tumor was coming out of the stomach and had got into the stomach fluids ?? i honestly have no idea what that means.. and after researching it for hours.. i still have no clue. The doctor says surgery is no longer an option and it would be pointless.. he also said it is treatable but not curable. Has anyone ever been in this situation? or knows anyone? Any bit of knowledge would be so helpful, i would really apprecaite it.

 And to everyone on the site, you are in my prayers, never give up, someday there will be a cure. god bless.

 

erica j.

Erica J. 

Here is another experience that has worked out well so far.  It is my wifes' she will be having her 46th birthday this year, two years post her initial diagnosis of Stage IV stomach cancer and is currently in remission.

My 43 year old spouse was diagnosed with Stage IV in March of 07.  She initially presented with acute pain at her GI Junction that was relieved with over the counter prilosec and diet modification; however, we were not satisfied that the pain was simply caused by reflux and demanded an endoscopy which identified the stomach cancer.  The news got worse as further scans revealed a single tumor in her liver; they were 3cm and 4cm respectively. Wow, moving from Stage I to Stage IV sure did not take long.

She immediately started on ECF (Epirubicin, Cisplatin, and 5FU) and after four rounds (each three weeks long) the tumors were no longer detectable on scans and she was classified as being in remission.  After many second (and third and fourth) opinions it was decided not to do surgery in her case and she continued on ECF for another two months.  She experienced nausea with these treatment but a drug called Emend worked really well to decrease the symptoms. 

Post her initial round of treatments the scans were still clear and we changed her chemo regimen to Oxaliplatin and Xeloda (initially 5,000mg/day but quickly reduced to 4,000mg/day); she continued on this regimen for another 4 months before switching to just 5FU delivered every two week through her port (she was on this for the next 4 months). 

After more than a year of chemo, our oncologist suggested a break and to 'see what happens,' however our second and third opinions disagreed and she started again on Xeloda (also known as capecitabine) which she takes orally.  Unfortunately about 8 months into her treatments she developed a blood clot on her pancreas and had to start on coumadin - this was not a problem until we switched back to Xeloda which cannot be combined with coumadin so now we inject her daily with a lovenox type drug (this drug cost a pretty penny).

So here we are a year and a half post diagnosis and she remains on chemo with the advice of multiple oncologists (from Dana Farber, Sloan Kettering, Yale New Haven, and Columbia) all suggesting that she basically stay on a chemo treatment for as long as her body can tolerate it.

Through it all she has completed her Master's in early childhood education, received her teachers certificate and started back to work fulltime.  She remains in good health, has lost no weight and is motivated to continue the battle.  Initially she did have some nausea but a drug called emend took care of that, lost her hair (and has now grown it back and she used a good quality wig which helped her deal with it), lost layers of skin on her feet (this grew back to), lost some sensation in her hands and feet (feeling came back but not to where it was prior to seeking treatment).  As important as anything, her attitude has remained strong with a confidence that she can BEAT IT.  So far she has.  Praying hasn’t hurt her any either. 

That is her story so far.  She is very lucky as we caught it early and have had access to multiple professional opinions from leading cancer centers.  Also, that my mother in law (her mom) is an organizational wiz and we all have color coded binders with every test, every scan, every physician note, and every step of her treatment – this is a MUST HAVE to keep track of it all and be able to present the entire case study to physicians for their opinions (they will only be as good as the information they have to review). There are other success stories on this site. 

We continue to take it a day at a time.  Since August of 07 we have had no signs of the cancer returning and sincerely hope it never does.

I hope this information helps: 

Mar 07  - Diagnosed with Stage IV (two tumors stomach 3cm – liver 3-4cm)

Apr 07  - Starts Chemo ECF (Epirubicin, Cisplatin, and 5FU)

Aug 07 - Scans clear, continues ECF

Oct 07  - Changes to Oxaliplatin and Xeloda (xeloda is pill form of 5FU)

Nov 08 – Scans clear, continues Oxaliplatin and Xeloda

Mar 08  - Switches to just 5FU (delivered through port)

Aug 08 – Switches to just Xeloda (oral chemo); scans clear

Current (May 09) – Remains on Xeloda only – scans remain clear       

 It has been quite the experience but we remain blessed and hope your dad is too.  His youth will work in his favor.  Support him and try to keep him motivated.  It is a 'battle' and do not forget that.

STEVE (aka momwithkids)

Hi Erica,

My husband was diagnosed with Stomach Cancer in Aug 08.  He had an endoscopy and that is how we found it.  He was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.  He was 52 years old. The tumor is at the top of his stomach. He was going to have surgery in Sept until my sister ( a cancer nurse of 30 years) asked if we had an endoscopic ultrasound.  We scheduled it and it found that the cancer was also in the liver.  The doctor told us that we could do chemo and radiation.  He sent us the chemo meds in the mail (oral chemo) and we were to see and radiation Dr asap.  We could not get in to see him until the end of Sept.  He told us that since my husband was not in any pain that he should not have the radiation.  He explained that where the tumor was in the stomach he would cause him a lot of problems in a very short time and that he would help speed up his death.

My husband chose to do nothing instead.  His oncologist was angry at him for this.  He gave my husband 3 months to live.  Well, here we are almost a year later.  It is July 6th 2009 and my husband is still here.  He has retired from work and is doing very well. 

There has been many changes for us.  Prayer and God are first in our life.  That has always been.  Since the retirement, we have traveled and worked more at home than ever.   The doctor is totally amazed at his condition.  He is tired all the time.  We work through that and take naps when necessary.  He also receives IV iron infusion every two weeks as the tumor in his stomach is open and is bleeding.  So he is anemic all the time.

He is having his second Pet scan tomorrow and another cat scan next week to see where the cancer is.  The last cat scan showed that the cancer had spread to more of his liver and a small tumor in the lungs. It is also in most of his lymph nodes surrounding his stomach and liver.

We swim daily and just keep on living.  We keep very positive attitudes! That is so important. We play with our grandchildren and live life to the fullest. 

Do not allow anyone to put an expiration date on your father.  There is none. 

 Each and evey one of us has a very different story to tell with cancer.  My advice to each and eveyone is this......Cry, pray, laugh, have fun and live each day that we are given to the fullest.

My prayers are with you and your family.  If you can't visit as often as you would like, call daily. 

My sister in law was diagnosed with kidney cancer two days before my husband was diagnosed with stomach cancer.  She passed away last October.  So you never know where life is going to take you.  She was 58 years old.  She lived life to the fullest daily. 

May you and your family be blessed daily.

Alanna

On 7/3/2009 Erica J. wrote:

Hello..

It looks as if this website has not been active in quite sometime, but hopefully someone can help me..

My father who is 58 years old was recently ( couple of weeks ago ) diagnosed with stomach cancer. It is in 3-4 stage, in the first cat scan it showed that the tumor had not spread and doctors said after chemo and radiation it could be surgically removed. A second cat scan was done yesterday, it revealed that the tumor was coming out of the stomach and had got into the stomach fluids ?? i honestly have no idea what that means.. and after researching it for hours.. i still have no clue. The doctor says surgery is no longer an option and it would be pointless.. he also said it is treatable but not curable. Has anyone ever been in this situation? or knows anyone? Any bit of knowledge would be so helpful, i would really apprecaite it.

 And to everyone on the site, you are in my prayers, never give up, someday there will be a cure. god bless.

 

erica j.

As stomach cancers moves through the stomach layers it increases in stage #.  If it has penetrated all the layers of the stomach but has not moved to new areas you are working with stage III-IV. Unless the tumor can be completely removed and the area radiated, you generally can't cure it.  Stomach cancer has the same problem as ovarian - by the time you catch it, it is too far gone to cure.

Is it possible they meant it had spread to the peritenium or abdominal cavity?  My husband had microscopic tumors floating in the cavity, not attached to any other organ.

Treatable not curable is not a death sentence - it is a life sentence.  Meaning it is possible to have several years of good, quality life.  They manage the symptoms and try to stave off the advance of the cancer.  Fighting cancer will become the patient's (and your) full time job. 

A second opinion at a major teaching institution is never a bad thing.  We're in the Boston area and are blessed with Dana-Farber.  But there are many throughout the country.  New eyes often mean new ideas or thoughts.

 Hope some of this helps.  We are all in it together.

MB