Hi,
My wife was diagnosed with colon cancer just over 3 years ago and it had spread to her liver, lungs, and several lymph nodes. She was also made aware of the 5% survival rate and it hit me real hard, but she wouldn't believe it...and she still doesn't. At this point she still does the chemo and her next session is this coming Monday. She started off with the Folfox 5 regimen. I remember she had the "numbness" (neuropathy), too, but not for a long time now. She hasn't suffered any redness in her hands or feet, but her bouts with diarrhea can be unpredictable and doesn't seem to really matter what she may have eaten. My feeling is that the chemo can be very harmful, but theoretically less harmful than the cancer, so the diarrhea shouldn't be a surprise.
The good news it that her CEA count (a tumor marker in her blood) has fallen to about 2...and that is good since most of us "healthy" people with no known cancerous tumors have a CEA of maybe 2.5 or less. We all have cancer cells lurking within us, but our immune system keeps them from becoming a problem. She had a CT scan this past March and her cancer has shrunk a lot so the chemo is working. They will actually let her take 3 months off in July to give her body some time to recover. She was told that she will have to be on chemo for the rest of her life, although new cancer treatments are happening all the time, so maybe one day she may be rid of her cancer. In the meanwhile, she is getting used to living with her cancer since she can't get rid of it just yet. I am thankful she is still alive and with me. The longer she can hang on, the better the chance that a new "cure" will be found. So, try to be positive.
Here is something your husband may want to try since he the side effects of his chemo have been rough on him. My wife has been fasting for 48-hours prior to each chemo session. She has been doing this for about 2 years I believe. The reason she does the fast is because there is a scientist at USC who was awarded a grant to do clinical trials using fasting to curtail the negative side effects of chemo. His theory is that fasting allows non-cancerous fast growing cells (hair, nails, skin, gastro-intestinal system, etc.) to put up a protective shield against chemo's onslaught, but cancer cells (which are also fast growing) don't seem to have that ability so the cancer cells still get destroyed, but the good cells are not harmed as much. This may be why my wife has been able to tolerate the chemo so far. I would say that roughly 70% of her hair remains and has quit falling out. Also, she doesn't suffer from neuropathy anymore and she doesn't suffer from really bad fatigue. She works 3 days a week, so she can still function normally to a certain extent. I recently read that at least 10 other people are also doing fasting on their own, and probably because the side effects of chemo were just too much for them. The also have been following the work of this USC scientist. You can look him up on the web. His name is Valter Longo. Maybe your husband may want to be included in his ongoing clinical trials if it is feasible for you. We decided to just do it on our own because my brothers read about his experiments and let me know about it. I told my wife she should try it on her own and we haven't looked back since.
My wife will be 56 later this month, so don't let the 5% statistic depress you. The longer he can survive, the greater the chance that advancements in cancer treatments will occur and survivability rates will be greater. You have to be positive. Who knows what the body does biochemically when the will to survive is strong? But look up Valter Longo and his theory of fasting and the lessening of chemo's side effects. Maybe being "proactive" in the battle with cancer instead of just going to chemo and have strangers pump drugs into your body does something biochemically beneficial. I know my wife accepts fasting as doing her part to beat her cancer. Good luck.
Alvin