A year ago my husband was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He underwent a total gastrectomy when it was discovered he had the rarer form of stomach cancer known as linitis plastica. Despite hopes that this had been caught in it's early stages, it was not. They were unable to get a clear margin when removing the stomach and some cancer cells were left. He underwent a gruelling 18 week course of chemotherapy (MXC)in the hope that this would kill off the remaining cancer cells, unfortunately it seems that the chemo has not worked and we have now been told that the walls of his bladder and abdomen are showing signs of thickening, indicating that the cancer is now attacking these organs. Does anyone have experience of secondary linitis plastica once it attacks further organs, there seems to be so little written about this cancer once the stomach has been removed. It seems that even the doctors don't actually know what the next stage will be, we just seem to live from one hospital appointment to the next on a roller coaster of good followed by bad news.
PS: We have just been told that the cancer is now very active, this is confirmed by the large abdominal swelling caused by fluid build up. Another round of chemo is now his next stage of treatment, although we have been told that this will not cure the cancer. Is there anyone who can give us advise on what happens next........