CancerCompass message board discussion started by marc1204 on 1/18/2008 http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,19849,0.htm Sat, 30 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT Sat, 30 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://backend.userland.com/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ In July 2007, girlfriend diagnosed with advanced stomach cancer. They said it was pass stage 4 and there was nothing they could do.  They did not want to give chemo, radiation, surgery, or nothing.  They said she has six months to live.  She was only 37yrs. old. We live in Las Vegas, NV. and they have absolutely no experience with this type of cancer(linitus plastica/signet ring-cell) here.  My friends, it's a long story, but one day I promise to get it out to the world.  To keep this short, I say this.....She did not die!  We left Nevada and went to California to begin an incredible journey.  In Aug. 2007 she began radiation treatments(25 sessions) and it did shrink the tumor enough to where the surgeon said lets do it.  Oct. 17, 2007 the surgery was done and the entire stomach was removed.  Pathology report revealed how significant the radiation was to the treatment and how the cancer reacted to it.  It was remarkable.  The cancer did not spread outside the stomach.  Nov. 28, 2007 she was discharged and on Dec. 17, 2007 we returned to home to Las Vegas.  She eats by mouth and I never used the J-tube for feedings.  So on Jan 17, 2008, the tube was removed.  She has gained 11 pounds in the last month with little problems.  The discussion remains ongoing for now about follow up chemo for extra insurance of her health, but for now she has a new lease on life and neither of us will take it for granted.  I see our wedding plans coming to light now.Never give up people, never loose faith, or hope.  And most of all, Never stop praying because God is listening and watching you, I know by experience and he wanted me to let all of you know this.  Amen! marc1204 Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT That's fantastic!  My father also received some good news.  He had 70% of his stomach removed back in July 2007, went through 6 rounds of chemo.  Recent PET scans came up clean! Steeda Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT I am so happy to know that someone out there is beating the odds.  Im going through it with my mother.  everything was fine so far but now the ascites have cancer cells in them and today at 11 am i have an appointment with city of hope to see what there treatment plans would be.  next week we have three more opinions to go to before i let her own dr. know what we want to do.  im praying every moment of the day.  i have made promises to god and have been going to church for the past year every sunday, but i will not give up maybe this is god trying to see if he would throw some hard time in front of me would i stop loving him, no i'll get closer and closer until he answers my prayers.   Can you please tell me in california, where did you take her. who was her dr.   I hope you and her have many wonderful long years together.take care. and thank you for your story Hope4ever Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT  On 1/18/2008 Steeda wrote:That's fantastic!  My father also received some good news.  He had 70% of his stomach removed back in July 2007, went through 6 rounds of chemo.  Recent PET scans came up clean!That is Great news!  Glad to hear about other amazing people out there fighting and beating this horrible type of cancer.  I'll keep you and your father in my prayers.  God bless. marc1204 Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT  On 1/18/2008 Hope4ever wrote:I am so happy to know that someone out there is beating the odds.  Im going through it with my mother.  everything was fine so far but now the ascites have cancer cells in them and today at 11 am i have an appointment with city of hope to see what there treatment plans would be.  next week we have three more opinions to go to before i let her own dr. know what we want to do.  im praying every moment of the day.  i have made promises to god and have been going to church for the past year every sunday, but i will not give up maybe this is god trying to see if he would throw some hard time in front of me would i stop loving him, no i'll get closer and closer until he answers my prayers.   Can you please tell me in california, where did you take her. who was her dr.   I hope you and her have many wonderful long years together.take care. and thank you for your storyHello.  Your story brought back many memories to me.  Just like you, we both made promises to God and begged him for the chance to make good on them.  Today, I am also praying for good news for you and your mother.  So know this. . .when the both of you are at the appointment today, extra prayers are being delivered her way.  I totally feel you about everything you posted about God.  He tested my faith many times during this ordeal and sadly, I failed one.  But, I prayed to God and he got the anger out of my heart and forgave me.  That's a long story too, but my point is Never stop the prayers and believing that it is already being done for you.  God is always testing us and so many people don't even know it.  Anyway, let me tell you and everyone else where we went and had this amazing surgery.  If you go to California, you must try the USC/ Norris Cancer Hospital.  1441 Eastlake Avenue, Los Angeles, CA.  90033.  The name of the talented surgeon that constructed her new stomach(small intestine) is Dr. Silberman and let me tell you, his attention to detail and compassion is truly a God given talent and heart.  I just spoke with him yesterday and he is an Angel to us.  I'm sure he will never forget us either.  marc1204 Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT Hi again.  My mother had her surgery on January 13th 07.  and USC was one of the many places that I took her to get an opinion in regards to treatment after surgery.  We saw an oncoligist named Dr. Igbal and she wanted to treat her with Zeloda pills and radiation, which I thought was not strong enough with my mothers kinds of cancer, so we ended up at the Angeles Clinique and research inst. which also works with USC Norris.  The first day when I mentioned Dr. Igbals plan to my moms dr. over at the Angeles clinique, she was a bit surprised that she did not want to be more aggresive with my moms treatment and since she offered a bit more aggresive way I went with the Angeles Clinique instead.   Anyways i dont think the treatment had any thing to due with the recurrence, because the day her surgen came out of surgery he told us that this is a very aggressive cancer (adenocarcinoma) and it probably would comeback sometime after treatment and here it is again.  City of Hope today was also ok , he offered a chemo plan and he said he might be able to give her some more time.  but like he said to my mother in the room when she got up to kiss his head from excitement of hearing there might be some hope:  FIRST ITS IN GODS HAND AND THEN I COME SECOND.    AND how true that is because gods all that i have to rely on these days.  I am so emotionally tired and beat that somethimes I wish I could go to a deep sleep and wake up with everyone around me with a big smile on there faces saying that I finally came out of my year long coma.  and then I would look at my mother and the first words out of my mouth to her would be are you still sick or was all of that a bad dream this whole year and her saying honey im perfectly healthy as always and yes it was part of your coma.   but no, im very well awake and feeling all the sadness and empty ness that this disease has created inside of me.  I wish I could go inside of my mothers stomach and tear every single cell that is taking my mothers life apart and away from her beautiful body and torch it to death just like its torching my heart every second of my life.   But no that is not possible, so what would be the next best thing, then i remember god.  He who is capable of creating life is the one that has been proven time after time that will not leave his children alone at the time of need and will give us comfort to have the strenght and courage to be strong on behalf of our loved ones that are going through this terrible experience.   Sorry for the long story, but i needed to get a few things of my chest,. even though when im done writing this, my next though moves over to my mother again and the pain starts all over.    Have a good nite.  enjoy a happy weekend with your loved ones,  every moment spend with a loved one is a priceless present.   Take Care Cathy           Hope4ever Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT  On 1/18/2008 Hope4ever wrote:Hi again.  My mother had her surgery on January 13th 07.  and USC was one of the many places that I took her to get an opinion in regards to treatment after surgery.  We saw an oncoligist named Dr. Igbal and she wanted to treat her with Zeloda pills and radiation, which I thought was not strong enough with my mothers kinds of cancer, so we ended up at the Angeles Clinique and research inst. which also works with USC Norris.  The first day when I mentioned Dr. Igbals plan to my moms dr. over at the Angeles clinique, she was a bit surprised that she did not want to be more aggresive with my moms treatment and since she offered a bit more aggresive way I went with the Angeles Clinique instead.   Anyways i dont think the treatment had any thing to due with the recurrence, because the day her surgen came out of surgery he told us that this is a very aggressive cancer (adenocarcinoma) and it probably would comeback sometime after treatment and here it is again.  City of Hope today was also ok , he offered a chemo plan and he said he might be able to give her some more time.  but like he said to my mother in the room when she got up to kiss his head from excitement of hearing there might be some hope:  FIRST ITS IN GODS HAND AND THEN I COME SECOND.    AND how true that is because gods all that i have to rely on these days.  I am so emotionally tired and beat that somethimes I wish I could go to a deep sleep and wake up with everyone around me with a big smile on there faces saying that I finally came out of my year long coma.  and then I would look at my mother and the first words out of my mouth to her would be are you still sick or was all of that a bad dream this whole year and her saying honey im perfectly healthy as always and yes it was part of your coma.   but no, im very well awake and feeling all the sadness and empty ness that this disease has created inside of me.  I wish I could go inside of my mothers stomach and tear every single cell that is taking my mothers life apart and away from her beautiful body and torch it to death just like its torching my heart every second of my life.   But no that is not possible, so what would be the next best thing, then i remember god.  He who is capable of creating life is the one that has been proven time after time that will not leave his children alone at the time of need and will give us comfort to have the strenght and courage to be strong on behalf of our loved ones that are going through this terrible experience.   Sorry for the long story, but i needed to get a few things of my chest,. even though when im done writing this, my next though moves over to my mother again and the pain starts all over.    Have a good nite.  enjoy a happy weekend with your loved ones,  every moment spend with a loved one is a priceless present.   Take Care Cathy          Hi.  Glad to hear things went ok with the visit.  I said my prayers earlier for you and your mom and I will continue to pray until you get the results that you want. That's what you have to do.  That's what I did.  I prayed until I got what I wanted and ofcourse still continue to pray.  What I did was believe without a doubt that everything was going to be ok and already started thanking God for the healing before it actualy happened.  Tell your mom to do that everyday and lets watch the miracle happen.  Amen. marc1204 Sat, 19 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT How was she diagnosed stage 4, yet the cancer was described as not having spread beyond her stomach???? Chi-girl Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT  On 1/22/2008 Chi-girl wrote:How was she diagnosed stage 4, yet the cancer was described as not having spread beyond her stomach????Hi. I know that sounds crazy but was told that by a doctor in Las Vegas who did CT scan.  But this is the kind of stuff I'm talking about, how you can't believe what just one doctor says.  Those second and third opinions are a must.  We left Vegas after that and went to California where my uncle is a doctor and he put us in touch with the right people.  It was nothing but a miracle how the cancer stayed contained in the stomach for over a year.  Thats about how long she complained about the symptons before the doctors in Las Vegas decided to do an endoscopy.  Well, I guess it was tricky because she was pregnant too, and that's another long story.  But the baby went full term and survived.  So no matter what happens in the future, I know I was atleast blessed from God to have a son.  Amen. marc1204 Wed, 23 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT UPDATE:  Yesterday, Jan. 31st, we went back to USC Norris for her first CT scans since she was discharged in Nov. and everything came up clean, no cancer present anywhere.  So far so good, but I know we still have a long road ahead of us.  But my FAITH in my prayers have never let me down at any point in my life.  So anybody that needs a prayer, please send me a private message with the name of the person battling this cancer or post their name here.  My prayers just work better when I use the name of the people that I am praying for.  Anyway, please let me know how your loved ones are doing.  This website is the best support you're going to find.  I looked everywhere for strictly stomach cancer support groups offline and there simply wasn't one.  Stomach cancer does not get the attention it deserves, but I'm working on it. marc1204 Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT