CancerCompass message board discussion started by JKBEANS on 5/11/2008 http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,23935,0.htm Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://backend.userland.com/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ My father had Stage IV colon cancer, had it resected, has a colostomy, and went through six months of chemo. He finished in Dec. of 2007. In January they did a PET/CT scan which showed some minimal cancer in his pelvic area and a little around the ostomy site. They wanted to leave him off of chemo for two months and then get another PET scan. Medicare wouldn't let him get a PET scan March (because it hadn't been 90 days), They moved it to April and then they declined it again saying there wasn't enough reason to have it done. They finally got a CAT scan instead the last of April and it showed metastasis to the liver and one spot on his lung (all of which were not there in January). The question is this:  they gave him less than six months if he doesn't have more chemo. They said 1 - 6 years if he had chemo. My dad doesn't really want to go through it again. He is 76 years old. Should I encourage him to do it or not. What are the odds really of him lasting 6 years???? JKBEANS Sun, 11 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT  On 5/11/2008 JKBEANS wrote:My father had Stage IV colon cancer, had it resected, has a colostomy, and went through six months of chemo. He finished in Dec. of 2007. In January they did a PET/CT scan which showed some minimal cancer in his pelvic area and a little around the ostomy site. They wanted to leave him off of chemo for two months and then get another PET scan. Medicare wouldn't let him get a PET scan March (because it hadn't been 90 days), They moved it to April and then they declined it again saying there wasn't enough reason to have it done. They finally got a CAT scan instead the last of April and it showed metastasis to the liver and one spot on his lung (all of which were not there in January). The question is this:  they gave him less than six months if he doesn't have more chemo. They said 1 - 6 years if he had chemo. My dad doesn't really want to go through it again. He is 76 years old. Should I encourage him to do it or not. What are the odds really of him lasting 6 years????Hi JK    My husband was dianozed with stage 3 colon cancer in June 2001...  He had surgery and 6 months of 5FU after the surgery healed.... The cancer returned in 2005 .... Stage 4 ... with meds to his liver & lungs....  He started CPT-11 & 5FU....From March 2005 until May 2005...... Didn't help .... Then he started Oxaliplatin in June 2005..... Until Oct. 2005 when he had a very serious reaction..... He had 8 cycles.... He was off chemo from Oct. 2005 until Oct. 2006 when the cancer started to grow again.... Yes off chemo for a year..... The Oxaliplatin had held the cancer from growing all that time.... He started Erbitux and CPT-11 in Buffalo { Oct. 2006 until Jan 2007 }  Didn't help..... Then he started a VEGF trial from Feb. 2007 until Jan. 2008 .....  When it stopped working....  Now he's started a new clinical trial { FAK } since March 2008 ..... He had a PET-SCAN and it showed stable..... My husband was given 2 years to live in 2005..... He has good days and bad days..... He now weighs 155 lbs from 214 lbs.... He is able to drive our van somedays and sometimes not..... My husband is 54 years old.....You & your family are in our thoughts & prayers..... Your dad should seek treatment..... Doctors are wrong..... And everyone reponds differently....      Kareny Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT  On 5/12/2008 Kareny wrote:Thanks so much for the input!  He is not wanting to go through the chemo again, he says he is 76 years old and if he were younger he would.  I still don't know what to do. Ultimately, it is his decision, but I want to stear him in the right direction.On 5/11/2008 JKBEANS wrote:My father had Stage IV colon cancer, had it resected, has a colostomy, and went through six months of chemo. He finished in Dec. of 2007. In January they did a PET/CT scan which showed some minimal cancer in his pelvic area and a little around the ostomy site. They wanted to leave him off of chemo for two months and then get another PET scan. Medicare wouldn't let him get a PET scan March (because it hadn't been 90 days), They moved it to April and then they declined it again saying there wasn't enough reason to have it done. They finally got a CAT scan instead the last of April and it showed metastasis to the liver and one spot on his lung (all of which were not there in January). The question is this:  they gave him less than six months if he doesn't have more chemo. They said 1 - 6 years if he had chemo. My dad doesn't really want to go through it again. He is 76 years old. Should I encourage him to do it or not. What are the odds really of him lasting 6 years????Hi JK    My husband was dianozed with stage 3 colon cancer in June 2001...  He had surgery and 6 months of 5FU after the surgery healed.... The cancer returned in 2005 .... Stage 4 ... with meds to his liver & lungs....  He started CPT-11 & 5FU....From March 2005 until May 2005...... Didn't help .... Then he started Oxaliplatin in June 2005..... Until Oct. 2005 when he had a very serious reaction..... He had 8 cycles.... He was off chemo from Oct. 2005 until Oct. 2006 when the cancer started to grow again.... Yes off chemo for a year..... The Oxaliplatin had held the cancer from growing all that time.... He started Erbitux and CPT-11 in Buffalo { Oct. 2006 until Jan 2007 }  Didn't help..... Then he started a VEGF trial from Feb. 2007 until Jan. 2008 .....  When it stopped working....  Now he's started a new clinical trial { FAK } since March 2008 ..... He had a PET-SCAN and it showed stable..... My husband was given 2 years to live in 2005..... He has good days and bad days..... He now weighs 155 lbs from 214 lbs.... He is able to drive our van somedays and sometimes not..... My husband is 54 years old.....You & your family are in our thoughts & prayers..... Your dad should seek treatment..... Doctors are wrong..... And everyone reponds differently....       JKBEANS Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT Hi, could you please elaborate more on the clinical trials?VEGF and FAK Thanks Mike47 Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT  On 5/12/2008 Mike47 wrote:Hi, could you please elaborate more on the clinical trials?VEGF and FAK ThanksHi Mike     VEGF-TRAP is a cousin of Avastin..... At the time my husband was on the VEGF-TRAP { phase 2 trial } it was experiment and not approved by Health Canada or the United States Food and Drug Administration.Side Effects .... Likely....Hypertension high blood pressure }, proteinuria { protein in your urine }, tiredness.Less likely... Low white blood count, anorexia { no appetite }, constipation, nausea and vomiting, ,joint pain, hoarseness of voice, low red blood count, diarrhea, dizziness, back pain, abdomen pain, muscle pain, headaches, cough...Rare.... bleeding, blood clot, stroke, chest pain, shortness of breath, decreased heart muscle function, catastrophic hemorrhage.My husband had hoarseness of voice, some headaches, tireness and proteinuria....... FAK { focal adhesion kinase } PF-00562271 trial { phase 1 } is being run in Canada & United States.....    Kareny Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT Some Doctors can be wrong but most are pretty reliable.  Mine have been and it is not luck on my part.  They have done very good by me.  You will find that many patients and caregivers have that same opinion. Arnold Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT We have found that most doctors don't like to give time lines..... My husband wanted a time line & the doctor didn't want to give him one..... Finally he did ..... He did say if you want you can get a second opinion .... He has since left and gone into research.... We really liked him... My husband was on three clinical trials with him.... Plus he sent us out of country for treatment.... He was pro active ..... The doctor that took over for him since has run out of treatments for my husband.....He didn't want to give a time line either, but did..... Multiple months.......  And said he could send my husband elsewhere to see if they had any clinical trials that my husband could get in.... That's what we did....  My husbands new doctor took one look at him & said you have one year.....  Without seeing any of my husband's last scans.... I said how can you say that without seeing the scan results.... After talking to them we went home..... Down as hell...... Next thing there phoning us for his next appt..... To see if he can get into a trial.....  WHAT ???? ....  The way they were talking to us before, it was like there was no hope.....  They offered two trials..... If he qualifed.... My husband had a pet-scan, CT, Muga test { heart } , bloodwork done...... He qualifed for the FAK trial.....                                                             Kareny   Kareny Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT This is a tough question since it's not really a treatment question like the ones people usually post here.  I used to work in critical care research and I saw many families who were unwilling to let go of family members who were in dire straits.  While I am not drawing a parallel between those situations and your Dad's cancer, the one thing I will say to you is this:Be sure you completely understand why he feels the way he feels and why you feel the way you feel before you decide to encourage him to go back on chemo.  I he is not sure then explore the options, including side effects and quality of life issues with he and his doctors in great detail.  If he is still unsure then you could express your wish that he have the chemo.  But, and this is going to sound harsh,if he has made a fuly informed decision and he is at peace with that decdion then you need to make sure that you are not being selfish in encouraging hm to undergo the rigors of chem again so that you can have him in your life a little while longer.  That is askig him to suffer for you and your feelings because you don't want him to be gone.  Please don't misunderstand this next part but your Dad is 76 and he probably knows what he wants.  If he chooses to have a better quality of life for a shorter period of time and he makes that decision with a sound mind I would recommend that you honor it and spend as much time with him as you can.  Record his life stories, in his own voice, so you have them to share with your children and grandchildren and honor your Dad with your love and support of his decision no matter what it is.I hope you understand that this message was sent with love and concern.  I have just seen so much suffering I felt that I had to respond. God Bless... Juliet JMM0612 Thu, 22 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT