Re: diagnosed May 27th. I'm glad I found you ...

[Guest guest]

Welcome Karima,to our group. I wish you did not need to be here,but

it is a great place to vent,share and gather information. In regards

to the differing info you're getting from your docs....either get

them together or better yet take yourself to a major cancer center

where you will have a team(oncologist,surgeon,others)to organize your

care and plan the best treatment plan for you. Ask lots of questions

and keep asking until you understand the answers you are given.If you

go to the links bar on this group site there is a multitude of

information including a list of major cancer centers if you don't

have one now. Let us know how you are doing.

Hugs & Prayers to All,

H

S/O 'Hubby,52,diagnosed 7/31/03 inoperable stage IV cc

Third-line chemo of Avastin/CPT-11/5FU/LV for 3 mo,

5/20/04 CT scans show significant progression of disease,CEA:1060

6/2/04 started " Plan D " ,Folfox 4

> Hi,

>

> My name is Karima and I live in Pennsylvania. I was diagnosed with

> rectal cancer on May 27th. We are at the point where one doctor

says

> one thing and one says another.

>

> What do you do with that?

>

> Thank you,

> Karima

[Guest guest]

Welcome Karima,to our group. I wish you did not need to be here,but

it is a great place to vent,share and gather information. In regards

to the differing info you're getting from your docs....either get

them together or better yet take yourself to a major cancer center

where you will have a team(oncologist,surgeon,others)to organize your

care and plan the best treatment plan for you. Ask lots of questions

and keep asking until you understand the answers you are given.If you

go to the links bar on this group site there is a multitude of

information including a list of major cancer centers if you don't

have one now. Let us know how you are doing.

Hugs & Prayers to All,

H

S/O 'Hubby,52,diagnosed 7/31/03 inoperable stage IV cc

Third-line chemo of Avastin/CPT-11/5FU/LV for 3 mo,

5/20/04 CT scans show significant progression of disease,CEA:1060

6/2/04 started " Plan D " ,Folfox 4

> Hi,

>

> My name is Karima and I live in Pennsylvania. I was diagnosed with

> rectal cancer on May 27th. We are at the point where one doctor

says

> one thing and one says another.

>

> What do you do with that?

>

> Thank you,

> Karima

[Guest guest]

Welcome Karima,to our group. I wish you did not need to be here,but

it is a great place to vent,share and gather information. In regards

to the differing info you're getting from your docs....either get

them together or better yet take yourself to a major cancer center

where you will have a team(oncologist,surgeon,others)to organize your

care and plan the best treatment plan for you. Ask lots of questions

and keep asking until you understand the answers you are given.If you

go to the links bar on this group site there is a multitude of

information including a list of major cancer centers if you don't

have one now. Let us know how you are doing.

Hugs & Prayers to All,

H

S/O 'Hubby,52,diagnosed 7/31/03 inoperable stage IV cc

Third-line chemo of Avastin/CPT-11/5FU/LV for 3 mo,

5/20/04 CT scans show significant progression of disease,CEA:1060

6/2/04 started " Plan D " ,Folfox 4

> Hi,

>

> My name is Karima and I live in Pennsylvania. I was diagnosed with

> rectal cancer on May 27th. We are at the point where one doctor

says

> one thing and one says another.

>

> What do you do with that?

>

> Thank you,

> Karima

[Guest guest]

Where are you in PA? Are the Dr.s part of the same group or hospital?

What is your impression of them in terms of bedside manner/ These things may

be important down the line especially having someone you can talk openly with

and will FIGHT for you-

Hope all goes well for you

Narice

[Guest guest]

Dear " Mark's wife " ,

Thanks for your quick comeback.

I understand the team approach and with the HMO's, my primary care

guy who has been my doc for about 18 years is the one who recommended

the oncologist, surgeon and chemotherapist. Originally he

recommended this Dr. Moscowicz from town, NJ but because it was

so far away and I was in such denial, I said I'm not going to M-town

so he gave me the name of a group and I was able to get a good

recommendation from friends for one of their surgeons who again

recommended the guy in town. So that was that.

The tumor is very low in the rectum and has not penetrated the wall;

I just had the ultra sound this week. Based on these results, the

surgeon wants to go ahead and remove it. Also the cat scan was clean.

The chemo doctor is not apprised of the results of the ultra sound

but she had said you have a better chance of survival if you have the

chemo and radiation first; the oncologists says we have one chance

and one chance only to kill the cancer and that is through radiation

and chemo together. But he doesn't know the results of the ultra

sound either.

I have an appointment with my primary care physician and the surgeon

next week; I've ordered the chemo (pill form) and need to get this

info to the oncologist.

I have a great support system in my friends. My daughters are pretty

much self-centered and useless and my sister is on the west coast.

I believe we can beat this cancer, the thing is to get a consensus

amongst doctors.

I live alone with my three dogs.

Thank you for listening.

Karima.

[Guest guest]

Dear " Mark's wife " ,

Thanks for your quick comeback.

I understand the team approach and with the HMO's, my primary care

guy who has been my doc for about 18 years is the one who recommended

the oncologist, surgeon and chemotherapist. Originally he

recommended this Dr. Moscowicz from town, NJ but because it was

so far away and I was in such denial, I said I'm not going to M-town

so he gave me the name of a group and I was able to get a good

recommendation from friends for one of their surgeons who again

recommended the guy in town. So that was that.

The tumor is very low in the rectum and has not penetrated the wall;

I just had the ultra sound this week. Based on these results, the

surgeon wants to go ahead and remove it. Also the cat scan was clean.

The chemo doctor is not apprised of the results of the ultra sound

but she had said you have a better chance of survival if you have the

chemo and radiation first; the oncologists says we have one chance

and one chance only to kill the cancer and that is through radiation

and chemo together. But he doesn't know the results of the ultra

sound either.

I have an appointment with my primary care physician and the surgeon

next week; I've ordered the chemo (pill form) and need to get this

info to the oncologist.

I have a great support system in my friends. My daughters are pretty

much self-centered and useless and my sister is on the west coast.

I believe we can beat this cancer, the thing is to get a consensus

amongst doctors.

I live alone with my three dogs.

Thank you for listening.

Karima.

[Guest guest]

Hi Karima

It's the hardest thing trying to get these doctors to talk to each other and

gain a consensus! I would tend to agree with your surgeon to remove the tumor.

The idea behind the radiation/chemo before the surgery is that it may shrink the

tumor and kill stray cells around the tumor and in the lymph nodes so the tumor

is smaller when the surgery takes place. Sometimes this works great and

sometimes there isn't much change. In my husband's case, the ultrasound showed

possible lymph node involvement and penetration of the bowel wall, so he had the

radiation/chemo before the surgery. The tumor didn't shrink much at all and they

still found 4 of 6 lymph nodes with cancer.

It's great news that the cancer was caught so early! Take care!

P

Karima wrote:

I believe we can beat this cancer, the thing is to get a consensus

amongst doctors.

Karima.

P

Caregiver to husband, Dale, who is 73 and undergoing chemotherapy for Stage IV

rectal cancer diagnosed in 2002

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Karima,

I agree with about the radiation. My husband had a 2cm tumor

in the rectum. He had 6 weeks of chemo 24hrs a day 7days a week via

pump. He also had at the same time radiation to shrink the tumor.

We were never given the option of a ultrasound to see if it had

invaded the wall. They told us at the time the only way to tell was

to remove the tumor.

They removed 24 lymph nodes and all were negative. We wanted follow

up chemo and they said he was cured. Wrong, it came back exactly one

year later. His tumor did penetrate the wall but did not go all the

way thru. The radiation did some really bad damage and did not

shrink the tumor a lot. He developed a fistula that bonded the

bladder to the wall of the colon and caused permanent damage. If he

were given the chance again he said he would go for the surgery and

not wasted any more time. He still has problems with his bladder

control and constantly has to monitor for infections. He was

actually passing gas thru the penis. At the time we thought we were

doing the right thing because it was even written in the medical

magazines that this was the way to go. Hindsite is 20 20 and we

just have to deal with our mistakes and go on.

I agree with others, I just wish we had found this message group and

I think we would have made wiser desicions. If they are 100% sure

that your has not penetrated the wall I would jump at the surgery

option first.

Best Wishes,

Joyce

> I believe we can beat this cancer, the thing is to get a consensus

> amongst doctors.

>

>

> Karima.

>

>

>

> P

> Caregiver to husband, Dale, who is 73 and undergoing chemotherapy

for Stage IV rectal cancer diagnosed in 2002

>

> __________________________________________________

>

[Guest guest]

Karima,

Based on my experience (I have rectal cancer), I think there are

two stages to your decision making process; as I always say, I am not

a doctor - as such, there may be some things that I am not aware of.

First and foremost, the rectal cancer (the primary site) has to be

removed. More than likely, they will not be able to succinctly stage

your cancer until it is removed and they can do exploratory surgery

around it, and the staging predicates any other types of treatment,

such as chemo. Any decision here is relatively straightforward. The

only question will be whether you do radiation beforehand or not. The

decision on radiation depends on two things - where it is in the

rectum and how aminable you are to a colostomy. The goal of any

radiation is to shrink the tumor such that the surgeon can preserve

the anus and sphincter muscles - if they can do that, the rectum can

be sewn back together instead of having a colostomy. My doctor told

me that " usually " cancer in the top third of the rectum is removed

without presurgery radiation; in the middle third, either way (I chose

not to have it - my surgeon told me that he could connect without

radiation); in the lower third, they usually radiate to shrink the

tumor size.

Now then, surgery - you probably need to choose a surgeon, who, at

a minimum, is board certified in colorectal surgery. A general

surgeon probably won't have the experience to do a good job. There

are places on the web to check certification - if you cannot find them

through a search and want a link, I can probably help. Colorectal

surgeons at major cancer centers (fox chase in philly, sloan kettering

in ny, roswell park in buffalo) probably have more experience than

any, but I found a great guy here where I live in Albany, NY, so I

don't think you have to be at one of these places to get a good

result, as long as the surgeon is experienced.

Once the surgery (assuming you get it) is when more questions

arise, and they depend on stage. At this stage, I would definitely go

to a major cancer center for a second opinion. You can probably get

good care locally, but I found the team approach at these places,

regardless of where you get treated, will significantly enhance your

understanding of your options.

Hope this helps - good luck - Joe

> Hi,

>

> My name is Karima and I live in Pennsylvania. I was diagnosed with

> rectal cancer on May 27th. We are at the point where one doctor says

> one thing and one says another.

>

> What do you do with that?

>

> Thank you,

> Karima

[Guest guest]

_support] Re: diagnosed May 27th. I'm glad I found you ...

Thank you so much . I will know more this week.

Karima

[Guest guest]

Thank you . How did it work out for your husband? This tumor is also

low

- 8 cm. The first surgeon who was my choice said it was too close for him

to calll

and he recommended me to the surgeon my own doctor originally recommended.

I am going to see the second surgeon this week to talk about the operation.

I have already told him if it has to be a colostomy, well then so be it.

Life is the trade off and I want to live. We haven't spoken in person since

the ultrasound but I will see

him hopefully on Tuesday.

The toughest part of all of this is I live alone with my dogs. I have great

friends and

daughters who don't know how to give of themselves. I am trying to deal

with that.

This tumor has not invaded the wall.

Thanks so much for your response.

Karima

Links

To visit your group on the web, go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/colon_cancer_support/

[Guest guest]

Thank you . How did it work out for your husband? This tumor is also

low

- 8 cm. The first surgeon who was my choice said it was too close for him

to calll

and he recommended me to the surgeon my own doctor originally recommended.

I am going to see the second surgeon this week to talk about the operation.

I have already told him if it has to be a colostomy, well then so be it.

Life is the trade off and I want to live. We haven't spoken in person since

the ultrasound but I will see

him hopefully on Tuesday.

The toughest part of all of this is I live alone with my dogs. I have great

friends and

daughters who don't know how to give of themselves. I am trying to deal

with that.

This tumor has not invaded the wall.

Thanks so much for your response.

Karima

Links

To visit your group on the web, go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/colon_cancer_support/

[Guest guest]

Thank you . How did it work out for your husband? This tumor is also

low

- 8 cm. The first surgeon who was my choice said it was too close for him

to calll

and he recommended me to the surgeon my own doctor originally recommended.

I am going to see the second surgeon this week to talk about the operation.

I have already told him if it has to be a colostomy, well then so be it.

Life is the trade off and I want to live. We haven't spoken in person since

the ultrasound but I will see

him hopefully on Tuesday.

The toughest part of all of this is I live alone with my dogs. I have great

friends and

daughters who don't know how to give of themselves. I am trying to deal

with that.

This tumor has not invaded the wall.

Thanks so much for your response.

Karima

Links

To visit your group on the web, go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/colon_cancer_support/

[Guest guest]

Dear Joyce

I am so glad I read your note. May I ask how your husband is now?

I am definitely leaning towards jumping at the surgery and am seeing the

doctor this week on Tuesday.

Will let everyone know.

Thank you,

Karima

-- Re: diagnosed May 27th. I'm glad I found you

....

Karima,

I agree with about the radiation. My husband had a 2cm tumor

in the rectum. He had 6 weeks of chemo 24hrs a day 7days a week via

pump. He also had at the same time radiation to shrink the tumor.

We were never given the option of a ultrasound to see if it had

invaded the wall. They told us at the time the only way to tell was

to remove the tumor.

They removed 24 lymph nodes and all were negative. We wanted follow

up chemo and they said he was cured. Wrong, it came back exactly one

year later. His tumor did penetrate the wall but did not go all the

way thru. The radiation did some really bad damage and did not

shrink the tumor a lot. He developed a fistula that bonded the

bladder to the wall of the colon and caused permanent damage. If he

were given the chance again he said he would go for the surgery and

not wasted any more time. He still has problems with his bladder

control and constantly has to monitor for infections. He was

actually passing gas thru the penis. At the time we thought we were

doing the right thing because it was even written in the medical

magazines that this was the way to go. Hindsite is 20 20 and we

just have to deal with our mistakes and go on.

I agree with others, I just wish we had found this message group and

I think we would have made wiser desicions. If they are 100% sure

that your has not penetrated the wall I would jump at the surgery

option first.

Best Wishes,

Joyce

> I believe we can beat this cancer, the thing is to get a consensus

> amongst doctors.

>

>

> Karima.

>

>

>

> P

> Caregiver to husband, Dale, who is 73 and undergoing chemotherapy

for Stage IV rectal cancer diagnosed in 2002

>

> __________________________________________________

>

[Guest guest]

Dear Joyce

I am so glad I read your note. May I ask how your husband is now?

I am definitely leaning towards jumping at the surgery and am seeing the

doctor this week on Tuesday.

Will let everyone know.

Thank you,

Karima

-- Re: diagnosed May 27th. I'm glad I found you

....

Karima,

I agree with about the radiation. My husband had a 2cm tumor

in the rectum. He had 6 weeks of chemo 24hrs a day 7days a week via

pump. He also had at the same time radiation to shrink the tumor.

We were never given the option of a ultrasound to see if it had

invaded the wall. They told us at the time the only way to tell was

to remove the tumor.

They removed 24 lymph nodes and all were negative. We wanted follow

up chemo and they said he was cured. Wrong, it came back exactly one

year later. His tumor did penetrate the wall but did not go all the

way thru. The radiation did some really bad damage and did not

shrink the tumor a lot. He developed a fistula that bonded the

bladder to the wall of the colon and caused permanent damage. If he

were given the chance again he said he would go for the surgery and

not wasted any more time. He still has problems with his bladder

control and constantly has to monitor for infections. He was

actually passing gas thru the penis. At the time we thought we were

doing the right thing because it was even written in the medical

magazines that this was the way to go. Hindsite is 20 20 and we

just have to deal with our mistakes and go on.

I agree with others, I just wish we had found this message group and

I think we would have made wiser desicions. If they are 100% sure

that your has not penetrated the wall I would jump at the surgery

option first.

Best Wishes,

Joyce

> I believe we can beat this cancer, the thing is to get a consensus

> amongst doctors.

>

>

> Karima.

>

>

>

> P

> Caregiver to husband, Dale, who is 73 and undergoing chemotherapy

for Stage IV rectal cancer diagnosed in 2002

>

> __________________________________________________

>

[Guest guest]

Dear Joyce

I am so glad I read your note. May I ask how your husband is now?

I am definitely leaning towards jumping at the surgery and am seeing the

doctor this week on Tuesday.

Will let everyone know.

Thank you,

Karima

-- Re: diagnosed May 27th. I'm glad I found you

....

Karima,

I agree with about the radiation. My husband had a 2cm tumor

in the rectum. He had 6 weeks of chemo 24hrs a day 7days a week via

pump. He also had at the same time radiation to shrink the tumor.

We were never given the option of a ultrasound to see if it had

invaded the wall. They told us at the time the only way to tell was

to remove the tumor.

They removed 24 lymph nodes and all were negative. We wanted follow

up chemo and they said he was cured. Wrong, it came back exactly one

year later. His tumor did penetrate the wall but did not go all the

way thru. The radiation did some really bad damage and did not

shrink the tumor a lot. He developed a fistula that bonded the

bladder to the wall of the colon and caused permanent damage. If he

were given the chance again he said he would go for the surgery and

not wasted any more time. He still has problems with his bladder

control and constantly has to monitor for infections. He was

actually passing gas thru the penis. At the time we thought we were

doing the right thing because it was even written in the medical

magazines that this was the way to go. Hindsite is 20 20 and we

just have to deal with our mistakes and go on.

I agree with others, I just wish we had found this message group and

I think we would have made wiser desicions. If they are 100% sure

that your has not penetrated the wall I would jump at the surgery

option first.

Best Wishes,

Joyce

> I believe we can beat this cancer, the thing is to get a consensus

> amongst doctors.

>

>

> Karima.

>

>

>

> P

> Caregiver to husband, Dale, who is 73 and undergoing chemotherapy

for Stage IV rectal cancer diagnosed in 2002

>

> __________________________________________________

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Karima,

Sorry that your family isn't more supportive. It's a good thing you have your

dogs, they can be a great comfort to you, I know.

My husband's tumor was 7 cm above the anal verge. The first surgeon who did the

colonoscopy was a general/vascular surgeon in a small rural community. He said

there was no other way but my husband would have to have a colostomy. I

contacted a board certified colorectal surgeon and he said that they could use

sphincter sparing procedures and my husband would not have to have a permanent

colostomy. We went with the board certified surgeon, who is an excellent surgeon

- he put in the chest port (for the chemo) before the rectal surgery. My husband

had bad complications - he was 71 at the time of the surgery and had HBP and

diabetes. He had a stroke two or three days before his surgery and had a lot of

trouble recovering from both the stroke and the surgery - added with the chemo

on top of that, he nearly didn't make it the first year (this was in 2002). He

had the temporary ileostomy reversed in September 2002 and has had trouble ever

since regaining bowel control. I don't know how much

is due to diabetes, stroke, age, the surgery, radiation, etc. etc. - any of

these could have an effect on his bowel control. The colorectal surgeon said

that he had to pull a lot of colon down to make a new rectum and that the colon

tissue has to " learn " to act like a rectum, so sometimes " leakage " (as he puts

it) occurs. Also, the months he had the ileostomy, he had to " retrain " his

sphincter to have a little better " grip " . Since the stroke, my husband has very

low motivation to do anything for himself. There are sphincter exercises and a

regimen of taking psyllium to help retrain the bowels, but he refused to take

the psyllium. He says he does the exercises, but he has refused to do other

physical therapy stuff, so I don't know if he does it or not. He still has

trouble controlling his bowels, which is really bad when he was on chemo that

causes diarrhea.

The bowel control issue is something you might want to discuss with your

surgeon. It may be because my husband had so many other complications, that he

is having an unusually bad time of it. Other than that, the surgery was very

successful - he had no infection or adhesions, everything went very well. I do

wish that the colorectal surgeon had discussed the possibility that his bowel

control could be affected, but then the surgeon had no idea that he would have a

stroke or anything like that before the surgery.

Take care

P

Barbara Gari wrote:

Thank you . How did it work out for your husband? This tumor is also

low

- 8 cm. The first surgeon who was my choice said it was too close for him

to calll

and he recommended me to the surgeon my own doctor originally recommended.

I am going to see the second surgeon this week to talk about the operation.

I have already told him if it has to be a colostomy, well then so be it.

Life is the trade off and I want to live. We haven't spoken in person since

the ultrasound but I will see

him hopefully on Tuesday.

The toughest part of all of this is I live alone with my dogs. I have great

friends and

daughters who don't know how to give of themselves. I am trying to deal

with that.

This tumor has not invaded the wall.

Thanks so much for your response.

Karima

Links

To visit your group on the web, go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/colon_cancer_support/

[Guest guest]

Hi Karima,

Sorry that your family isn't more supportive. It's a good thing you have your

dogs, they can be a great comfort to you, I know.

My husband's tumor was 7 cm above the anal verge. The first surgeon who did the

colonoscopy was a general/vascular surgeon in a small rural community. He said

there was no other way but my husband would have to have a colostomy. I

contacted a board certified colorectal surgeon and he said that they could use

sphincter sparing procedures and my husband would not have to have a permanent

colostomy. We went with the board certified surgeon, who is an excellent surgeon

- he put in the chest port (for the chemo) before the rectal surgery. My husband

had bad complications - he was 71 at the time of the surgery and had HBP and

diabetes. He had a stroke two or three days before his surgery and had a lot of

trouble recovering from both the stroke and the surgery - added with the chemo

on top of that, he nearly didn't make it the first year (this was in 2002). He

had the temporary ileostomy reversed in September 2002 and has had trouble ever

since regaining bowel control. I don't know how much

is due to diabetes, stroke, age, the surgery, radiation, etc. etc. - any of

these could have an effect on his bowel control. The colorectal surgeon said

that he had to pull a lot of colon down to make a new rectum and that the colon

tissue has to " learn " to act like a rectum, so sometimes " leakage " (as he puts

it) occurs. Also, the months he had the ileostomy, he had to " retrain " his

sphincter to have a little better " grip " . Since the stroke, my husband has very

low motivation to do anything for himself. There are sphincter exercises and a

regimen of taking psyllium to help retrain the bowels, but he refused to take

the psyllium. He says he does the exercises, but he has refused to do other

physical therapy stuff, so I don't know if he does it or not. He still has

trouble controlling his bowels, which is really bad when he was on chemo that

causes diarrhea.

The bowel control issue is something you might want to discuss with your

surgeon. It may be because my husband had so many other complications, that he

is having an unusually bad time of it. Other than that, the surgery was very

successful - he had no infection or adhesions, everything went very well. I do

wish that the colorectal surgeon had discussed the possibility that his bowel

control could be affected, but then the surgeon had no idea that he would have a

stroke or anything like that before the surgery.

Take care

P

Barbara Gari wrote:

Thank you . How did it work out for your husband? This tumor is also

low

- 8 cm. The first surgeon who was my choice said it was too close for him

to calll

and he recommended me to the surgeon my own doctor originally recommended.

I am going to see the second surgeon this week to talk about the operation.

I have already told him if it has to be a colostomy, well then so be it.

Life is the trade off and I want to live. We haven't spoken in person since

the ultrasound but I will see

him hopefully on Tuesday.

The toughest part of all of this is I live alone with my dogs. I have great

friends and

daughters who don't know how to give of themselves. I am trying to deal

with that.

This tumor has not invaded the wall.

Thanks so much for your response.

Karima

Links

To visit your group on the web, go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/colon_cancer_support/

[Guest guest]

There are several places in Scranton as well as the Northeast Regional Cancer

Institute over the line in NJ should you need more experienced Drs or major

centers. As you are somewhat isolated from medical care if you like these Dr.s

I would stay with them. Ask what contact they have with the more major

centers. Surgery would depend on the stage of the cancer and the spread factor.

As

for chemo you should be hearing about 5FU or Camptosar with whatever other drugs

they suggest

the more common ones being oxilaplatin, and brand new drugs Erbitux and

Avastin.

They will tell you risks vs. benefits and probably give you a handout from

the drug companies. ASK lots of questions of the Drs and of u.

God Bless

Narice

[Guest guest]

There are several places in Scranton as well as the Northeast Regional Cancer

Institute over the line in NJ should you need more experienced Drs or major

centers. As you are somewhat isolated from medical care if you like these Dr.s

I would stay with them. Ask what contact they have with the more major

centers. Surgery would depend on the stage of the cancer and the spread factor.

As

for chemo you should be hearing about 5FU or Camptosar with whatever other drugs

they suggest

the more common ones being oxilaplatin, and brand new drugs Erbitux and

Avastin.

They will tell you risks vs. benefits and probably give you a handout from

the drug companies. ASK lots of questions of the Drs and of u.

God Bless

Narice

[Guest guest]

Karima,

At the present time he is undergoing IMRT and taking Xeloda. He

also gets the Avastin drip every two weeks. He has another met to

the right lung and also one in the left lung.

He has handled the Xeloda well before, but having the radiation and

the chemo at the same time is really kicking his butt.

He has started his passing out again today and I am worried he may

have his blood clot back in his leg. It's very important to not lay

around a lot, which he has been doing, to avoid DVT to the legs.

has Asbestosis to the lungs due to his many years of being

around asbestos. This alone is a dreadful disease and to be

complicated with lung tumors makes it really hard to fight.

This all started 4 years ago this month. He is a fighter and always

seems to rebound one way or another. It's just a really tough fight.

Best Wishes,

Joyce-- In colon_cancer_support , " Barbara Gari "

<Karima@w...> wrote:

> Dear Joyce

>

> I am so glad I read your note. May I ask how your husband is now?

> I am definitely leaning towards jumping at the surgery and am

seeing the

> doctor this week on Tuesday.

>

> Will let everyone know.

>

> Thank you,

> Karima

>

> -- Re: diagnosed May 27th. I'm glad I

found you

> ...

>

> Karima,

> I agree with about the radiation. My husband had a 2cm

tumor

> in the rectum. He had 6 weeks of chemo 24hrs a day 7days a week

via

> pump. He also had at the same time radiation to shrink the

tumor.

> We were never given the option of a ultrasound to see if it had

> invaded the wall. They told us at the time the only way to tell

was

> to remove the tumor.

> They removed 24 lymph nodes and all were negative. We wanted

follow

> up chemo and they said he was cured. Wrong, it came back exactly

one

> year later. His tumor did penetrate the wall but did not go all

the

> way thru. The radiation did some really bad damage and did not

> shrink the tumor a lot. He developed a fistula that bonded the

> bladder to the wall of the colon and caused permanent damage. If

he

> were given the chance again he said he would go for the surgery

and

> not wasted any more time. He still has problems with his bladder

> control and constantly has to monitor for infections. He was

> actually passing gas thru the penis. At the time we thought we

were

> doing the right thing because it was even written in the medical

> magazines that this was the way to go. Hindsite is 20 20 and we

> just have to deal with our mistakes and go on.

> I agree with others, I just wish we had found this message group

and

> I think we would have made wiser desicions. If they are 100% sure

> that your has not penetrated the wall I would jump at the surgery

> option first.

> Best Wishes,

> Joyce

> > I believe we can beat this cancer, the thing is to get a

consensus

> > amongst doctors.

> >

> >

> > Karima.

> >

> >

> >

> > P

> > Caregiver to husband, Dale, who is 73 and undergoing

chemotherapy

> for Stage IV rectal cancer diagnosed in 2002

> >

> > __________________________________________________

> >

[Guest guest]

Karima,

At the present time he is undergoing IMRT and taking Xeloda. He

also gets the Avastin drip every two weeks. He has another met to

the right lung and also one in the left lung.

He has handled the Xeloda well before, but having the radiation and

the chemo at the same time is really kicking his butt.

He has started his passing out again today and I am worried he may

have his blood clot back in his leg. It's very important to not lay

around a lot, which he has been doing, to avoid DVT to the legs.

has Asbestosis to the lungs due to his many years of being

around asbestos. This alone is a dreadful disease and to be

complicated with lung tumors makes it really hard to fight.

This all started 4 years ago this month. He is a fighter and always

seems to rebound one way or another. It's just a really tough fight.

Best Wishes,

Joyce-- In colon_cancer_support , " Barbara Gari "

<Karima@w...> wrote:

> Dear Joyce

>

> I am so glad I read your note. May I ask how your husband is now?

> I am definitely leaning towards jumping at the surgery and am

seeing the

> doctor this week on Tuesday.

>

> Will let everyone know.

>

> Thank you,

> Karima

>

> -- Re: diagnosed May 27th. I'm glad I

found you

> ...

>

> Karima,

> I agree with about the radiation. My husband had a 2cm

tumor

> in the rectum. He had 6 weeks of chemo 24hrs a day 7days a week

via

> pump. He also had at the same time radiation to shrink the

tumor.

> We were never given the option of a ultrasound to see if it had

> invaded the wall. They told us at the time the only way to tell

was

> to remove the tumor.

> They removed 24 lymph nodes and all were negative. We wanted

follow

> up chemo and they said he was cured. Wrong, it came back exactly

one

> year later. His tumor did penetrate the wall but did not go all

the

> way thru. The radiation did some really bad damage and did not

> shrink the tumor a lot. He developed a fistula that bonded the

> bladder to the wall of the colon and caused permanent damage. If

he

> were given the chance again he said he would go for the surgery

and

> not wasted any more time. He still has problems with his bladder

> control and constantly has to monitor for infections. He was

> actually passing gas thru the penis. At the time we thought we

were

> doing the right thing because it was even written in the medical

> magazines that this was the way to go. Hindsite is 20 20 and we

> just have to deal with our mistakes and go on.

> I agree with others, I just wish we had found this message group

and

> I think we would have made wiser desicions. If they are 100% sure

> that your has not penetrated the wall I would jump at the surgery

> option first.

> Best Wishes,

> Joyce

> > I believe we can beat this cancer, the thing is to get a

consensus

> > amongst doctors.

> >

> >

> > Karima.

> >

> >

> >

> > P

> > Caregiver to husband, Dale, who is 73 and undergoing

chemotherapy

> for Stage IV rectal cancer diagnosed in 2002

> >

> > __________________________________________________

> >

[Guest guest]

Karima,

At the present time he is undergoing IMRT and taking Xeloda. He

also gets the Avastin drip every two weeks. He has another met to

the right lung and also one in the left lung.

He has handled the Xeloda well before, but having the radiation and

the chemo at the same time is really kicking his butt.

He has started his passing out again today and I am worried he may

have his blood clot back in his leg. It's very important to not lay

around a lot, which he has been doing, to avoid DVT to the legs.

has Asbestosis to the lungs due to his many years of being

around asbestos. This alone is a dreadful disease and to be

complicated with lung tumors makes it really hard to fight.

This all started 4 years ago this month. He is a fighter and always

seems to rebound one way or another. It's just a really tough fight.

Best Wishes,

Joyce-- In colon_cancer_support , " Barbara Gari "

<Karima@w...> wrote:

> Dear Joyce

>

> I am so glad I read your note. May I ask how your husband is now?

> I am definitely leaning towards jumping at the surgery and am

seeing the

> doctor this week on Tuesday.

>

> Will let everyone know.

>

> Thank you,

> Karima

>

> -- Re: diagnosed May 27th. I'm glad I

found you

> ...

>

> Karima,

> I agree with about the radiation. My husband had a 2cm

tumor

> in the rectum. He had 6 weeks of chemo 24hrs a day 7days a week

via

> pump. He also had at the same time radiation to shrink the

tumor.

> We were never given the option of a ultrasound to see if it had

> invaded the wall. They told us at the time the only way to tell

was

> to remove the tumor.

> They removed 24 lymph nodes and all were negative. We wanted

follow

> up chemo and they said he was cured. Wrong, it came back exactly

one

> year later. His tumor did penetrate the wall but did not go all

the

> way thru. The radiation did some really bad damage and did not

> shrink the tumor a lot. He developed a fistula that bonded the

> bladder to the wall of the colon and caused permanent damage. If

he

> were given the chance again he said he would go for the surgery

and

> not wasted any more time. He still has problems with his bladder

> control and constantly has to monitor for infections. He was

> actually passing gas thru the penis. At the time we thought we

were

> doing the right thing because it was even written in the medical

> magazines that this was the way to go. Hindsite is 20 20 and we

> just have to deal with our mistakes and go on.

> I agree with others, I just wish we had found this message group

and

> I think we would have made wiser desicions. If they are 100% sure

> that your has not penetrated the wall I would jump at the surgery

> option first.

> Best Wishes,

> Joyce

> > I believe we can beat this cancer, the thing is to get a

consensus

> > amongst doctors.

> >

> >

> > Karima.

> >

> >

> >

> > P

> > Caregiver to husband, Dale, who is 73 and undergoing

chemotherapy

> for Stage IV rectal cancer diagnosed in 2002

> >

> > __________________________________________________

> >

[Guest guest]

Hi Karima

I think you're making a smart choice to go ahead with the surgery. Your surgeon

has probably seen a number of cases where the radiation didn't make much

difference in the size of the tumor. The oncologist will get over it. I think

it's important to have chemo after the surgery though - even if the margins and

the lymph nodes are clear, the chemo can clean up any stray cells that can't be

detected with the methods available today. Take care!

P

Barbara Gari wrote:

Hi Joyce

Xeloda is the chemo the doc gave me a prescription for.

I went to see the surgeon again today and have decided to go ahead with

the surgery. We have set a date for July 27th which is 4 weeks; he wants me

to have a cardiac workup just to make sure I won't have a problem during the

operation. He doesn't know me so...I guess this is an okay thing.

Tomorrow both the oncologist and chemotherapist have asked me to come in ..

I think they want to plead their case; I am also seeing my regular physician

so as to get the plan firmed up in my head. Afterall, he recommended all of

them.

I am so sorry for what your husband is going through.

I guess we can second guess ourselves forever.

In any event the plan is set. And I will definitely be corresponding on the

list.

Thanks again,

Karima

-- Re: diagnosed May 27th. I'm glad I

found you

> ...

>

> Karima,

> I agree with about the radiation. My husband had a 2cm

tumor

> in the rectum. He had 6 weeks of chemo 24hrs a day 7days a week

via

> pump. He also had at the same time radiation to shrink the

tumor.

> We were never given the option of a ultrasound to see if it had

> invaded the wall. They told us at the time the only way to tell

was

> to remove the tumor.

> They removed 24 lymph nodes and all were negative. We wanted

follow

> up chemo and they said he was cured. Wrong, it came back exactly

one

> year later. His tumor did penetrate the wall but did not go all

the

> way thru. The radiation did some really bad damage and did not

> shrink the tumor a lot. He developed a fistula that bonded the

> bladder to the wall of the colon and caused permanent damage. If

he

> were given the chance again he said he would go for the surgery

and

> not wasted any more time. He still has problems with his bladder

> control and constantly has to monitor for infections. He was

> actually passing gas thru the penis. At the time we thought we

were

> doing the right thing because it was even written in the medical

> magazines that this was the way to go. Hindsite is 20 20 and we

> just have to deal with our mistakes and go on.

> I agree with others, I just wish we had found this message group

and

> I think we would have made wiser desicions. If they are 100% sure

> that your has not penetrated the wall I would jump at the surgery

> option first.

> Best Wishes,

> Joyce

> > I believe we can beat this cancer, the thing is to get a

consensus

> > amongst doctors.

> >

> >

> > Karima.

> >

> >

> >

> > P

> > Caregiver to husband, Dale, who is 73 and undergoing

chemotherapy

> for Stage IV rectal cancer diagnosed in 2002

> >

> > __________________________________________________

> >

[Guest guest]

Hi Karima

I think you're making a smart choice to go ahead with the surgery. Your surgeon

has probably seen a number of cases where the radiation didn't make much

difference in the size of the tumor. The oncologist will get over it. I think

it's important to have chemo after the surgery though - even if the margins and

the lymph nodes are clear, the chemo can clean up any stray cells that can't be

detected with the methods available today. Take care!

P

Barbara Gari wrote:

Hi Joyce

Xeloda is the chemo the doc gave me a prescription for.

I went to see the surgeon again today and have decided to go ahead with

the surgery. We have set a date for July 27th which is 4 weeks; he wants me

to have a cardiac workup just to make sure I won't have a problem during the

operation. He doesn't know me so...I guess this is an okay thing.

Tomorrow both the oncologist and chemotherapist have asked me to come in ..

I think they want to plead their case; I am also seeing my regular physician

so as to get the plan firmed up in my head. Afterall, he recommended all of

them.

I am so sorry for what your husband is going through.

I guess we can second guess ourselves forever.

In any event the plan is set. And I will definitely be corresponding on the

list.

Thanks again,

Karima

-- Re: diagnosed May 27th. I'm glad I

found you

> ...

>

> Karima,

> I agree with about the radiation. My husband had a 2cm

tumor

> in the rectum. He had 6 weeks of chemo 24hrs a day 7days a week

via

> pump. He also had at the same time radiation to shrink the

tumor.

> We were never given the option of a ultrasound to see if it had

> invaded the wall. They told us at the time the only way to tell

was

> to remove the tumor.

> They removed 24 lymph nodes and all were negative. We wanted

follow

> up chemo and they said he was cured. Wrong, it came back exactly

one

> year later. His tumor did penetrate the wall but did not go all

the

> way thru. The radiation did some really bad damage and did not

> shrink the tumor a lot. He developed a fistula that bonded the

> bladder to the wall of the colon and caused permanent damage. If

he

> were given the chance again he said he would go for the surgery

and

> not wasted any more time. He still has problems with his bladder

> control and constantly has to monitor for infections. He was

> actually passing gas thru the penis. At the time we thought we

were

> doing the right thing because it was even written in the medical

> magazines that this was the way to go. Hindsite is 20 20 and we

> just have to deal with our mistakes and go on.

> I agree with others, I just wish we had found this message group

and

> I think we would have made wiser desicions. If they are 100% sure

> that your has not penetrated the wall I would jump at the surgery

> option first.

> Best Wishes,

> Joyce

> > I believe we can beat this cancer, the thing is to get a

consensus

> > amongst doctors.

> >

> >

> > Karima.

> >

> >

> >

> > P

> > Caregiver to husband, Dale, who is 73 and undergoing

chemotherapy

> for Stage IV rectal cancer diagnosed in 2002

> >

> > __________________________________________________

> >