Newbie intro

[Guest guest]

Hi I am in NC.My dad had emergency surgery 3 weeks ago for a

tumor that obstructed the colon.It was as big as his fist and it was

cancer -stage 2 B I think ,If I remember right.He removed 12 inches

of colon and 12 inches of small intestine.The tumor was at the top

of the colon, growing into the small intestine.The good news , the

margins were clear and the lymph nodes were free from cancer.The

surgeon beleives he got it all....However the surgeon is almost

positive the oncologist will recomend chemo and he will need a port.

Here is our delema. He are trying to decide if Chemo is right for

him.Hes 78 years old and has always been active and vital until the

past 4 months or so.He travels and Birdwatches .He wants to know how

debilitating chemo is ,How long he will be out of commission, and

given that most men dont live past 80 years old whether it would be

worth it.

The surgeon indicated it would be a 2 year recovery from the

chemo.Is this true?how long before he would be strong enough to

resume his lifestyle.? Amazingly he is recovering from surgery very

quickly and feeling stronger every day.without chemo hewill probably

be feeling pretty good ina couple of months.If he passes on the

chemo , would this cancer come back?Couldnt anual colonoscopys catch

a reoccurrence in time to remove it?

Has anyone here had to face a similar decision?Any thoughts or

recomendations?Id appreciate allthe input we can get.

IN NC