Stage Iv Colon Cancer

I'm 18 and in college which is stressful on it's own. Now, we just discovered my mom has stage IV colon cancer & it's terminal. She just had surgery to remove bits of her colon, but the cancer in her liver isn't curable. She's really depressed and has high anxiety. She's only 49 too. I'm so stressed and it's affecting my health and schoolwork and everything. Any advice? I feel like my world is falling apart.

I'd get a leave of absence from classes, or withdraw if you can still do it without severe financial penalty. Talk to a college administrator. They may have a mercy provision for these things.

Spend as much time with her as you can. Don't argue. Just make her feel like the most special person in the world for her time left. You will not regret that investment of time in her happiness. And she will leave this earth feeling like she made a difference.

2008-10-25 12:35:28 by Dev

tinyurl.com Colorectal cancer treatment by modern medicine is chemo therapy followed by surgery to remove the section of colon that is cancerous ...

My friend has been through chemo already, had portion of colon removed, and had spot on liver and lungs. All of this was taken care of and now she has a new tumor on her adrenal gland

Stage 4 generally means the primary cancer has spread to distant areas of the body. Stage 4 is the least curable stage of cancer. Never give up hope.
Although a cancer may not be totally cured, it can be held back by chemotherapy, surgery, radiation therapy-depending on the exact type of cancer and where tumors are. Ask your friend to consult with her physician and cancer specialist-oncologist.
As the adrenal gland is an endocrine gland-she may also wish to consult with an endocrinologist-but first have here see her cancer specialist-oncologist for such a referral.

2008-01-18 10:26:24 by mch5042

Price: $9.99

Anything can help. Anyone surviving stage four have some advice for a family member or sufferer?

This should give you some idea of the benefits we are seeing according to one group of patients studied:http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles /112936.php

Efficacy of Avastin in patients with metastatic colorectal cancers

- a 82% increase in the time patients live without their disease getting worse (7.4 vs 13.5 months) vs chemotherapy alone

- a 57% increase in overall survival (17.6 vs. 27.7 months) vs chemotherapy alone confirming that Avastin is the only biologic with proven survival benefit in this patient group

- a significant increase in response rate; 60% compared to 37% in patients receiving chemotherapy alone

- a 69% increase in the time patients live without their disease getting worse (5.5 vs 9.4 months) vs chemotherapy alone

2008-08-12 21:13:09 by Ericka

Or does the disease really not produce severe pain until it is in its most advanced stages when all treatments have been stopped and hospice called in?

Stage IV colon cancer is quite often painful and becomes more so as it progresses. If hospice has been called in, they should be providing pain relief. Pain relief is a totally separate issue than cancer treatments.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to write me at phillybookwoman@yahoo.com

2007-12-06 07:00:26 by searcher95

Is this possible? What should be the next course of action after that? FOLFIRI? Is it even possible that both A) the Avastin doesn't work on this particular patient and B) the 5-FU doesn't work either?
***Sorry, I meant to say 4 rounds of treatment, not 4 months. So, it's really 2 months, and the cancer progressed on FOLFOX+Avastin.

Sweetie, some chemo treatments just don't work and the oncologist has to tweak the treatment. For my Stage III Colon Cancer, I was on FOLFOX + Oxyplatinan. It was not friendly to me and I was only able to last three months on it, or six rounds, then ended up taking Xeloda. It was enough to "so far" (knock on wood) stop the cancer. So, in my situation, my chemo had to be tweaked.

Don't pay attention to stats or idiots who quote stats. Each person is different in how they react to cancer and to cancer treatments. There are thousands of Stage III and Stage IV Survivors who have lived past five years out there so just ignore them.

The next course of treatment could be anything prescribed by the oncologist--just flow with it and if you question it, get a second opinion and get your mind in the right place to be positive and to mentally combat it. Just remember it isn't unusual to modify or change chemo treatments because they are not responsive to a certain situation.

I wish you the best.

2008-12-12 20:02:41 by searcher95