Just diagnosed: Surgery not an option, looking for hope

FOLFOX plus Mvasi appears to be working. Most recent CEA 21 on Monday of this week, was 58 in January. Side effects are not terrible (yet). Just came back from a 7 day cruise to the southern Caribbean Islands. Retired 2/28/25 after 19 years with the VA. I'm feeling more hopeful 😊 !

@vcsongradi
Your diagnosis could be entirely accurate as far as colon, and metastasizes to liver, lungs.
To say that colon surgery "would not benefit you", and followed by, "surgery would never be an option", is alarming and screams for another opinion from an accredited cancer center.
Masses near the sigmoid do not rule out colon resections.
I would have to obtain a complete and thorough understanding of why a surgery would not be "beneficial", and also ruled out completely as an "option" by any other determination!
I would have to believe that a second or third opinion is to be found with a more favorable finding.
My very best wishes to you!
Begin by finding one of those highly acclaimed cancer only hospital centers. I chose MD ANDERSON with never a regret!
PAUL

Please get a second opinion. God bless.

My wife was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer with severe met to the liver in December. One opinion was that there was little reason to do a colon resection at this late stage and for her to go home and get her affairs in order.

A second opinion from a well-known colon surgeon resulted in surgery within 48hrs where 30” of small and large intestine and an ovary were removed due to a large tumor 10cm from her rectum that had come into contact with other organs.

Surgery was very successful with the colon surgeon stating that he was confident he had removed all of the cancer with a curative approach. A colostomy is required today while she battles the liver cancer but may he reversed at some point after the dust settles.

Same story with her liver. “Inoperable tumors so go home as be with your family”.
A second opinion from a leading liver surgeon resulted in an aggressive chemo regiment that he believes will reduce the tumors to a curative operable size.

Hope was a tremendous drug in our case where we went from total despair to tackling this like a work project. So far so good.

Hi sbelyea, who are your oncologist and surgeon? These professionals sound pretty amazing to offer so much hope.

Hello - we’re Canadian so our colon surgeon was Dr. Stephen Smith in Canada but our liver surgeon is Dr. Motez Qadan from Mass General in Boston. Both are rock stars.

My brother has stage 4 large tumor in his sigmoid and they started chemo. He is in his 5th chemo treatment and having severe pain. He just went to the ER today and they say the tumor is Larger" than before. I am confused. He has been through hell with pain and not being able to eat or barely go to the bathroom because of the size of the tumor. He has lost way too much weight. He was 194 and now 158 just in a couple of months. Is this how cancer recovery works?

Hugs to you and your brother, it is difficult to stay strong when you do not know what is happening. Did he get a second opinion? It is a personal choice, but you never want to find yourself in a position where you could have done something more. When I was in treatment, the #1 thing my oncologists said was not to go to ER unless they sent you; it seems maybe something is not working.

This is yet another case where a second opinion should have been found without hesitation!
In my opinion, colon resection surgery would seem urgent as a first priority and followed by chemo thereafter, not first.

It's not too late to start over beginning with a new colon and rectal surgeons opinion.

I hope that you are dealing only with accredited cancer centers, not general hospitals or clinics.

Best wishes to both of you!
PAUL

I agree with Paul, this seems backward. I had a tumor in my colon, the pain was unbearable towards the end. (while waiting for surgery) I was going to the bathroom about 15 times a day, and the toilet looked like a murder scene. When I got a CT scan I was shocked to see that I had a lot of stool backed up. That was from the tumor not allowing everything to pass. After my surgery (very successful) I had 6 rounds of Folfox chemo. Did your Brother get a mediport put in his chest for the chemo? What Paul said is very important: "I hope you are dealing only with accredited cancer centers, not general hospitals or clinics."