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My husband diagnosed w stage4 terminal
Colorectal Cancer | Last Active: Jan 8, 2019 | Replies (14)Comment receiving replies
My husband, who is 54, was diagnosed with Stage 3b colon cancer in August 2017. He had surgery and started chemo in October. He had to stop chemo in April 2018 for a quadruple heart bypass, after recovery he started chemo again in July 2018. He had another PET scan in July which showed the cancer had spread to some of his abdominal wall and right outside of the liver. He is now Stage 4 and is on a more aggressive chemo treatment - Leucovorin, Irinotecan, SFU and Folfiri. His tumor marker was going down and was 24 and the last marker was 31. We spoke to the doctor about our concerns with his marker going up and he basically told us to get everything in order and my husband had approximate 1-2 yrs. if that. Needless to say, that was a big slap in the face. After reading some of the discussions with others having Stage 4 and living longer than what was determined by the doctor, I am optimistic. Can you please share more of what treatments you were on and what else was done (alternative med, homeopathic or any other experiences)?
Replies to "My husband, who is 54, was diagnosed with Stage 3b colon cancer in August 2017. He..."
@sandrabee, you'll notice that I moved your message to this discussion about Stage 4 Colorectal Cancer. I did this so that you can easily connect with @brenz and @sportsmom9433, who also have partners with stage 4 and have some of the same experiences as you do.
My father also has stage 4 colorectal cancer. He chose to have the aggressive chemo combination you mentioned. After a few months, he decided to stop treatment because he didn't like living with the side effects. We were glad that we had access to palliative care to help him manage the side effects and to keep him comfortable when he stopped treatment. Palliative care is a good option along with chemo and other treatments. Is it available at your cancer center? Was palliative care offered or explained to your husband?
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I am 34 and was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer that spread to my lungs and liver. I started my 1st round of chemo last November. I did my 12 rounds and the went on maintenance. All my tumors shrunk and my CEA levels went from a 47 to 3.4. I was on some of the same drugs as your husband. The treatments worked for me. Have faith in the drugs, they work.