1. < Colorectal Cancer

Colon cancer metastasized to lungs: Husband severely depressed

Posted by lah @lah, Jul 1, 2020

hi all. Haven't been here for a while, although have been thinking about coming back. My husband was diagnosed with colon cancer 6 1/2 years ago. His cancer metastasized to both of his lungs 3 years into this nightmare. He has been on every treatment program for colon cancer, all the chemos, and immunotherapy. He is on a chemo with an immunotherapy treatment right now. Dr did the test and found out he has the wild kras gene.
I'm not sure I am saying all this correctly. Because I feel like I've been in a whirlwind totally helpless. He had a PET scan yesterday dr told us the treatment plan is working. still ! He will have 6 more treatments then another PET scan. If it is good they will do a lung biopsy and take out the biggest one. My question is any other caregivers dealing with the patient being severely depressed? It's getting worse. Sometimes He's like jekyll and hyde! Is this normal side effects?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Colorectal Cancer Support Group.

Hank | @jesfactsmon | Feb 8, 2021
In reply to @duckduck2020 "My husband has colon cancer and it metastasize into the liver. It is BRAF type ...." + (show)
@duckduck2020

My husband has colon cancer and it metastasize into the liver. It is BRAF type . He is on encorafaib and cetuxmab . Encorafaib is pill form of chemo . He started out with 4 pills but then got bad stomach pains. So they put him down to 2 pills a day . He gets Cetuximab every Tuesday. Now he is getting so he cannot poop. They were worried about a bowel obstruction .if he has that they said they would do a bag where they bypass the colon. At Christmas he had diverticulitis really bad and was in the hospital for 5 days , Thant cleared up and now he has been back on the chemo since the second week in January and now we donnot know what is going on. Our Dr said he is his first patient on this chemo . The results from what he said are not very good odds . Does anyone know anything about this type of cancer and chemo? Please help he is in pain because of hard stools and not beable to relieve himself. He does do stool softeners , laxitives, and drinks prune juice. Any other suggestions would be helpful
Thank you

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@duckduck2020
Hi, my wife has had trouble at previous times of her life with constipation. She is no longer troubled with that since she started taking an Ayurvedic remedy called Triphala. I would recommend that your husband try this product. It is natural and can be very potent for getting things moving. Here is the Amazon link:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DZ4T0XQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I realize your husband has a severe issue and it might seem like a heavy duty solution is called for, but this stuff is gentle and works on a subtle level that other things he may have tried do not. At least it may be different than other things he has tried. I hope it can help him. I am so sorry for his suffering. I know personally what it is like to not have a smooth running system, and it's not fun!

My heart goes out to you both for having to deal with chemo. My wife went through that for breast cancer, and the chemo was by far the worst aspect of the entire ordeal. She stopped the chemo halfway through and began using a product called Haelan951 that has kept her cancer free now for 5 1/2 years (after 5 previous bouts that came faster than once per year).

Wishing good luck for you both. My best to you, Hank

REPLY
1 reply
duckduck2020 | @duckduck2020 | Feb 8, 2021
In reply to @jesfactsmon "@duckduck2020 Hi, my wife has had trouble at previous times of her life with constipation. She..." + (show)
@jesfactsmon

@duckduck2020
Hi, my wife has had trouble at previous times of her life with constipation. She is no longer troubled with that since she started taking an Ayurvedic remedy called Triphala. I would recommend that your husband try this product. It is natural and can be very potent for getting things moving. Here is the Amazon link:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DZ4T0XQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I realize your husband has a severe issue and it might seem like a heavy duty solution is called for, but this stuff is gentle and works on a subtle level that other things he may have tried do not. At least it may be different than other things he has tried. I hope it can help him. I am so sorry for his suffering. I know personally what it is like to not have a smooth running system, and it's not fun!

My heart goes out to you both for having to deal with chemo. My wife went through that for breast cancer, and the chemo was by far the worst aspect of the entire ordeal. She stopped the chemo halfway through and began using a product called Haelan951 that has kept her cancer free now for 5 1/2 years (after 5 previous bouts that came faster than once per year).

Wishing good luck for you both. My best to you, Hank

Jump to this post

Thank you for that website I will go on and get some ordered. Anything to try to get him going again

REPLY
1 reply
duckduck2020 | @duckduck2020 | Feb 8, 2021
In reply to @lah "My husband has the wild KRAS type so he was not on that chemo. However, he..." + (show)
@lah

My husband has the wild KRAS type so he was not on that chemo. However, he has had constipation with other chemos . Generally he gets diarrhea, which he says he'd rather have any day than constipation. I can tell you what worked for him hopefully there is something different he can try. We buy Benefiber in the to go packaging. . 1 package is perfect size for 1 bottle of water. Twice a day. , or you can put it in coffee or any other drink.. There is no taste..Drink a lot of water and other liquids Also my husband's job requires a lot of walking -staying active is real important. Colace also helped him.
I hope something works for him soon. That has to be so miserable! Will be looking for updates! Hugs

Jump to this post

Thank you we will try anything at this point. I worry more about a obstruction

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duckduck2020 | @duckduck2020 | Feb 8, 2021

My husband gets the same way. His moods change so fast ! I figure it is because he s depressed and just don’t know. He is a avid fisherman and when I bring up fishing he never answered on anything. We have a place up north and we will probably never get up there again because he has to go everyday got fluids. They figure chemo is what dyhdrating hom

REPLY
duckduck2020 | @duckduck2020 | Feb 10, 2021
In reply to @lah "My husband has the wild KRAS type so he was not on that chemo. However, he..." + (show)
@lah

My husband has the wild KRAS type so he was not on that chemo. However, he has had constipation with other chemos . Generally he gets diarrhea, which he says he'd rather have any day than constipation. I can tell you what worked for him hopefully there is something different he can try. We buy Benefiber in the to go packaging. . 1 package is perfect size for 1 bottle of water. Twice a day. , or you can put it in coffee or any other drink.. There is no taste..Drink a lot of water and other liquids Also my husband's job requires a lot of walking -staying active is real important. Colace also helped him.
I hope something works for him soon. That has to be so miserable! Will be looking for updates! Hugs

Jump to this post

Thank you for the recommendation . I worry more about a bowel obstruction and I know he does too. Before he was in the hospital he had diarrhea . Now stool are so hard . They did do a barium exray but the left side was clear and the right side they had to stop because of the pain he was in. Has anyone out there ever had the kind of chemo he has been getting?

REPLY
Moderator
Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Feb 10, 2021
In reply to @duckduck2020 "Thank you for that website I will go on and get some ordered. Anything to try..." + (show)
@duckduck2020

Thank you for that website I will go on and get some ordered. Anything to try to get him going again

Jump to this post

I always recommend checking with the oncologist (or oncology pharmacist) before taking new substances or medications, even if they are considered "natural." Medications, supplements, teas, etc can have interactions with chemotherapy or reduce its effectiveness. Always best to check for your individual case and bring a list of medications and supplements to every appointment.

@duckduck2020, encorafenib in combination with cetuximab for metastatic colorectal cancer with a BRAF V600E mutation was just recently approved by the FDA. I'm glad that your husband has been given the opportunity to get this treatment. @sepdvm might be able to share her experiences with cetuximab.

I can imagine that you're more worried about the obstruction and what that might mean. If you'd like to ask other members about living with an ostomy (the bag), we have a group here:
- Ostomy https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/ostomy/

Is your husband drinking lots of water? How are YOU doing?

REPLY
duckduck2020 | @duckduck2020 | Feb 10, 2021

No he drinks Gatorade . Goes for fluids every day also. I know he needs to drink water but if he drinks a bottle a day he is lucky besides his Gatorade

REPLY
terrip | @terrip | Feb 11, 2021
In reply to @duckduck2020 "My husband has colon cancer and it metastasize into the liver. It is BRAF type ...." + (show)
@duckduck2020

My husband has colon cancer and it metastasize into the liver. It is BRAF type . He is on encorafaib and cetuxmab . Encorafaib is pill form of chemo . He started out with 4 pills but then got bad stomach pains. So they put him down to 2 pills a day . He gets Cetuximab every Tuesday. Now he is getting so he cannot poop. They were worried about a bowel obstruction .if he has that they said they would do a bag where they bypass the colon. At Christmas he had diverticulitis really bad and was in the hospital for 5 days , Thant cleared up and now he has been back on the chemo since the second week in January and now we donnot know what is going on. Our Dr said he is his first patient on this chemo . The results from what he said are not very good odds . Does anyone know anything about this type of cancer and chemo? Please help he is in pain because of hard stools and not beable to relieve himself. He does do stool softeners , laxitives, and drinks prune juice. Any other suggestions would be helpful
Thank you

Jump to this post

Hello, my husband has colon cancer that has menastatize to the liver. Constipation has been a battle for months following the removal of the tumor in the sigmoid colon. Maybe give Magnesia a try?
After a few ER visits, we learned his colon doesn't empty as before due to some nerves impacted from the surgery (takes Linzess) and the small intestine closed quite a bit due to the scar tissue after the surgery (there is a balloon process to fix this, easy peezy yah!) All to say, he takes stool softeners (twice daily) as a staple, metamucil and mag citrate didn't work for him, so we have landed on Milk of Magnesia. It works great for him and he says that it doesn't give him cramping.
I hope this is helpful.

REPLY
opheli | @opheli | Oct 22, 2021
In reply to @lah "My husband has the wild KRAS type so he was not on that chemo. However, he..." + (show)
@lah

My husband has the wild KRAS type so he was not on that chemo. However, he has had constipation with other chemos . Generally he gets diarrhea, which he says he'd rather have any day than constipation. I can tell you what worked for him hopefully there is something different he can try. We buy Benefiber in the to go packaging. . 1 package is perfect size for 1 bottle of water. Twice a day. , or you can put it in coffee or any other drink.. There is no taste..Drink a lot of water and other liquids Also my husband's job requires a lot of walking -staying active is real important. Colace also helped him.
I hope something works for him soon. That has to be so miserable! Will be looking for updates! Hugs

Jump to this post

Hello, I am a fairly new member here. My husband was diagnosed with colon cancer about a year ago. He had chemo last winter and then surgery to remove a large tumor from his colon in April. In June a couple small spots showed up, one on his lung and one on the liver. His team decided to treat him with chemo first, to try to prevent further spread, and then treat what remains with radiation intervention. So he is currently four rounds into the chemo. He does not have the strong side effects that he had last winter, but he also had an ileostomy bag at that time. However, he does seem depressed at times, and I sometimes have difficult time handling it myself. In one of your posts, you mentioned wanting to leave, or just run away. I know that feeling, and it, or course comes with shameful feelings. Life changes so abruptly. Between Cancer and Covid it’s been quite the journey. I do have good friends and a counselor who was recommended to me b

REPLY
3 replies
opheli | @opheli | Oct 22, 2021
In reply to @opheli "Hello, I am a fairly new member here. My husband was diagnosed with colon cancer about..." + (show)
@opheli

Hello, I am a fairly new member here. My husband was diagnosed with colon cancer about a year ago. He had chemo last winter and then surgery to remove a large tumor from his colon in April. In June a couple small spots showed up, one on his lung and one on the liver. His team decided to treat him with chemo first, to try to prevent further spread, and then treat what remains with radiation intervention. So he is currently four rounds into the chemo. He does not have the strong side effects that he had last winter, but he also had an ileostomy bag at that time. However, he does seem depressed at times, and I sometimes have difficult time handling it myself. In one of your posts, you mentioned wanting to leave, or just run away. I know that feeling, and it, or course comes with shameful feelings. Life changes so abruptly. Between Cancer and Covid it’s been quite the journey. I do have good friends and a counselor who was recommended to me b

Jump to this post

Oops, didn’t mean to send that. Sorry for errors! Anyway, I do have a counselor to speak with, and family support. But I just wanted to stop in and thank you all for your remarks. You never know when you are helping someone! Thank you. 🙂

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