I was stage 4 with sigmoid colon cancer that had metastasized to one lymph node and the very bottom of my right lung.
I had the colon resection surgery and only 7 weeks later the lung wedge resection.
Today is my 15 month anniversary of the colon surgery.
Other than diarrhea for almost exactly a year, I have been fortunate to not have any other issues related to either surgery.
The interesting thing to me after reading hundreds of posts here, has been the incidence of so many having chemo prior to surgery.
The explanations seem to adhere to a theory of attempting to shrink or reduce the size of a tumor before surgery.
In my case, neither of my surgeons ever mentioned chemo to me ever. We went straight to surgery in both cases without any problems during or now 15 months later.
Much after, I did ask about those doctors who insist on "chemo first-surgery later" and it seemed to be a doctors personal preference rather than medical theory.
So I was side-stepping chemo from the very beginning and refused chemo after each surgery.
I opted for scans and blood tests every 4 months. After 4 such testing occasions, all is so far 100% good!
I am always reluctant to recommend my choices to others. I am aware every day that I am gambling and cancer is more likely to return than not.
It is also unusual to find someone who was stage 4 with two major organs involved to have never had chemo and radiation.
I am perfectly willing to see this through, regardless of how it may turn out because - 1) I am a risk taker by nature, and - 2) I am having a quality of life very much like the previous 70 years before all of this happened.
It is without question that I could not say that had I chose chemo and/or radiation 15 months ago.
I did take the opportunity to speak with two Oncologists for fact finding before making my decision. They were the only medical professionals that I have ever spoken to that admit to making recommendations based on how others have responded. Such recommendations are only a "guess" before seeing how you may respond to treatment.
Depending on your severity of side effects, the guessing game will likely be continued again and again. That doesn't register in my way of thinking.
I choose quality of life until there is a reason not to.
But thats just me.
Everyone will ultimately have a personal decision to make one day. Make it your best decision!!
Paul