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Eradicated yet new suspicious spots
I am the sister of a brother who was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer, metastasis to the lungs, 4 nodules. He recently met with his colorectal cancer surgeon after getting an MRI, CT scan and Endoscopy. From what I think I heard him say, the tumor in his colon is gone as are the nodules in his lungs. But, now say has suspicious spot on his neck and another in his colon. It appeared the chemo protocol was working if the previous tumors are gone so why these new possible growths? The Colorectal team of doctors are meeting to discuss all of this at their board meeting this coming Tuesday but I am having panic attacks and just feel the need to reach out to others that may have had a similar experience.
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Perhaps it is a different type of cancer that the chemo is not effective for. We use broad terms such as breast cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer, etc., but there are many different sub types of those cancers which need different treatments. Only a biopsy can determine the type, not just the location in the body.
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1 ReactionThank you for this input. Whatever it is I pray it is treatable.
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1 ReactionHi Rita,
I think the saying goes "90% of the things we worry about never happen." Focus on the positive. Stage 4 cancer used to be a death sentence. It is wonderful your brother had a full, positive response to the chemo. His doctors are staying on top of things and will catch changes early when the treatments are most effective.
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2 ReactionsThank you so much for those encouraging words.
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1 ReactionWishing your brother a good outcome and wishing you the best as his caring sister….it is hard to not know, but patience can have rewards. Communicate all your concerns to the doctors.communication can make a big difference.
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1 Reaction@rita1255, it's good news that your brother's cancer responded well to treatment. The tumor in his colon I assume was removed with surgery, then he had further treatment like chemo or immunotherapy to help get rid of tumor cells that had spread outside of the colon.
Your brother's cancer team keeps a close watch and during recent monitoring more suspicious spots were found. So they are investigating further to a) find out if they are cancer and b) what treatment might be next.
Do I have that right? What did you learn at the appointment last week? How are you doing? How is he doing?