Husband diagnosed stage 4 colon cancer after a fall

@cathy80 Hi and welcome to Mayo Connect. It isn't uncommon for people to find out a cancer diagnosis at the end of testing for something else. But, it still is a punch in the gut hearing liver and cancer. It is quite understandable that you are scared. I know this is all new and probably overwhelming, but I just want to learn a little bit more about what is going on. I hope that is ok? It is also ok to say that you don't know. Was your husband diagnosed with liver cancer or cancer in his liver? For example, I have pancreatic cancer that spread to my liver. So I have cancer in my liver, but I actually have pancreatic cancer. Did the doctors also find cancer in his colon to biopsy? Thank you.

Thank you. He actually went in to er for a fall from feeling weak. They did an x ray for his fall & found spots in his lung liver & colon. The only biopsy that came back yet is the liver. It looks like it started in the colon first though.

@cathy80 So until the biopsy results are back, the doctors probably don't have much to go on. The locations and the type of cancer are big considerations in determining treatment options. Any idea when the biopsy results might come back?

actually it all came back in. they are all cancer not sure which type. it started in the colon though. it definitely stage 4.

@cathy80 I am really sorry to hear that. Is there a plan for moving forward yet or does more diagnostic testing need to be done?

He’s got metastatic cancer. Not sure about the care just taking it one day at a time trying to process everything. Trying to get everything set up for him to get home. Trying to get a temporary ramp set up for him. Working on getting him disability & any other assistance. The hospital is trying to get with insurance for in Home health. It’s a lot to take in to process & figure out where to turn right now

@cathy80 Sorry to hear about everything. Is he injured from the fall, is the cancer making him sick, or both? How is he feeling?

@tomrennie thank you. He didn’t get injured from the fall. But luckily he did fall that’s how they found the cancer. He’s just been weak from the cancer.

@cathy80 Gotcha. Is the goal to get him home, if possible, then complete the diagnostic testing and doctor meetings?

For me in my cancer journey, I learned that I need to know what the process is or supposed to be. I write that down. I then write down all of the appointments for each process step and the doctors. I write down all of the questions that I have for each appointment. At the end of that list, I added a list of all of my to dos like getting a ramp. Especially in the beginning, so much was coming at me so quickly in words that I frequently didn't understand. No way could I remember most of it. By writing it all down, it helped me organize the chaos. Does this make any sense?

@tomrennie thank you I like that that’s so helpful