I heard a success story of colon cancer survivor Even after given time

Posted by amafrimpong @amafrimpong, May 15 1:53am

My sister has stage 4 colon cancer with bowel obstruction that has lead to 2 small perforations in the abdomen and deemed to go to hospice. I heard peoples success story at my clinic and want to know how to enroll in the clinical trial and if it’s free. Thank you.

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

Laurie, Volunteer Mentor | @roch | May 15 7:16am

Very sorry to hear about your sister's situation.
At Mayo Connect, we are not medical professionals, but a forum to share and support each other.

For information on clinic trails, I have listed a few websites that lists clinical trails. The descriptions may be hard for a lay person to understand, so your first option maybe to talk to your sister's providers.

National Cancer Institute lists trials:
https://www.cancer.gov/research/participate/clinical-trials/disease/colon-cancer/treatment?pn=1
Mayo Clinic Colon Cancer Trails
https://www.mayo.edu/research/clinical-trials/diseases-conditions/colon-cancer/
ClinicalTrials.gov is a place to learn about clinical studies from around the world.
https://clinicaltrials.gov/
Are you located in US or another country? And is your sister willing to do a clinical trial?

hopenjoy2024 | @hopenjoy2024 | May 15 1:13pm

Also, contact the Colorectal Cancer Alliance.

dlydailyhope | @dlydailyhope | May 16 7:46am

@amafrimpong
I am so sorry to hear about your sister. How old is she? Did she al steady have surgery and any treatments? Does she have infection in her body that is being treated and is she in pain?

Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | May 19 2:22pm

@amafrimpong, you asked about clinical trials and if a clinical trial might provide hope for your sister. As @roch and @hopenjoy2024 shared, there are several places where you can search for clinical trials. The elibibility criteria can be tricky to understand and to know if the trial might be right for your sister. As @roch said, you might start by asking your sister's doctor if there are trials that might be possible and that might give hope. Participating in a clinical trial does not always prolong life, but may help to advance treatment for future generations.

Typically, the cost of treatment, any necessary testing, medical appointments, etc. are covered when a patient is accepted into a clinical trial. However, there may be other costs to the patient, like more frequent appointments and travel is not reimbursed or other costs. This is always important to ask the study coordinator when joining a trial.

@amafrimpong, it is hard to learn that it might be time for hospice and to say good-bye to someone we love. I take comfort in knowing that hospice is available to her and your family.

How is your sister doing? How are YOU doing?