Hello everyone,
My dad (70) has advanced bowel cancer with extensive spread to his liver and peritoneal lining. He also has a stoma.
He has just finished FOLFOX and had a brilliant response—his CEA dropped by 70% down to 33, and his scans show shrinkage in his lungs and main liver mass, with everything else stable. Physically, he’s doing amazing right now, gaining weight and back to walking And cycling.
We just had two completely opposing medical opinions and I don’t know what to do:
1) A second opinion consultant at the Christie’s center recommended switching immediately to FOLFIRI to keep the foot on the gas and prevent a sudden flare-up or blockage in the liver/peritoneum.
2) Our local NHS oncologist is strongly pushing for a treatment holiday/chemo break with blood monitoring (CEA and liver function) every 6 weeks. He argues that continuous chemo right now has diminishing returns and we should save his strength and keep FOLFIRI in reserve.
I am so scared that taking a break means the cancer will suddenly flare up or cause a blockage before the blood tests catch it. But I also know there is no cure, and I desperately want my dad to live as well as he can for as long as possible.
Has anyone else with a heavy tumour burden taken a chemo break after a good response despite having a lot of cancer in tact? How did you handle the anxiety, and did the blood monitoring catch things in time?
Thank you so much.
