Bowel cancer spread

Hi 

Welcome to the forum . I am very sorry to hear about your husband . It is very frightening to hear the cancer has moved .

Did they mention total pelvic Exenteration? If so the search function ( small magnifying glass) at the top right hand side of the page will let you see how others have handled the surgery but also what they are achieving in recovery .

In terms of spreading to the liver it really depends on the size and location of the mets . My own mum had a significant spread at diagnosis but ended up responding well to chemo and had two liver resection. The second removed 73% of her liver at the time which regenerated and has served her well for coming on ten years since her last resection . 11 1/2 from diagnosis.

The thing I hung onto my mum only required to be a statistic of one ! It was only her response that was required . Stats are firmly a rear view mirror over a five year period . Even in the last five years things have improved .

A stage 4 diagnosis is a work in progress as the boundaries are pushing forward . I am personally hoping the new Immunotherapy treatments give the stats a boost ! My mum is certainly doing her but in giving them a push forward . I can assure you they were a lot worse ten years ago but surgeons are going in much more aggressively and oncologist are very skilful at chemo combinations . 
I hope your husband does very well with his treatment .

Take care ,

Court 

Thank you so much for reply. Just getting the hang of using the forum. Yes total pelvic exenteration is the operation he'll be having. I'll be able to search other experiences now. Hope all continues well with your mum. 

https://community.macmillan.org.uk/cancer_types/bowel-colon-rectum-cancer-forum/f/new-here-say-hello/203540/expectations-when-going-home-after-total-pelvic-exenteration-surgery

Hi  you are doing great . I have added a thread that might be of interest to you . Quite a lot of people actually having that surgery on the forum just now so hopefully they will pop on and share too.

Mum is doing great . Hoping to get a vaccine soon . She is not on the clinically vulnerable list but she classes that as a win after all these years . 
How is your husband coping ?

Take care ,

Court 

He's keeping positive, still planning ahead to the future. We're working through it together as a family trying to keep strong. Thanks for the link. I'll have a look. 

So sorry to hear this...everything around cancer can be terrifying.  My husband also has stage 4 and everything I read gave him 5 years max.  But we steeled ourselves up to ask the doctor who said he has a 50% chance of being “cured” and the doctor wondered why we were celebrating and smiling.  After all that stress being given some chance was a gift.  Also, even the doctors don’t know.  My friend’s father-in-law was given max 5 years when diagnosed with prostate cancer.  Then 3 years in they developed a new therapy and put him on that.  Then that stopped working but they had by then developed a new treatment and put him on that, etc. He died 20 years later at 92.  Our doctor’s advice seemed good “prepare for the worst but be optimistic in general.”  My friend who is in biomedical research said if he had to be stage 4 cancer, he would choose bowel cancer as the “best “ to have (prognosis, treatment, etc)  My husband had one operation and is on chemo now and we’re just taking it day by day until we get the next scan.  Best wishes to you and your husband.