Chemo not suiting my mom

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Hi everyone,

thank you all for sharing your journeys.

My mom was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer (rectal) in November. Since then she’s completed her full radiation therapy and has completed her second (out of 6) rounds of FOLFOX chemotherapy. Unfortunately, this chemo is not suiting her after severe migraines and weakness. The doctors have taken a CT scan and have found a slight bleed in her brain. They said it’s not cancer related but best to discontinue chemo and go on with surgery to remove her tumour.

I am devastated as I know that this wasn’t part of the plan and am worried without chemotherapy the cancer may spread/ recur. Has anyone ever been through a similar situation or have continued to live without cancer and not had their full chemotherapy treatment.

thank you,

Kareno62 over 2 years ago

Hi TinaTina. I was diagnosed back in 2016 with stage 3 rectal cancer. Back then the standard treatment was chemoradiotherapy for 5 weeks, then a 8-10 week break while the treatment continued to work, then surgery then chemo if there was signs of lymph nodes being affected. I had 2/17 lymph nodes affected so had Capox/xelox as a precautionary belt and braces. I am currently cancer free. Since then a clinical trial has shown chemo before surgery to be beneficial and that has become the new standard treatment.
Once your mum has had the tumour removed then the pathology lab will test everything and see if there is any localised spread. If so they may recommend chemo then or might feel that her reaction to it would outweigh any benefit or they may suggest a different chemo.

So although surgery after the chemoradiotherapy wasn’t part of the plan it would have been the norm a couple of years ago. If they can remove the tumour with clear margins then that is the main aim and then see what the consultant suggests from there.

Hope your mum starts to recover from the chemo and can regain her strength before the op

Take care

Karen x

Macmillan Support Line - 0808 808 00 00, 7 days a week between 8am-8pm

TinaTina over 2 years ago in reply to Kareno62

Thanks Karen,

Surgery was always part of the plan but it was meant to be after 6 rounds of chemo, not just 2. I guess my mom isn’t reacting well to the chemo So maybe they will decide to go straight into surgery.. all to be confirmed this evening. Hopefully without the rest of the chemo she will still be okay and everything will go to plan.

Thank you for your reply, I appreciate it.

kind regards