Hello

Hi 

So sorry to hear that! If you click on my user name you can read my mum’s journey through a stage 4 diagnosis. It can take time to find out how each person responds to chemotherapy but bowel cancer has a lot of different chemotherapy options and there is a subgroup of patients who do well with it . It all depends on the size of the spread and location . My own mum had a sizeable spread to her liver but was also a good responder to chemotherapy which opened up other options . Others stay on chemotherapy but do well with it for a long period of time so it’s certainly not without hope . 
https://bowelcancerorguk.s3.amazonaws.com/Publications/TreatingAdvancedBowelCancer_BowelCancerUK.pdf

This is a very helpful booklet that will give you some insight into how a stage 4 diagnosis is managed. 
https://community.macmillan.org.uk/cancer_types/bowel-colon-rectum-cancer-forum/f/bowel-colon-rectum-cancer-forum/221768/chemo-care-top-tips--

This our top tips for preparing for chemotherapy with bowel cancer . This might be useful to read so you can assist where necessary.

Please feel free to ask anything as the need crops up !

take care ,

Court 

thank you ....

we are in shock  stage 4 liver mets ..

dont know where to turn

so scared 

Chemo gave my mum a lot of shrinkage in the liver which allowed surgery to occur . It’s hard waiting to see if chemo is going to work but there are specialist centres of excellence in the U.K. for liver surgery which your relative could consult when appropriate.

Once treatment starts you do feel as though something is actually being done and that helps !

I found it helpful to break it down into stages . Right now is the time to focus on chemotherapy and supporting them through that . A patient told me to keep my head where my body was and not to allow the worst case outcomes to dominate your thoughts . That took time to achieve with many fails along the way but with time we started to think more along the lines of achieving stability , possibly shrinkage and treating it as a chronic condition . Living scan to scan for a while but it made it more achievable and gave us a handle and structure to move forward with .

Take care ,

Court 

Ps we have a helpline 0808 808 0000 and they would be happy to chat any aspect through with you . 

So sorry to hear that.  My husband was diagnosed stage 4 (metastisised to liver) last year.  It is very scary but yes there can be good treatments and prognosis.  Be careful of Googling because a lot of information is outdated, and treatments and survival rates getting better every year.  Your family member will get a treatment plan from a team that likely includes a bowel surgeon, a liver surgeon, and an oncologist (who decides chemotherapy plans).  Our doctor told us “it is very serious but there is good reason to hope.”  A year later he has been through two surgeries and two rounds of chemo, and we’re learning all the time.  There have been some hard times and some good times where he is feeling perfectly healthy.  The chemo he is on is not as bad as some chemo for other cancer types (it hasn’t caused hair loss or mouth sores) but let’s be honest all chemo is hard.  The best thing to support is to follow your family member’s moods.  When he/she is scared and upset, be caring and sympathetic (not breezy or insisting “you’ll be fine.”). I found that relatives who tried to be too cheery bothered my husband a lot because to him it just meant they didn’t understand.  Similarly, when your family member is feeling optimistic and happy, try to mirror that mood, not bringing them down by expressing your worries. Try to have someone go with them to every appointment… 2 heads are better than one in asking questions and remembering answers.  Read what you can on what to expect but again don’t overly trust on Google prognosis.  My husband’s treatments, outcomes, and prognosis have all been better than what I read online.

Thank You so much 

really at a loss at a loss this time ..... i have been a nurse for many years  yet  dumbstruck ...

thank you for your comments 

chemo starts this week  stage 4  liver mets   scared   frightened ......how can the outcome be good x

thank you 

Hi 

I was an occupational therapist and to be honest I found it hard not to have previous encounters and knowledge pop into my mind . However when I had a look specifically at what they were achieving within the field of bowel cancer it did help !

The stats for stage 4 have slowly moved forward in the last ten years and since my mum’s diagnosis numerous new treatments have surfaced .

A good starting point is to find a little more information on the cell type and that will help you narrow down options a bit that the oncologist might take . My mum has had two liver resections , 73% removed , then a lung resection and is on her 12 th year since diagnosis this week actually!

Unfortunately not for all people but only lately Immunotherapy has been made available for a group of stage 4 bowel patients so there has been progress . It’s very hard waiting to see how each individual responds but it is not without hope !

Take care ,

Court 

Thank You  for taking the time to message  thank you