Hi, I'm new here, I had a bowel cancer operation on 4th October, but now undergoing chemotherapy for cancer on the liver as it has spread, just wondering anyone out there in a similar situation that can offer personal advice on how to just keep progressing and life in general, thanks
Welcome to the forum . I will chat more tomorrow but if you click on my user name you can read how my mum navigated through a stage 4 diagnosis with a spread to her liver .
It is still very early days in dealing with a difficult diagnosis. I think it took my family around a year for the fear aspect to settle and to grasp the whole living with a chronic condition and learning how to manage it . Initially we focused on reducing the tumour burden in the liver . It was a one step forward and two steps back at times . But each time she had less cancer than at her initial diagnosis. My mum was initially inoperable but even if someone is operable they prefer chemotherapy for its systemic approach to tackling all cells in the body , the visible disease and potentially any micro disease . This was a good plan looking back but difficult at the time .
We found asking a centre of clinical excellence for the liver to review the scans very helpful . There are around seven in the U.K. . The surgeons are able to do quite extensive liver resections. Others use treatments like Radio frequency ablation to contain the liver disease and others will use chemotherapy. You will see some people on the boards using chemotherapy on / off for years and it works well for them . Sadly not everyone but bowel cancer is quite fortunate as it has a lot of treatment options even when it has spread compared to some other primaries.
You will have noticed my mum had a significant spread to start with but was also a good responder to chemo even although it was tough on her . This opened up other options and thanks to her team she gained stability .
My mum did make a big effort to stay connected to her own life . Focused on small achievements and projects each week which she found therapeutic . She is now on a research project looking at her tumour sample to see if there is a protein that her body identified as a virus that contributes to her long term survival. However she is not alone . I am still in contact with people who were ahead of her in treatment and continue to live a good life despite a difficult diagnosis. After her first round of chemo and surgery she went sea kayaking for the first time and again to celebrate her tenth anniversary. Take care ,
I am very new to this and I am not sure, that I have got this right in replying to you directly and not Macmillan, but many thanks for your informative reply, I found it very helpful in helping me to move forward
