Stage 4 colon agressive tumor

Hi 

Welcome to the forum . It’s tough looking on at someone having a tough time on treatment and not feeling as though your able to change any of it .

Has your husband had a scan ?

Your oncologist may be tracking his CEA tumour markers and if they have come down may feel as though treatment is achieving something . Not reliable in all people so interpret with caution. My mum’s went up instead of down but her scans showed shrinkage .

Would you benefit from a chat with our helpline staff to see if they can assist you going forward ? 0808 808 0000. 
He should have a scan at some point and then another MDT meeting to decide the next step .

You could also contact his specialist nurse to ask .

Take care and I wish you both every success .

Court 

Hi everyone 

My fiancé has recently had a tumour removed from his bowel and most of his bowel removed, He did not have to have the stoma bag. He is 8 days post op and is in a lot of pain in his stomach, he is on paracetamol as I’ve been told that Co codemol cause constipation. We are waiting fir the tissues of the tumour to be sorted which is about 4 weeks but we know it’s spread to his liver and lung. It is a very scary time and I feel I’ve had no support at all from anyone. I am watching him constantly. Any advice would be greatly appreciated 

https://www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk/about-bowel-cancer/advanced-bowel-cancer/treating-advanced-bowel-cancer/

Hi Born free

Welcome to the forum ! Is this your first post ?

I have linked in a good booklet that lets you see some of the potential future options for treating a stage 4 diagnosis. It’s good that his primary tumour has been removed , once he has recovered it will be less of an issue when on active treatment in terms of blockages .

My mum was still very sore at this stage in recovery . It was difficult just watching her particularly if he has had open surgery . It’s a big wound to heal and the bowel does not apparently like getting handled too much so it’s a lot for them to recover from .

On a positive note around the end of the second week my mum went from strength to strength and things eased off considerably. 

I am so sorry you have not had any support . This is very distressing as it’s a time when you need people around to reduce the sense of isolation and fear . 
You should see them turn a corner soon and that will give you both a boost !

Then it’s onto planning the next step in the treatment . My mum has had both a spread to her liver and lungs but at separate points . I would imagine they will want to start chemotherapy as they like to use a systemic approach. This allows all visible and potential micro disease to be targeted throughout the body . They hope to gain stability over the disease and shrinkage where possible . My mum got a great response and this opened up other treatment options .

Some pain killers can slow down the bowel but speak to his team if you think there is still a pain management issue .

Its very early days for both of you and please feel free to ask anything you like . We also have a helpline 0808 808 0000 . They would be happy to talk through any aspect . They cover emotional , financial and actual treatment . 

So glad you reached out to us .

Take care ,

Court