Bowel cancer with Liver mets at 41

Hi SpanielLady

Welcome to the forum . My mum had a similar pathway for a spread to her liver and had surgery for it in 2010 and her liver has remained clear since then .
https://community.macmillan.org.uk/cancer_types/bowel-colon-rectum-cancer-forum/f/general/221768/chemo-care-top-tips--

You might find this thread helpful in preparing for your treatment .

Others will be along to share but just wanted to welcome you . I will link in Star74 as she has had a liver resection and similar age group to yourself .

Take care ,

Court 

Thank you for the reply & link to treatment tips. It's good to know I'm not alone.

Hi SpanielLady and thank you court for the tag.

It's a whirlwind isn't it? I was exactly the same, 46 happily plodding along, no symptoms apart from intermittent bleeding and then wham, a tumour in the bowel which has spread to the liver, my whole world stopped in an instant.

I'm 2 years in now and after chemo, liver resection, radiotherapy and the bowel op, I'm awaiting CT results, hoping for good news.

It's great they are talking about surgery and you will feel better once you start chemo, doing something proactive.

The Ox part of your treatment can cause tingles in hands and feet when they get cold so make sure you wrap up warm ready for when you come out of the chemo unit.  It goes as soon as they warm up so I had a hot water bottle on the go, or even popping hands under a warm tap helps.  It's very much trial and error with side effects, but they have brilliant anti sickness tabs now and pretty much potions for anything so don't suffer, always mention it to your team.  

They really looked after me on my first one and had a special nurse who took care of the newbies! 

Take things to occupy you, I used to take my kindle and headphones and some snacks and even a lightweight blanket, they'll come round with coffee and lunch if you're there long enough. 

I would say that exercise really helped, it was encouraged by my Onc.  I also have a nutribullet so even if I didn't feel like eating much I knew I was getting some good nutrients.

Wishing you all the best and let us know how you get on!  

Michelle xx

Hi Michelle,

Thank you for your reply. It really is a shock & I struggled to start with as I didnt feel like I had cancer if that makes sense???. I also suffer with endometriosis & anxiety.

They delayed my chemo start so we could still have our holiday. Which I must say is doing me wonders, just chilling being with my partner & our 2 spaniels.

In general I'm very positive and I'm determined to beat this but I'm also very scared at the same time. Hopefully the chemotherapy will do its job & they can operate.

Your journey sounds like a long one with many hurdles. I hope you get positive news from your CT scan.

Thank you for the tips 

Sarah x

Yes, I know exactly how that feels, nobody around me could believe it either, I'm the healthy one!!

Still, being young and healthy is an advantage when it comes to chemo and ops.

That's great you are enjoying a holiday before the treatment, a very wise decision to delay the treatment and enjoy your time.  Staying positive is key, there will be tough times but you'll get through it, one step at a time.

Enjoy your break!xx

Wow my journey including dates, very scarred. I haven't had date to start treatment yet. Mine was found through routine blood test for BP tablet and found I was anaemic. Dr sent me for tests endoscopy turned into colonoscopy and found Fred and mri and CT found rest of Flintsones. Sending love its all scarey and worrying I am still working and that but head not always in it 

Hi Sarah, I'm 67 and a relatively healthy type 1 diabetic male. My diagnosis was similar to yours, except I was diagnosed in May this year. I've had many scans and undertook 3 months chemo, with fortnightly hospital visits for the chemo. I had a stent fitted to my chest as the 1st treatment was given in the back of my hand. That was quite painful, hence I had an outpatient op to insert the stent and now chemo given by that method. The stent stays in your chest throughout and I still have it in now. I'd recommend having that fitted. Scan results after 3 months were good and last endoscopy and CT Scan found no trace of lesion in bowel, I attended hospital today and scan of liver showed reduced scarring in liver, so I await view from consultants on whether to laser the cancer out, or operate to remove via keyhole. I would say to you, try and keep positive, for although chemo is tough (everything fro sickness/diarrhea, heartburn , loss of taste and neuropathy in feet and fingers) it seems to have worked for me, even after only 3 months. Staff at the Oncology Dept I attended were superb and helped me immensely with all my side effects. Happy to answer any questions you may have

Hi Alan, thank you for sharing your story with me. All the information is useful and encouraging. I am starting chemo on the 7th.

Hello from another Sarah,

I'm 30 and was diagnosed early October also with Colon Cancer with spread to 4 places in the liver. They put in place a similar plan however my colon blocked on the 23rd Oct and they had to do an emergency op on just the Colon. Not the ideal order of things but now the primary cancer in the colon is out so the plan is to do chemo and surgery on the liver. They are still hopeful and positive for a cure.

It's been quite a whirlwind and this is my first time on this form. I felt I could relate to your post. While recovering from the surgery I did egg retrieval in case the chemo affected fertility. We had been trying for a baby before diagnosis so that helped with worries of having a family. Now I'm just trying to stay positive while I wait for chemo to start.

I hope you are able to rest till your start date and it goes well.

Sarah

Hi Sarah,

Cancer really doesn't care what age you are does it? So pleased you were able to protect your fertility by harvesting eggs. And I wish you success it the future.

I'm so pleased my post helped you. It is very scary & so much to take in. So sorry to hear you had a blockage that must of been so painful.

I start my Chemotherapy on the 7th. I'm having folfox & a drug called cetuximab which is a targeted treatment for bowel cancer. Then hopefully surgery next year.

All the best

Sarah x