Oncology appt

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Hi Guys- so had an oncology appointment Monday with bowel specialist . Basically saying that the spread to the liver is significant and also has spread to lymph nodes in that area. The lung seems to be ok for now. They want to start me on chemo in 2 weeks which I’m fine about to tackle and hopefully shrink so they can consider surgery but the consultants for the liver hadn’t met yet so would let me know what they thought when they knew

they called me this afternoon. Said the chances of surgery even after chemo were slim as surgery would be challenging. They have offered to show me my scans next week to visually show me the extent of it. I’m terrified and so upset. If they can’t cut it out am I going to die? Maybe not soon but in a few years. I haven’t told my husband yet - I don’t know what to think.

has anyone experienced similar or know of cases similar ? What happens if they don’t do surgery? They said they would sign me up for a trial - I don’t know if I took it all in but he said those on the trial are split in 2 groups - half they operate on and the other half they don’t … can anyone help me with answers ?? They seem only to be focusing on the liver at present

Thank you xx

court over 1 year ago

Hi Phoenix C

My mum was classed as completely inoperable before surgery . She had five liver mets with one around 5 cm . It was a bit like a fruit bowl of tumours . However she responded very well to chemotherapy and they shrank right off the scan . They did not have to get to this level to become operable . She also had one that was abutting a blood vessel so it was tricky but she went to a centre of excellence for the liver . They do the liver transplants too . They were able to do a more extensive resection and took a full 73% .

Is the liver surgeon you mentioned located at a centre of excellence. If you Google transplant centres for the liver you will be able to identify them .

Some people also use ablation . I will link in a good booklet which shows how they manage a spread and explores some of the options . It took a full two years of treatment to get to a better outlook for my mum so by no means an immediate solution .

I am not sure about the trial you mentioned . If you can find out the trail name we could have a look at it .

I will post this and link in the booklet . We sat through the same tricky chats but really no one knows how responsive you are to treatment and therein lies the hope .

It is only natural to think about prognosis and outcome . You are only human but bowel cancer is quite fortunate to have lots of treatment options .

Take care ,

Court

Helpline Number 0808 808 0000

court over 1 year ago in reply to court

https://bowelcancerorguk.s3.amazonaws.com/Publications/TreatingAdvancedBowelCancer_BowelCancerUK.pdf

This is a good start to find out your options .

Court

Helpline Number 0808 808 0000

Phoenix C over 1 year ago in reply to court

Oh Court thank you ! That does give me hope. How is ur mum doing now ? I’m up for a long battle as I know it won’t be an immediate fix but that I think is ok if there is light / hope at the end of the tunnel . I will ask them next week re the trail and post it

thank u so much for ur help

tahr care x