It seems like every week there is a post about a family member being sick, or hurt.....and nobody is immune.
Recently, the doctors found a tumor in my dad's colon. After a battery of pokes and prods they came to the conclusion that it was precancerous. They scheduled surgery to remove a very small portion of colon and the tumor and everybody seemed to be really optimistic about the ordeal. Standard procedure called for some scans a couple of days before surgery....mainly areas around the colon to make sure there would be no surprises. Scans came back showing spots on his liver, lesion was the term they used.
Day after the scans came back, they did a liver biopsy and then scheduled an appointment with an oncologist to give us the results, which was today. Nothing good came out of that visit. Was told it was colon cancer that had spread and attached itself to his liver, making the spots or lesions. There were lesions on both lobes of his liver, one side fairly small and the other quite a bit bigger.
The doctors were surprised at some scans in that area in February of this year, which revealed absolutely no spots or abnormalities on his liver. Apparently when it decided to spread, it didn't waste any time. The preliminary results were stage 4 cancer. I assume that is directly related to the short amount of time from having a clean liver to one with lesions. They took surgery off the table, of course, until they can get chemo going to try to stave off any further spreading and knock out some of the lesions. IF the chemo does its job, it is a matter of getting rid of as much cancer as they can and then removing the rest via surgery. That is the goal, if one is to set a goal in this situation.
Very few bright spots during the visit. The most important fact the doctor said was this form of cancer, colon cancer, reacts very well in a little over 90% of patients. That is a pretty damn big number. She also said there were other forms of chemo if his body didn't respond well to the first kind. At least they have a plan.
Anyway, I guess what I want is to hear from anybody with experience with a similar situation......good or bad. I want to know what I can expect with this.
I really don't know how I feel about the situation yet, have that numbness all over. My parents took it pretty good, and I held it together until I got back to my truck and drove back to school. I apologize for the long story, was a shitty attempt to shorten it up I admit. Just needed an outlet for it all.
Thanks
Kelly
Recently, the doctors found a tumor in my dad's colon. After a battery of pokes and prods they came to the conclusion that it was precancerous. They scheduled surgery to remove a very small portion of colon and the tumor and everybody seemed to be really optimistic about the ordeal. Standard procedure called for some scans a couple of days before surgery....mainly areas around the colon to make sure there would be no surprises. Scans came back showing spots on his liver, lesion was the term they used.
Day after the scans came back, they did a liver biopsy and then scheduled an appointment with an oncologist to give us the results, which was today. Nothing good came out of that visit. Was told it was colon cancer that had spread and attached itself to his liver, making the spots or lesions. There were lesions on both lobes of his liver, one side fairly small and the other quite a bit bigger.
The doctors were surprised at some scans in that area in February of this year, which revealed absolutely no spots or abnormalities on his liver. Apparently when it decided to spread, it didn't waste any time. The preliminary results were stage 4 cancer. I assume that is directly related to the short amount of time from having a clean liver to one with lesions. They took surgery off the table, of course, until they can get chemo going to try to stave off any further spreading and knock out some of the lesions. IF the chemo does its job, it is a matter of getting rid of as much cancer as they can and then removing the rest via surgery. That is the goal, if one is to set a goal in this situation.
Very few bright spots during the visit. The most important fact the doctor said was this form of cancer, colon cancer, reacts very well in a little over 90% of patients. That is a pretty damn big number. She also said there were other forms of chemo if his body didn't respond well to the first kind. At least they have a plan.
Anyway, I guess what I want is to hear from anybody with experience with a similar situation......good or bad. I want to know what I can expect with this.
I really don't know how I feel about the situation yet, have that numbness all over. My parents took it pretty good, and I held it together until I got back to my truck and drove back to school. I apologize for the long story, was a shitty attempt to shorten it up I admit. Just needed an outlet for it all.
Thanks
Kelly
