Biography

My husband, Paul, was diagnosed with colon cancer metastasized to the liver on October 31, 2007. Doctors think Paul has had cancer for about seven years. He really had no symptoms except needing to go to bathroom after each meal and periodic stomach pains. He had gone to the doctors in our hometown for over five years thinking something wasn’t quite right but doctor didn’t want to do any tests and said, “he was a hypochondriac”. Paul had physicals every year and his doctor did a sigmoid which missed the cancer. A full colonoscopy should always be done because there could be tumors in the colon on the other side, which was Paul’s case. We learned the hard way. Now we travel from Oregon to California for treatment. It’s hard on the family but we feel lucky we are able to travel to seek better doctors. First line of treatment was Oxalyplatin, Erbitux and Xeloda. Paul got very ill and lost 20 pounds in eight days. The good news the chemo shrunk the tumors faster than expected and cea went down from 18 to 7. February 8th Paul had a right hemicolectomy and recovered well. Now he just has cancer tumors in the liver. June 22, had RF ablation treatment. Doctor went in for five tumors and found nine tumors. Recovery went better than colon surgery and cea went down to four! Stayed on Xeloda for three months to wipe out any floating cancer cells. Paul couldn’t take Erbitux anymore because his k-ras gene was mutated which means the Erbitux won’t work on the cancer cells. Went back for follow up appointment and received bad news Paul’s ceas had gone up from four to 11 which means the cancer is still in his body and growing. Cat scan showed old tumors are gone from RF ablation but now Paul has four small new tumors. Paul’s body really needs a break from chemo but we are lucky that we still have options. Cancer is relentless but we are determined to beat it. It’s now been one full year since diagnoses. Doctors have decided to use sir-spheres as the next treatment, than cyber knife if needed and than more chemo (irinotecan). I pray the sir-spheres can get all the last cancer cell in the liver without complications. This past year has brought my husband and I closer to each other after 21 years of marriage. I admire Paul’s strength and courage to win this battle. We have learned to enjoy everyday together.

Cancer Symptoms

no symptoms really except for stomach pains once in awhile and going to bathroom after each meal

Surgery Description, Dates & Side Effects

February 8 Right hemicolectomy
June 22 9 RF liver ablations open surgery

Chemotherapy Description, Dates & Side Effects

Erbitux
Xeloda
Oxalyplatin
Avastin

Comments:

Yes, I was fatigues and nauseated for about a week afterwards. The anti-nausea meds worked great and I stayed on top of the meds for the first week and did well. The fatigue wore off after a week. I did go to work the day after treatment, something I should NEVER had done. I should’ve just stayed home and rested. But I felt I had to PROVE something to others. WHAT was that? That I was stupid for showing up to work the next day. LOL

Posted on January 22, 2010 at 7:56:46 AM PST by julie445

I was tired for about a week and did take anti-nausea meds for about a week, other than that I was fine. I went to work the next day after I finished my 3rd day of CK. I’m on chemo now for a recurrence. But that doesn’t mean he will have a recurrence, I have a rare type of cancer that not much is known about. I started chemo again last month. This has a high success rate for lung tumors.

Posted on January 9, 2010 at 5:38:16 AM PST by julie445

I hate to whine but some days seem so hard. I have no excuse to complain because it’s my husband with cancer not me. I know we have a lot to be thankful for but cancer seems so unfair at times. It has brought us closer but some days I feel so helpless. Thanks for letting me vent. I wish I could take everyones pain away. I guess I am having a pity party. Sorry… it’s been a long week. Tomorrow is a new day. I’m praying for everyone to stay strong. The strength of everyone here is teaching me how to be strong for my family. Thank you!

Posted on October 24, 2009 at 12:41:25 AM PDT by tammy