alj13305's Cancer Blog
February 3, 2010
Well, mom had her surgery last week and it was not good.. Mom was diagnosed with Stage four colon Cancer. Seems the tumor had broken through the colon wall and had fused to her stomach. The cancer had also spread to her lymph nodes and there are nodules all throughout her abdomen area. Given her current medical conditions the doctor are not giving her too long to live. The question we struggle with now is, should we undergo Chemo and extend her life for a year or so, or if we should let her things work their course. Have heard that Colon Cancer Chemo is not quite as bad as other types and that it could eliminate some of her pain, whereas if we don’t do Chemo her time left will be very painful. Any thoughts from those of you with experience would be wonderful.
December 26, 2009
Hi All,
Well, this is my first entry and I am sure will be just one of many. My 71 year old mother was diagnoses with Colon cancer in November 2009. As she was undergoing numerous tests, she had a stroke and is now left with a non functioning left side. The doctors say the cancer probably created the blood clots and we are lucky the stroke was not more severe. It has been determined that we need to do the first surgery to remove the lower half of her colon in Mid January, even if the blood clots have not reabsorbed. So of course there is fear of her surviving the surgery. Then there are the questions about stage, and extended treatments.
This has left my sister and I so confused and we are getting few answers from her doctors. I am hoping you all can provide your wisdom and experiences for us. We have many questions. Like; how to help ease her constant pain, what to feed her that will soothe or at least not hurt her stomach any more, will she need rehab after surgery, should we anticipate her living with one of us for an extended period, are there any “must haves” we should buy or do for her after surgery? I am sure there is so much more I could ask and I would love your help with that too. What should we be asking and pushing the doctors to tell us.
Thanks so much for any information or advice, and I am sure I will be talking with you more as the weeks progress…
Recent diagnosis and tons of questions, 
1 comment)
Allyson—
I want to tell you how sorry I am for the circumstances that have brought you here in your mother’s behalf. I think it’s wonderful that she has such a caring and concerned daughter who will reach out to others in an effort to learn from peoples’ personal experiences. The doctors are full of information from textbooks, but they have not lived the disease, so to speak. I regret that I can not give you any good information regarding colon cancer and what your mother may be facing. However, I hope others on this forum will come forward and give you some helpful advice, as there are quite a few people here who have colon cancer. I just wanted to say hello and send my best wishes to you and your mother. I hope her treatment protocol will be successful and that she has a complete recovery.
Martha
Posted on 
Thanks for your support - 
Thank you for your thoughts. my mother is 72 and is in pretty poor health. She had three strokes during surgery and has heart disease and diabetes, so unfortunately, I think the road will be difficult.
Hi Allyson,
I am so terribly sorry about your mom. I’ve lost a parent to cancer so I know that this is so overwhelming. Being a cancer survivor myself, and having done radiation and chemo…I can honestly say that for me, and this is just for me and my experience, I would not do chemo again. I’m sorry to say it, and it might not be what you are wanting to hear…if doctors cannot offer your mother a cure than why would they want to pump poison into her failing body? So they prolong her suffering a year? Do these doctors think that Chemo won’t be painful? They do, because they have never done a round of it. I have done 6 rounds stage 1 cancer and I was young 35. My heart goes out to you sweet Allyson and I will pray for you and you beautiful mother.