My uncle has colon cancer, final update pg 5

[MerryPoppins]

Thanks. I know that the liver involvement is the worst news. I have my fingers crossed that the doctor will give them some hope on Tuesday.

 

[chell]

More prayers on the way.

 

[MerryPoppins]

The news just improved slightly. My cousin called and told me that his liver is NOT involved. They are just watching it closely, since it looks like the cancer may have spread to the lung. We won't know for certain about the spot on the lower lung until a biopsy. Thanks for all the prayers. I feel better than I did earlier this evening!

 

[Disney Doll]

Well, it's good that his liver is not involved, as that makes it much more difficult to treat. Colon and lung have a lot more treatment options.

I would caution your uncle to ask very clear questions regarding treatments, the side effects, and the intended effect/prognosis. He may determine that the treatment will be worse than the disease. If he only has a ceratin amount of time left, perhaps it would be better spent enjoying things in peace.

 

[Pop Daddy]

thats good news, I would think your at least talkaing years now l

 

[Serena]

He will be in my prayers.

 

[Dan Murphy]

A good update indeed, Melissa.

 

[MerryPoppins]

Originally posted by Disney Doll
I would caution your uncle to ask very clear questions regarding treatments, the side effects, and the intended effect/prognosis. He may determine that the treatment will be worse than the disease. If he only has a ceratin amount of time left, perhaps it would be better spent enjoying things in peace.

Unfortunately, we are getting used to this situation in our family. My Uncle Ron has had bladder cancer and his wife, my aunt, already had colon cancer. And then I had breast cancer. At least they know the questions to ask and are going in with open eyes.

 

[floridafam]

That is wonderful news that it is not in his liver.

Even if the liver was involved there are many clinical trials taking place all over the US. Sometimes, they can do surgery on the liver. It all depends where the tumors are. We took my brother to Mayo Clinic and they told him they could not operate because one of the tumors was wrapped around his bial duct.

Also, if the spot on his lung comes back as cancer, surgery has advanced to where they may be able to remove the growths after chemo.

Keep us posted. He will be in our prayers. Just post or PM if you need to talk or vent.


Magix,

That is exactly what happened to my brother but he fought it every step of the way. I hope to see cancer wiped off the face of the earth someday.

 

[MerryPoppins]

The latest tests show that the liver is involved. In fact, he has multiple tumors in different parts of the liver. Not good at all.

On Thursday morning they are going to do a colostomy and bypass the cancer in the colon. They aren't even going to remove that at this point. Then they are putting him on chemo right away to hopefully shrink the cancer. I think the idea is mainly to buy him some time, now.

Mom is up there. In the midst of all this turmoil, their only remaining aunt passed away at 99, so Mom went up for the funeral and her brother's surgery. She says that in the last month he has gone down a lot! He's weak and in a lot of pain.

Please continue to pray. I'd love a miracle, but at this point I'd settle for making it easier on Uncle Ron and the family. He has a lot of faith, so he's not afraid to die. Still that's not something he's looking forward to. This is really heart breaking!

 

[WDWHound]

I am so sorry. Prayers on the way.

 

[nativetxn]

I'm so sorry. I will keep your family and your uncle in my prayers. I'm sorry that I was away when you first posted this because I missed it

Katholyn

 

[floridafam]

He will surely be in my prayers.

Is his name Ron? That was my brother's name.

PM me if you ever need to talk. I lost my brother to colon cancer.

His also spread to his lungs and liver. He tried many different things to overcome it. We also took him to Mayo clinic. If you have any questions, just ask.

You will also be in my prayers.

 

[floridafam]

I forgot to mention.

The same thing happened to my brother. The Dr.'s thought it was in the liver so they went in and did a biopsy. The biopsy said they could find no cancer.

A few days later, they said it was cancer.

We were told this is a fairly common thing with the liver. I don't know what causes the false readings. Talk about an up and down of emotions.

I'll be thinking about all of you.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Thinking good thoughts for you

 

[sk8belle]

s, Merry. My aunt is currently in the hospital following her surgery to remove a malignant tumor that was wrapped around her colon. It's been a month and she's still in the hospital as she's having a very hard time recovering from the surgery.

sk8belle

 

[MerryPoppins]

sk8belle, I'll pray for your aunt. I'm wondering if that is why they decided against the removal. I guess it's bad enough that they'd rather go straight to chemo rather than have a long recovery in between. I mean, if they don't think he has much time. . .

The roller coaster has been a wild ride the last couple of weeks. First we hear good news and then they take that away and hit us with horrible news. Then the next visit we're back to great news again. Sigh.

floridafam, my uncle's name is Ron. I may take you up on your kind offer to talk. At this point, I just feel kind of numb. We were going to push to take him to MD Anderson in Houston, but I don't think that is going to happen now. It'd be wonderful if he could be part of a clinical trial or something, but my mom gave me the feeling that the doctors aren't giving him much time. I don't know why I say that, it is just a gut feeling. Hopefully she'll call me again with a more detailed explanation. I think he'd prefer to spend these weeks or months with his kids and grandkids rather than in Texas.

 

[janette]

Many prayers for all of you, I hope you get some better news soon.

 

[floridafam]

MerryPoppins,

Just stay strong. I will be praying for him and all of you.

They didn't give my brother much time, either, after they found it in his liver. We took him to Mayo after his Dr.'s here said they couldn't do anything else.

He also tried alternative treatments.

Everything just made him so tired. Near the end, he said he wished he had just skipped all the treatments and went fishing during the time that they gave him. He said he would have enjoyed life better that way. For some people, just spending time doing what they love is the best medicine.

Just know that we're here if you need to talk.

 

[MerryPoppins]

I'm getting information in bits and pieces. Don't you hate being out of state when something like this happens? Each time I talk to someone else I learn a little bit more.

My cousin says the estimate is 8 months to a year, or 2 years with a miracle. The liver is "gone" so to speak. He is yellow and having trouble eating. He's also weak. Personally, I don't think it sounds like he'll last that long, but who knows?

I don't yet know how aggressive the chemo is going to be. I wonder about his quality of life. You have to weigh it buying time against how bad you are going to feel when you know it's not going to save you. But in the end, that is his decision.

They decided against sectioning the colon because the problem would just come back. No reason to have to go back and do a colostomy later. That'd be two surgeries he'd have to endure. So that makes sense.

He's taking it well. He says he made it through bladder cancer and a mild stroke. These past few years have been icing on the cake - bonus years that he's glad he had. He's got strong faith and seems to be more worried about everyone else than he is about his condition. He laughed out loud on the way home from the doctor's office.

When they got home, yesterday, my mom and my aunt went out in the garden and picked 50 pounds of tomatoes. I think they needed the release of working hard for a while. When my uncle saw what they had done, he started talking about my grandma's homemade ketchup and how he missed it. So they got out the recipe and went to work in the kitchen. He won't be able to eat it, but he can taste it and smell it cooking.

I think the family is holding up pretty well. Thanks for all the prayers and support.