Colorectal Cancer

[Jem80]

Is there anyone else here supporting someone through colorectal cancer? My brother has just been diagnosed and I would like any advice. Cheers.

[sch]

Hi,

I'm sorry to hear about your brother.

I've had colorectal cancer in the past.

How is your brother?

Have they given any diagnosis and any information about treatment?

[Jem80]

Hi,

Thanks. He is stage 4 and is going to be having chemotherapy and radiation therapy. He finds out more next week. What treatment did you have?

[sch]

Hi Jem80.

I had a colectomy and 12 rounds of chemo (FOLFOX).

No radiation for me, so I'm afraid I can't help you there.

Is he going to be having surgery?

and how are you feeling? Are you coping OK?

Is there someone you can talk to?

-s

[Jem80]

Hi sch,

Thanks for your message.

I'm not sure if he is going to be having surgery. He has to have another scan first before they can start treatment. I feel devastated for him, especially since he has a diagnosis of stage 4 as the starting point. I am coping, and I have some counselling lined up tomorrow. I also have my partner to talk to about this, but it still feels awful. How did you cope with chemo?

[sch]

Chemo is good and bad, like anything really.

It will depend on the persons cirumstances and treatment.

For the first 2/3rd's of the treatment I sailed through (apart from fatigue).

The last 1/3 of the treatment was marked with infections and neuropathy. It was a bit unpleasent, but what can you do?  I didn't feel that I had too much to complain about. (stage 2a bowel cancer)

My recovery from surgery (I had surgery before I did chemo) was a bit full on. I was very sore post surgery (I had a total colectomy) and I had to wait a few months for my body to recover before I started chemo.

But your brother might have surgery or he might have chemo first. That's something that I think will be decided by his treatment team.

I'd recommend that someone attend the appointments with him.  The information can be a bit over overwhelming. I'd recommend note taking or recording the meeting so that your brother can go back and refer to it later.

Best of luck and let me know if you have any other questions or queries.

-s

[Sideshow63]

Hi Jem80,

I hope you are doing ok?

I may be on a  very similar journey to you but with my husband. We are waiting on the results after all the blood tests, scans and procedures. We get his results on Thursday.

I cant give you any advice but wishing your brother all the best.

[Jem80]

Hi Sideshow63,

I am doing ok thanks. It is hard with my brother as he is not really engaging anyone other than his partner much about his diagnosis. He is due to start 3 months of intravenous chemo after having had initial what I think was oral chemo. It's very confronting isn't it? I was in shock when he first told me about it as he is only 46. I had to put my studies on hold for a while as I was struggling to focus when we initially found out. I have been continuing to work though and that has helped. I have also now been referred for a colonoscopy particularly because your risk goes up when you have a first degree relative with bowel cancer. I am not as worried about this as I am about my brother, because he has a confirmed diagnosis. Wishing you all the best with your results on Thursday.

[Sideshow63]

Thanks Jem80. 

Gosh your poor brother, he is lucky to have such a supportive sister . His partner is probably coping as best she can, its such a shock like you said, I am sure they will open up more soon to the rest of the family. 

I am glad you are getting the test done- I will never throw my  yearly over 50's testing kit out ever again after this.

I am lucky to work from home mostly, and can control my workload right now, but if my husband has to have chemo prior to surgery as well as the surgery and the recovery from that-  I can see myself having to stop working for a while to give him enough support.

Thanks for the luck for Thursday, I am crossing my fingers and toes that it has not spread to his liver and lungs.

[27spoons]

Hi jem80 and sideshow,

Just wanted to say hi and I'm joining you on this journey as well. My husband was diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer last week. We're still waiting for test results and more information.

I hope you're going as well as can be.

Rebecca