My husband had his anus and rectum removed in June of 2013. He was told that he had one tumour but during the surgery they found two. Afterwards he was sent off to chemo and radiation where he was told by both doctors and their teams that there was only a three percent chance of the cancer coming back so they did not feel that he needed treatment. He has not missed one follow-up appointment and on November 26th, 2014 we were told that there was nothing to worry about. Have a great holiday and see us in six months. Well, at Christmas time he was acting really different so I took him to the ER where they did a cat scan and found two brain tumours. On December 31st he had an MRI where they actually found four brain tumours and five lung tumours. After having a biopsy done on the lung tumours they told us that it was colorectal cancer that had spread. He is at stage 4 and they did radiation on the brain tumours and one had to have stereo-static radiation to see if they could get it smaller. We find out next month if it worked. He is now having chemotherapy for the tumours in the lungs. They tell us that chemotherapy will continue until the brain tumours grow again. I am angry but I know there is nothing I can do about it. It still makes me angry that the same doctors who told us that they did not suggest treatment before are the ones that we are depending on keeping him alive as long as possible. My husband is very weak from all the steroids and the treatments but I am so thankful to have him with me. I just wish there was a way for me to get over the anger I have at the doctors. Even the surgeon back in 2013 could not figure out why they would not do treatment. I know God only gives us what we can handle but I also feel that he is giving us more than we can tolerate right now. It makes me so very sad to see my 54 year old husband so weak that we even had to buy a lift chair for him. He was always so active and now he is so weak that I have to help him with most things. Sorry to vent but I have not been able to as everyone says, you are a strong person and you will get through this. I really dislike that saying... Thanks for listening....
Hugs my dear, would getting him in to another cancer team be an option, it just seems they aren't taking your husband's case seriously. Have you thought about going to a cancer specialty center, or a Cancer Treatment of America center. It is really impressive all the holistic treatments they do in addition to conventional treatment so a patient actually has a shot at living a life during treatment. Hugs my dear! CK
CK, thank you for your response. We live in Canada and do not have the funds to go. I have been trying to find out some of the diets that they use as well as some of the holistic treatments. I have changed his diet but not sure what else to do... Thanks again.
I am so sorry it has taken this long to reply. I have been busy taking care of my husband and things are just getting worse. it was not long after my last post that we found out that the cancer had spread to his bones, stomach, abdominal area and liver. They stopped chemo as he was too sick to continue and we have decided no more radiation. They gave him five treatments on his spine as there were tumours ready to break the spine and then radiation on his shoulders but that did not help at all. The stomach can not handle any food as he vomits all the time. He has water and ensure and once every few days he has yoghurt. I watch him starving to death and being in so much pain. Palliative care is now involved and they really are trying to deal with the pain. This is the worst roller coaster ride of a life time and I wish no one every had to go through it... Thanks for listening.