Process Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 (edited) My mother was just diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer at 50 years old. During a routine colonoscopy. Need to hear some real stories about real people beating the odds, because the statistics online are terrifying. The doctors are giving her a more positive outlook then what I am reading, but knowing my mother she could be lying, trying to protect me. Thanks guys. Edited February 25, 2018 by Process 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo716 Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 (edited) 12 minutes ago, Process said: My mother was just diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer at 50 years old. During a routine colonoscopy. Need to hear some real stories about real people beating the odds, because the statistics online are terrifying. The doctors are giving her a more positive outlook then what I am reading, but knowing my mother she could be lying, trying to protect me. Thanks guys. I will send prayers Edited February 25, 2018 by Buffalo716 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SinceThe70s Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 Stay positive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Another Fan Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 Recently I believe my uncle had part of his intestine removed because they found polyps in his colon. Intestine or colon, not sure as I didn't get the whole story. Prayers and thoughts are with you and your mom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfanmiami(oh) Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 Sorry to hear this. Always remember, no matter what the statistics say, there IS hope. Even when it’s the worst of the worst, there are stories of survival and that alone should be the focus. My mother in law was diagnosed with an aggressive subtype of AML in 2015 and when i started researching, it was pretty horrifying. Its inportant to remember that you need to do all you can to be there for your mom. It’s going to be hard, and it’s going to suck. There will be times of friction between you and her and any other family involved. But it’s your job from here on out to be part of the best support system she can have. My mother in law lost her battle in 2016 and it still affects us every day. But even in the darkest times, we never lost hope. It CAN happen so always keep that positive attitude. The mind is a powerful tool, and attitude is a big component when dealing with cancer. I wish you all the best of luck, and will be praying for your mom’s healing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plenzmd1 Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 My Pops had colon cancer at age 70 or so? Lived to be 84, did not die from the cancer. Her age is a big plus, are they doing surgery? A Dr Phillaseti (sp) was my dads surgeont, Pops always called him "his Italian Brain Surgeon" 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 My Grandmother beat colon cancer and lived another 15+ years; she was much older and research/treatment was 40 years behind today. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBill Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 My grandfather, long passed from age, got colon cancer in the late 50’s (decade not age). The science was far from what it is today. He was to die and lived another happy 50 years. Stories abound everywhere of people who beat the odds. Your mother may be one of them. Thoghts and prayers go out to you and your mom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marv's Neighbor Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 15 hours ago, Process said: My mother was just diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer at 50 years old. During a routine colonoscopy. Need to hear some real stories about real people beating the odds, because the statistics online are terrifying. The doctors are giving her a more positive outlook then what I am reading, but knowing my mother she could be lying, trying to protect me. Thanks guys. I lost my Mom in '82. Her death certificate said kidney failure, but she passed away at Roswell. I know what you mean about your Mom trying to protect you. I felt the same way too! We'll be praying for you and your Mom. My Mom's been gone for a while but I can't believe they have not figured a cure(s) out yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gray Beard Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 My father and my mother in law both had sections of their colons removed due to cancer. They both fully recovered. I don’t know what cancer stage they had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebandit27 Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 My grandfather was diagnosed with advanced stage 3 colon cancer at the age of 80, and he beat it He died last month at the age of 96 from natural causes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augie Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 A very nice young tennis pro where we used to live had a huge section of his colon removed. Multiple surgeries, wore a bag for months, all that. Father of three young boys, sweet wife, amazing family. It was rough, and it took patience and faith, but today he’s 100%, back on the courts and you’d never know anything had happened. It warms my heart just thinking about it. We kind of hurried into our marriage, but not for the usual reason. My wife’s father had lymphoma and she wanted him to be able to walk her down the aisle. We had a February wedding because we weren’t sure how long he would make it. Well, he made it almost another decade before dying of pneumonia. My wife’s brother had thyroid cancer while in medical school. (Strange story, as a whole bunch of people in his class got the same thing...) Today he’s a pediatrician in SC with a big L shaped scare that runs from behind his ear to his collar bone then across. He’s been fine for over 20 years. I know these last two are “different”, but the point is medicine just keeps getting better and better. Have faith and I’ll keep you all in my prayers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
/dev/null Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 I can't share a survival story because I lost my Mom to Cancer. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 Breast Cancer and was given 6 months to live. Ultimately she lived another two years but the last few months were rough. The best advice I can give you is to stay strong for yourself, your mother, your father, and any siblings you may have. There may come a time when they falter and need your strength to carry them or your strength may falter and you need to lean on theirs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Process Posted February 26, 2018 Author Share Posted February 26, 2018 9 hours ago, plenzmd1 said: My Pops had colon cancer at age 70 or so? Lived to be 84, did not die from the cancer. Her age is a big plus, are they doing surgery? A Dr Phillaseti (sp) was my dads surgeont, Pops always called him "his Italian Brain Surgeon" Chemo for two months, one month off and then surgery, yes. Thank you all for the messages and for your thoughts and prayers , I truly appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greybeard Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 12 hours ago, BuffaloBill said: My grandfather, long passed from age, got colon cancer in the late 50’s (decade not age). The science was far from what it is today. He was to die and lived another happy 50 years. Stories abound everywhere of people who beat the odds. Your mother may be one of them. Thoghts and prayers go out to you and your mom. My grandmother on my mother's side had stomach cancer in the early 60's. She had surgery and lived 25 more years. No chemo at that time. And while the family always referred to it as stomach cancer, I believe it was her intestine. On a side note, my son had a DNA test and it showed he had the indicator for intestinal cancer. He also had the indicator for heart issues, which came from my father's side of the family. I recently had my 50th high school reunion and one girl in my class beat cancer 4 times. It pays to have a positive attitude. The body is sometimes capable of amazing things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBud Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 Stage 2 melanoma survivor here. Found during annual physical and following dermatology exam. Had a large section of my upper thigh removed (think football shape about 5in long by 3in wide - about 15 staples). Had a lymphadenectomy to determine if the cancer had spread elsewhere - none. Had bi-annual checks with oncologist and dermatologist for 3 years. Then went to annual oncologist and derm. All good reports for 10 years. Some basal cancer spots removed. What I would suggest is to learn and question everything and do not settle. Ask if there are any clinical trials available - hopefully it wont. One last point. Like what Greybeard says - Stay positive. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 This is about the 8th time I've heard someone go in for a routine colonoscopy and come out with a finding of stage 4 cancer with no symptoms suspected whatsoever. A few of them I knew personally and they survived. what's going on with this, is this like a decade ago when they told lots of people they had MS and it turned out it wasn't quite that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 Fight like hell,stay positive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wacka Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 I know a woman of about 50 that had routine colonoscopy and they found a baseball sized tumor. She had it removed and luckily it was benign. She had no symptoms at all and is fine. Last summer I saw photos of her rapelling on Facebook. Cancer is many diseases. Damage to cellular DNA from a myriad of causes. Oncogenes are genes that regulate how cells divide when we are developing in utero and are shut off before birth.They can get reactivated bt smoking, chemicals, cosmic rays, mutations caused by the natural error rate pf DNA repair enzymes, etc. Each type of cancer needs a unique approach. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Info Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 (edited) Process, Sorry late with this but will reiterate what others have said about staying positive...especially beneficial to the person with the disease/condition. Best hopes for her, you, your family and her friends.. What I will recommend is for all diagnosed cancer patients and is based on the scientific R&D work that I do as well as the experiences from trying to treat the endometrial cancer that took my wife's sister about a year ago. If a cancer is identified, one option is to use a company that matches genetic profiling and/or tissue testing with known therapies (e.g., FDA approved therapies as well as those in clinical trials) to determine best treatment options. For example, a tumor sample is collected and sent to the company for analysis and therapy match. One of these companies is Foundation Medicine https://www.foundationmedicine.com/genomic-testing and another is Guardant Health http://www.guardanthealth.com/. But these can be expensive options and typically not covered by health insurance. But here are just a small sample of success stories including one whose cancer was stage 4: http://www.dontguesstest.org/patient-stories/ My sister-in-law had the FM test performed and it was around $5k. She was not a success story but she was late in opting for the test and her cancer cells had many mutations which could not be well-addressed by even a combination of therapies. As a general rule, the earlier the diagnosis and testing, the more likely to limit cancer cell mutation. Otoh, instead or paying for the services above, you can also use the Clinical Studies DB to filter out possible therapies and discuss with the physician. This is where no existing treatments are available or have limited success. Here is an example of a search for Colon Cancer, Women, Stage 4, Interventional, Recruiting, Over 66, NY (26 hits): https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?term=Stage+4&recrs=a&type=Intr&cond=Colon+Cancer&cntry=US&map_cntry=US&map_state=US%3ANY&gndr=Female&age=2 I believe the services offered by FM and similar are remarkable. You are using their AI to match testing results with treatments and results achieved. their DB is continually updated through their partners. Working in innovative treatments, I would like to mention a couple that are available or will be soon. These are really groundbreaking but may not be publicized that much. But this provides just a small perspective of new technology. Also, it appears our FDA is becoming more risk tolerant in fast-tracking therapies or devices for which there is limited or no treatment. 1.) A closed loop 'artificial' pancreas for type 1 diabetics. This combines a CGM (continuous glucose monitor) with an insulin pump and a learning algorithm to start/stop insulin. There is one company that has an FDA approved therapy but there should be 2-3 more companies in the next two years. These devices will just continue to shrink, algorithms will improve, and additional functionality (smart phone interaction, etc.). 2.) An artificial kidney is under development. This would be implantable but would not require immunosuppressants. Clinical trials are expected to start this year. More info here: https://pharm.ucsf.edu/kidney Edited March 1, 2018 by Mr Info 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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