Comments on: Stage iv colon cancer

By: Daughter SK

Daughter SK — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Dear Aleem,

Your father’s doctor should help you out here. What exactly do you mean when you write ‘cant pass 4 hours with constipation’?

It could be ‘a good thing’ to know that stool still passes through a colon with a cancer: once the stool get’s obstructed by the cancer, the bowel could burst, and that’s not what you want.

Passing 17 times a day is quite the other extreem. More fiber, more food with healthy bacteria (yoghurt-bacteria) help with a normal diarrhea.

Does your father take painkillers? As painkillers have the side effect of causing constipation, hence working against diarrhea.

Main thing is the stools have to be monitored, to make sure stools keep passing the colon. However with too much diarrhea, you need to make sure your father doesn’t dehydrate, as dehydration already is a side effect of metastatic liver cancer in advanced stage.

Bottom line: too complicated to find the answer on the Internet: the stools need to be monitored daily and action needs to be taken accordingly daily.

Hope that helps a bit Aleem,

Hugs for you, your father and your family,

Kim

By: aleem

aleem — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

my father has matastatic colon ca , all the mets are in abdomen and some of them in the liver. docs did the colonoscopy recently and found the mass on his left side of colon. symptomatically he has severe abdominal pain and diarrhea. he passes even upto 17 times a day and cant pass 4 hours with constipation plus he feels gurgling sounds. he gets fever upto 38 every evening and it goes away on its own after like 10 hours. can somebody help me how can i regulate his bowel movements. he is not on any chemo right now though he has recieved all the standard protocol. thanks

By: Mag

Mag — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Nicole,
Your Dad is entering the final stages of his life. The confusion, the swelling, the low blood pressure, etc. Google “End of Life Stages” and there is great information there. Talk to him about him dieying. Tell him that he completed everything he has to do here. Tell him he was the best father in the world. Be there every single day. Don’t let one day go bye. It’s only a matter of short time. All of the issues your father is having are the normal process of a body letting go and shutting down. One system at a time. My father passed so quickly from this disease. Tell him everything loving you had not said up till now. My father the last couple of days of his life was responsive, but he could hear everything, so I just talked to him. He passed two months after his diagnosis of colon cancer one month after his failed surgery. May peace be with you.
Mag

By: Nicole

Nicole — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Sorry I was on the phone and hit the button. I have 3 little ones so thats why I’m waiting to go down. I’m just not sure whats gonna happen, I mean I know its getting bad but I’m not sure what to think. Lately I find myself having a hard time to talk to him. I think I’m preparing myself but it just sucks cause I’m loosin valuable time. And I just feel so bad because hes so scared and Idon’t know how to help him. Were trying to make everything normal 4 him cuz he doesn’twant anyone to fuss or be different….but at the same time if I make it normal I’d only see him once a week and right now even if we barley speak I want to be there. Thanks for being able to share and listen to me. Its nice to have someone whos able to relate to. I do have one question, how am I going to explain this to my children? Their only 3, 2, and 4 months. I mean I know my 4 month old won’t understand, but how can I tell my kids that their pap paps not here. My son Alex hes 3, hes so close to my dad and Its gonna just be so hard to explain it to him. Not to mention every time he asks me why he can’t go see him I’m crying,how can I tell him????????

By: Nicole

Nicole — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Well, we finally got him to the hospital last Saturday when he was severly confussed. He got very angry when he came to because he says we tricked him. The docs said nothing in his liver seemed to have changed, but were really concerned about his rapid decline. So they ran alot of tests and just said he was severly dehydrated and malnourished so they let him out w/in home care after 4 days and tonight hes back down there. The nurse was concerned because his lood pressure was 96/52 and his one leg is alot more swollen then his other one. She said that could be a blood clot,and it took alot but we got him down there again. I’m at home and want to be with him but I’m waiting to see whats going on.

By: Liver Cancer

Liver Cancer — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Hi Nicole,

My father was also confused when his liver wasn’t functioning full force anymore.

Any wish your father has, grant it if you guys can grant it.

Sorry for the delay in answering, please ask more questions as I am back behind my computer.

Hugs!

By: Nicole

Nicole — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

I guess I should of shared that he has had his liver resected, hes had radioactive glass beads, chemo almost the whole time,and every kind of chemo there is. Nothing has worked. Its back in his liver,and is in his lymphnodes, and his lungs.

By: Nicole

Nicole — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

My dad is now in the end stage of metastatic colon cancer. He has been battling this since 2002,the doctors gave him 6 monthes to 1 yr back in march of this year. Hes very jaundice, very weak, lost at least 50 lbs, and is now very confused. The hardest thing is that he insisted on going to las vegas with my mom one last time(this is when he started to get really confused),I’m very hopefull that he can make it home butI’m not sure he’ll be able to fly. Is this the end or do I have time left. My mom said the confusion comes and goes so its been hard for her to talk to me. I’m so scared. I guess she talked to the doctor and he said if he gets worse to take him to the hospital there, but he refuses and he wouldn’t come home early either.I thoght maybe he could go to the er and they could tap his stomach but my mom says the doctor said there’s no need I guess….My brother and sister and I have thought about going out but were not sure what to do, because there to come home friday the 14th at 5 pm…Can anyone out there give me advice or tell me the signs of whats next to come?

By: Liver Cancer

Liver Cancer — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

We summarized all we learned from doctors and our blog readers about Colon cancer treatment

Thanks Lisa and Hugs for Mag

By: Lisa Myers

Lisa Myers — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

I think the hardest thing I had to go through was knowing what the outcome was going to be for a year and half but having to be hopeful and positive at the same time for my father. We never talked about him passing and it wasn’t at all a subject we at all dwelled upon. It sounds as if your dad wants to take the more natural approach to cancer and there’s nothing wrong with that. Chemo is a harsh thing and although I know it extended my dads life I also know that it wasn’t the greatest quality of life due to some of the side effects. My prayers are with you and your dad…take care! Keep posting if you want to talk! I’m here for you!

By: Mag

Mag — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Lisa,
Please accept my heart-felt condolences on the passing of your father. There is no doubt he knew his grandaughter came into the world. You are right, when you know a person is dying, you do the grieving before they pass. When they pass it is acceptance of the unevitable.

My father had surgery, but the could not remove the cancer it had metastisized to the small bowel, bladder and it is wrapping around his aorta. They could not remove it or it would have killed him right there. They did a bypass to make him comfortable, but he still has that cancerous colon in his body. The interesting thing is that the cancer mass has not jumped to his liver or lungs. The surgeon has given him a a prognosis of six months.

My father has told me he does not want chemo or radiation if that is a treatment option. He wants to go the homeopathic route. I found a intergrative medicine Oncologist (Dr. Isaccs) in NYC. I hope they can help my dad.

I’m being a realist. Even though I am hopeful, I’m not counting on it.

By: Lisa Myers

Lisa Myers — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Hello Mag,
First of all I am very sorry to hear of what you are going through. It is very difficult and you can’t help but panic but please know that it is very important that you have strength for your father right now. What I always did was Panic to my husband or others and saved my strength for when I was around my dad.
Unfortunately I lost my dad on January 30th of this year. But this does not mean that the same will happen to your father. Cancer has a mind of its own. I am glad that you’ve come across this site because this “support group” on here helped me tremendously.
As for your dad’s surgery, he will be fine. It’s a common surgery and please know that they would not have the surgery if they didn’t think there was a good chance of eliminating the cancer in his colon.
I do want to take a moment to update everyone on here to let them know that I gave birth to my daughter on January 27th and my dad passed away on Jan 30th. Even though he was unresponsive I know in my heart that he was waiting for his second grandaughter to be born before he could pass on. I also know in my heart that he was able to see her. One thing that I found off was that when he had passed on I really did not grieve…I have now realized that I did most of my grieving while he was alive. I’m not sure if this was the wrong or right way to handle it but I guess all in all it was my way of handling it and I am happy that he no longer is suffering.
Thank you all for being there when I needed you and now it is my turn to be there for others.
Sincerely,
Lisa Myers

By: Mag

Mag — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Lisa,
How is your dad now? My father has the exact same issue you are discribing. He too has colon cancer, and had surgery today. The cancer is in his abdomen. I’m in a panic.

By: Metastatic liver cancer » Colon cancer chemotherapy

Metastatic liver cancer » Colon cancer chemotherapy — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

[...] chemotherapy and the scary chemotherapy side effects. Vicky’s father was diagnosed with stage iv colon cancer that has spread into his lungs and [...]

By: Liver Cancer

Liver Cancer — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

@Patrick,

Thanks for sharing, our stories sounds so similar...

I share my grief after father's passing away for about 2 years now in:

my dad is dead.

By: Metastatic liver cancer » My dad is dead

Metastatic liver cancer » My dad is dead — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

[...] Stage iv colon cancer [...]

By: Patrick

Patrick — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Hey Im sorry to hear about what your going through.. Its not easy I don’t really know what to say as the emotional stress and drain can be very overwhelming. It sounds like your dad is showing some very similar as to what my dad went through.. all Im gonna say is.. Just tell him you love him everytime you see him.. and hold him tight..

- you’ll be glad you did

my thoughts are with you..

Patrick.

By: Sister

Sister — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

My brother is dying soon, I think, after all the crap he has gone through to try to live.
He has recurring colon cancer with multiple liver and abdominal tumors.
I am mad and sad and so very sorry for him. He wanted to live for himself and for the rest of us, but now that his life is so diminished, I think he just wants to let go.

I don’t know how to tell him that its ok if he wants to just STOP.

I feel like part of me is dying.

By: Liver Cancer

Liver Cancer — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

@Lisa,

Don't mention, you are most welcome!

I agree, it's kind of funny when we need to ask Google what "quality of life" is. But when you hear all the doctors using the term, you would assume you are the only one not knowing what they are talking about...

Maybe you could ask the next person that tells you about "quality of life" what that means exactly.

We added our experience to your questions at Cancer treatment options

By: Metastatic liver cancer » Cancer treatment options

Metastatic liver cancer » Cancer treatment options — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

[...] Stage iv colon cancer [...]

By: Lisa M

Lisa M — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Thank you for taking the time out to respond to my post. I kind of laughed when you talked about surfing the internet on “Quality of Life” which is something I had googled a few weeks ago. I had never heard that term before. My father has not had abdominal pain in a couple of days. Which of course has helped me sit back and take a deep breath. He is becoming very week though. The abdominal pain seems to come and go. He says his stomach always has a gurgling sound and he has been burping alot??? Sound familiar to anyone? I haven’t really researched that one yet.
His eyes look kind of glossy & glazed. During his last appointment the doctor had said that he “had no more options” but had suggested that dad could possibly be a candidate at a research medschool about 2 1/2 hours away. The doctor was not sure if that was an option or not. He said that it was not a decision that was his to make. Has anyone else come across an alternative such as this?