Colon Cancer Spread to Bones...Prognosis
Find a Conversation
| Fri, 07-11-2008 - 9:43am |
Hi, I am new to this board, but thought that maybe here I could find other people who are in my shoes and are just as confused, scared, and worried as I am.
I am 27 years old. I am married with 2 children, a 4 year old son and a 2 year old daughter. My brother turned 30 on April 29. He is married with a 4 year old son born 3 weeks after mine.
My brother was diagnosed with Stage IV Colorectal Cancer with Metastasis to the bones on March 3, 2008. His original prognosis was 3-6 years. My mom and I have been his primary caretakers and have been closest to him since his diagnosis. His wife had a difficult time coping at first and has not attended any doctors appointments. She only really knows what we've told her. She has really come around in the past month or so and seems to be stepping up to the plate.
Since March, he has been on constant radiation because the bone cancer keeps moving. He has been in the hospital countless times. The bone cancer has been primarily prominent in his spine, neck, shoulders, skull, etc. (at least, that is where he has received radiation. The doctor says that it is "everywhere" in "all of his bones") He has not been able to have a colon resection because the cancer is not slowing down and they cannot take him off of radiation. He went through one round of chemo (5FU), but stopped early because he could not handle that either. He has been in the hospital countless times since March with severe pain and most recently for pneumonia. He is in the hospital now for obstructed bowel. He hasn't had a bowel movement in almost 2 weeks. He is severely swollen and in a lot of pain. He has had a thoracentesis and a paracentisis, but the fluid comes back within a week making him miserable. He is on a CADD pump of 12 mg of Dilaudid per hour with boluses of 4 mg up to 3 times per hour.
He just seems to be getting worse. Now that he has severe ascites, and the bone cancer does not seem to be subsiding, my question is, are we close to the end? It seems that his doctors are not telling us any difference in prognosis, but yet, we are not seeing any improvement. I know that his age is alarming and it seems to me that the doctors are pushing every single bit of treatment at him because he is so young, whereas, in a 70 year old patient, they would have already given up. With all this said, has anyone been in this situation and can anyone give me an accurate representation of what to expect? How much longer should we expect him to live? He has gone through all of this with no slow down or positive progress in a short 4 months. I want someone to be honest with me and not spare my feelings. If my brother is going to die in a month, I want to know. I want to be prepared emotionally. Thanks in advance for any advice.
Christine

Hi Christine!
Welcome to the board, Christine.