My dad has cc, treatment or not

Hi Paula,
So sorry you and your family are going through this. Please know that all of us are with you and there’s no right or wrong answer to whether chemo is beneficial or not – with cc, it depends on the person. That said, I was struck by the fact that you said your dad has lupus. My mother had autoimmune hepatitis and they thought it was lupus at first because it exhibits the same symptoms and is an immune disorder of unknown origin, like lupus. I don’t know if it was because of her terrible immune system or her low pain threshold, but my mother didn’t tolerate chemo well AT ALL and in hindsight I wouldn’t have done it. Her quality of life wasn’t so bad when she first got diagnosed, but after a couple of weeks she had a lot of nausea and discomfort and weakness and we thought we’d give chemo a try. The chemo was definitely overwhelming to her system, much more so than it is to other people, and she died less than 2 months after diagnosis. I’m not telling you that your father’s case would be the same, but given the fact that chemo damages your immune system, I think a pre-existing immune problem could complicate matters. Also, anyone over the age of 60 usually has a tougher time with chemo.

My mom’s oncologist had her on a regimen of Gemzar and Xeloda also – and when we asked what would happen if we just didn’t opt for chemo at all, he said “With chemo, you’ll have bad quality of life – without chemo, it’ll be worse.” Of course, that really scared us, but he was an insensitive moron, as some doctors can be, and we shouldn’t have listened to him. The chemo caused my mother to become so weak and anemic and short of breath that she was hospitalized with cholangitis (infection) and made thoroughly miserable in the hospital. The best thing I’ve ever done in my life was when I broke her out of the hospital against doctor’s orders, told them we’d have no more chemo, and arranged for her to come home under hospice care. She only lived for 2 more weeks, so I know the chemo would have been useless suffering at that point. She also had allergies to many drugs, and all the drugs she took for her symptoms may have had a bad effect on her immune system, which was overloaded.

Like I said before, any decision you make is the right one – and I don’t want to advocate my position as if I know the answers. I just have my own personal experience to go by and your situation could be totally different. There are always miracles and amazing remissions and you have to hold on to that until all hope is gone or you’ll go insane.

I wish you and your father the best of luck in your battle,
– Joyce

Dear Paula,
First of all, we want you to know that we are so sorry that your dad and your family is having to go through this terrible experience.
Patty is 61 years old. On Feb 21, Patty had the surgery to attempt the resection and it was not successful. I remember clearly that Dr. Rosemurgy, the surgeon, came out to tell me after the surgery that Patty would only have 3 to 6 months to live. I asked him about chemo and radiation and he said that the chemo might extend her life for a few months but Patty had to choose whither she wanted quantity or quality of life. We were visited by a oncologist and he described the chemo and what to expect. Patty decided, and I agreed, that she desired to live our her remaining time with as much quality as possible and just pray for a miracle and use as much supplements as we could discover that might help. We both know that the immune system is the heart of healing and if it can be boosted high enough, there is a possibility of overcoming any cancer. First of all, Patty drinks about 20 ounces of fresh carrot juice a day. We have res earched several supplements on line and decided on IP-6 and AHCC as the ones that looked like they had success on others with cancer. As we mentioned on the posts, there were other supplements that she takes also, including Shitaki mushroom and Reishi mushroom extract.
The decision to go or not to go with chemo and radiation is a very personal choice and we can only tell you what Patty decided to do. Her lab work has improved over the last few months and she feels good and there is no nausea or pain. She is leading an active life. Her quality of life is very good. We read all the posts and how some of the people with cc have extended their life with chemo but we also read how they suffer and believe that Patty made the right decision. We know that we are in God’s hands and we leave it all up to HIm to guide us. We pray that your dad will know that what ever decision he makes, that it will be the Lord’s leading in his life. Please know that we are praying for him and his family.
God Bless you,
Ted and Patty