Expert: Claes-Gustaf Nordquist, M.D. - 8/2/2006

Question
My mother has been battling colon cancer (Adenocarcinoma) for 4 years. She has gone through 18 months of various
chemo drugs. She now has innumerable lesions in her lungs and liver. Her Doctor refuses to give us any kind of prognosis from this point.She has recently developed severe swelling in her feet and legs. MY mom lives with me and I am her primary caregiver. How long can we expect her to be with us and what symptoms will we see from here on out ? Thanks for your time.  

Answer
I'm sorry to read about her - and your - problems! Well it is actually impossible to give you any sort of time table with any accuracy unfortunately. On the other hand if she has a large number of lesions in her lungs and liver and her feet and legs are swelling - also when in bed? and is her abdomen swelling too? - which may indicate impaired venous and/or lymphatic return from her legs due to tumour growth but also may be due to decreased protein content of her blood due to her liver lesions - her remaining survival time is most probably not very long. An educated guess - but there are many possibilities of error here - would be anything from a few months to a year. I would be somewhat surprised if it turns out to be longer than that. On the other hand she can pass away tonight if she develops deep thrombosis and pulmonary embolism which can easily happen in a case like this. I'm sorry I have nothing better to tell you!

P.S. I almost forgot, but I have to remind you that since your mother got colon cancer you MAY be at greater genetic risk, so my advice to you is to have yourself checked for it regularly!