Diagnosed cancer

[Tiber]

Thought I'd live a million years, then staring at death. Moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma is the wording.

Which way to go,   can see long waiting Thailand  . Where it was discovered, probably back to India. If pet scan and surgery can be completed in a day over there, but radiation maybe required, if that can be completed in Thailand without need to travel would be good   it's bowel cancer, pay my own way, no insurance 

Have to say, at peace with the world  ,. I'm 76, no idea of anything, just dry letter..... Go seek medical hrlp

Edited April 23, 2023 by Tiber

[proton]

Good luck, how old are you and what stage is the cancer? 

[Lacessit]

Overall, you have a 63% chance of surviving 5 years with treatment.

I would suggest a PM to Sheryl with a full description of your diagnosis, she can advise the best options inside Thailand for treatment, and their cost.

IME pathology and medical feedback in Chiang Rai is very slow, it depends on where you are. Good luck.

[orchis]

1 hour ago, Tiber said:

I'm 76

 

1 hour ago, proton said:

Good luck, how old are you and what stage is the cancer? 

 

[Tiber]

26 minutes ago, proton said:

Good luck, how old are you and what stage is the cancer? 

Sorry, I was editing when u asked

[scubascuba3]

Get treatment in UK (message simon43 for info he recently went back) or India, Thailand will only be a money burn, or don't bother getting treated

Edited April 23, 2023 by scubascuba3

[mokwit]

18 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Overall, you have a 63% chance of surviving 5 years with treatment.

http://www3.mdanderson.org/app/medcalc/index.cfm?pagename=coloncancer

 

3 year survival rates are more representative with stage 4. Can be as low as 20% after 3 years.

[HauptmannUK]

In 2018 I helped a Pattaya expat return to UK for treatment. Stomach cancer. Long story, but he was the brother of my eldest daughter's boss at the time. Only about 58. He had treatment for over a year in Thailand at great cost - over 6M THB IIRC. It was just a money grab.  We got him back to UK. NHS were very good - into hospital the day after he arrived back. Sadly he'd left it too late and died within a month.  My advice - get back to your Western country ASAP.

[Lacessit]

1 minute ago, mokwit said:

http://www3.mdanderson.org/app/medcalc/index.cfm?pagename=coloncancer

 

3 year survival rates are more representative with stage 4. Can be as low as 20% after 3 years.

Agree, the OP used the term moderately differentiated. Is that Stage 4? I used the term overall, which is the average of all stages.

[mokwit]

4 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

moderately differentiated. Is that Stage 4?

No. Differentiation refers to how much like normal cells the cancer are or are not. Poorly differentiated are faster growing than well differentiated and thus poorer prognosis. Stage 4 means spread to a site distant from the site of the original tumor e.g when colon cancer spreads to the liver and/or the lungs.

[KiChakayan]

58 minutes ago, Tiber said:

Thought I'd live a million years, then staring at death. Moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma is the wording.

Cancer of what? They can be very different, if it was Prostate. at 76 you may be wise to ignore it, stomach, oesophagus or lungs would require immediate attention. 

[HauptmannUK]

10 minutes ago, KiChakayan said:

Cancer of what? They can be very different, if it was Prostate. at 76 you may be wise to ignore it, stomach, oesophagus or lungs would require immediate attention. 

Colon cancer according to his other posts...

[KiChakayan]

6 minutes ago, HauptmannUK said:

Colon cancer according to his other posts...

Means colectomy an operation that can be done laparoscopically in Thailand. Most likely to survive well into his eighties.

[ezzra]

1 hour ago, Tiber said:

it's bowel cancer

Bowel cancer according to the op, i would say get treatment anywhere but here in Thailand where they're not up to date on the latest treatments and the cost are prohibitive.

[Tiber]

Feel so sad for my mutts, had them for years, yes will have to say goodbye, maybe put to sleep, save them suffering, God help me 

 Worlds in turmoil, cannot believe it's happening to me. Got nothing left in UK, but if life is short span, yes go back 

[KiChakayan]

23 minutes ago, Tiber said:

Feel so sad for my mutts, had them for years, yes will have to say goodbye, maybe put to sleep, save them suffering, God help me 

 Worlds in turmoil, cannot believe it's happening to me. Got nothing left in UK, but if life is short span, yes go back 

Read this, don't panic mate.

[Sheryl]

2 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Agree, the OP used the term moderately differentiated. Is that Stage 4? I used the term overall, which is the average of all stages.

Moderately differentiated refers to the type of cancer cell and has nothing to do with stage.

 

It does not sound like his cancer has been staged yet. Staging will require multiple scans to rule out metastasis and even then (assuming scans are negative) won't be final until after surgery when they can sample and biopsy lymph nodes.

[Sheryl]

A very inaccurate post making false claims has been removed along with replies to it.

 

Edit: make that 2 inaccurate posts removed

[Sheryl]

2 hours ago, ezzra said:

Bowel cancer according to the op, i would say get treatment anywhere but here in Thailand where they're not up to date on the latest treatments and the cost are prohibitive.

They are perfectly up to date on colon cancer treatment in Thailand and a number AN members have been successfully treated here.

 

Cost is a concern for private care if uninsured. Government hospitals are an alternative especially the larger ones like Chula in Bangkok.

 

 

[Tropicalevo]

Sorry, I cannot answer you questions. But you say that you are -

4 hours ago, Tiber said:

Have to say, at peace with the world 

At 76, that is a good place to be.

My motto at 72 (with a number of chronic illnesses)  is -

Live the rest of your life as if every day is the last.

No debts.

No regrets

I wish you all very good luck whatever your decision.

????

[Sheryl]

@Tiber

 

No reason to think there would be "long waiting" in Thailand. In a private hospital, immediate treatment. In government, a bit slower but not excessively so....especially if you can get the scans done privately as that is often where the most wait comes in. You might consider going to India for the scans (huge cost difference) then returning to Thailand for treatment.  Once the scans are done you will at least know if it is Stage IV or not and that information would be significant in terms of decision making and planning. (final staging -- assuming nto Stage IV i.e. not spread to other organs -- may need to await surgery and lymph node biopsy)

 

There is a world class specialist in colon cancer here in Thailand - Prof. Chucheep Sahakitrungruang. He is at Chuklalongkorn Hospital (government hospital) and also has private hours at Bangkok Christian Hospital and Bumrungrad, each once a week - recommend the former over the latter as much  less expensive.

 

I would suggest to consult him right away at Bangkok Christian - cost of consultation is not high - and get his recommendations re scans as well as estimated cost (likely CT will do, not essential to have PET) if done there, then decide if you can afford or prefer to fly to India for the scans. (If you do, make sure to get everything on DVD). Once scans done, have another consultation with him at BCH to discuss the results and treatment options, but at that point if you decide to proceed with treatment in Thailand you could switch to seeing him at Chula and have any surgery, chemo etc done there since it sounds like you are uninsured and cost a constraint.

 

Prof Chucheep will be at BCH this Tuesday from 2-4, make appointment by phone in advance and arrive no later than 1 pm to get in the queue.

https://www.bch.in.th/find-doctor/doctor-profile/?smid=4581

 

He can probably also be seen through the after hours clinic in Chula but BCH will be quicker and when just at consultation stage cost is not much.

 

in addition to being world class in ability and knowledge (trained at the prestigious Cleveland Clinic in US) Prof. Chucheep is an extremely kind, sincere and compassionate person.

 

If you are Stage IV then I would indeed urge a return to the UK as the quality of palliative care is not good here. But if earlier stages and provided you can at least afford government hospital prices,  this can be managed in Thailand.

 

[Tiber]

Feel so sad for my mutts, had them for years, yes will have to say goodbye, maybe put to sleep, save them suffering, God help me 

 Worlds in turmoil, cannot believe it's happening to me. Got nothing left in UK, but if life is short span, yes go back 

[Tiber]

Thanks Sheryl, I'll cert seek the prof, but I feel India will be fine too, maybe take a flight towards weekend but I'll make appointment at bch. To each and everyone this will happen to you too, one day, feels like an out of body experience 

[driver52]

1 hour ago, Tiber said:

Got nothing left in UK, but if life is short span, yes go back 

how do you know you won't wait months to get treatment through the NHS? source https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/nhs-delivery-and-workforce/pressures/nhs-backlog-data-analysis

The latest figures for February 2023 show:

• around 7.22 million people waiting for treatment;

• nearly 3.0 million of these patients waiting over 18 weeks;

• around 362,500 of these patients waiting over a year for treatment – which is around 169 times the number of people waiting over a year in February 2020, before the pandemic began.

• a median waiting time for treatment of 14.5 weeks – nearly double the pre-Covid median wait of 7.5 weeks in February 2020.

[Sheryl]

20 minutes ago, driver52 said:

how do you know you won't wait months to get treatment through the NHS? source https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/nhs-delivery-and-workforce/pressures/nhs-backlog-data-analysis

The latest figures for February 2023 show:

• around 7.22 million people waiting for treatment;

• nearly 3.0 million of these patients waiting over 18 weeks;

• around 362,500 of these patients waiting over a year for treatment – which is around 169 times the number of people waiting over a year in February 2020, before the pandemic began.

• a median waiting time for treatment of 14.5 weeks – nearly double the pre-Covid median wait of 7.5 weeks in February 2020.

These wait times do not apply in cases of cancer and other life threatening conditions.

 

Another AN member recently returned to UK for investigation of possible cancer and was treated in a timely manner.

 

May also depend on where in the country one goes. 

 

But for this OP it is a bit premature to think about going back.

[Sheryl]

1 hour ago, Tiber said:

Thanks Sheryl, I'll cert seek the prof, but I feel India will be fine too, maybe take a flight towards weekend but I'll make appointment at bch. To each and everyone this will happen to you too, one day, feels like an out of body experience 

The problem with India for treatment is that you would have to stay quite a long time especially if chemo or radiation are needed as is often the case. Not very practical and hotel costs would add up. 

 

But first things first. You need to get the cancer staged,  then based on result consider treatment options. 

[Sheryl]

P.S. BCH is a noprofit hospital and cost of scans there, while certainly more than India, might not be that much more when you figure in airfare etc. And you could probably get it all done on same day you see doctor. 

 

If it were me I'd want to know the stage as soon as possible.

 

And until you do, hold off on doing anything about the dogs. Colon cancer is completely curable in early stages. Don't be so quick to assume the worst. 

[Tiber]

6 hours ago, Sheryl said:

P.S. BCH is a noprofit hospital and cost of scans there, while certainly more than India, might not be that much more when you figure in airfare etc. And you could probably get it all done on same day you see doctor. 

 

If it were me I'd want to know the stage as soon as possible.

 

And until you do, hold off on doing anything about the dogs. Colon cancer is,, completely curable in early stages. Don't be so quick to assume the worst. 

Again, thank you Sheryl, feel like bursting into tears at times then surreal, feel too like reaching out for my mother, not there for many a year

Catching bus to chonburi cancer hospital in an hour, see what they say, seeing as ive a day in hand, but I know I'll be put on hold

Tried ringing bch yesterday, I'll try today 

[jaideedave]

13 hours ago, KiChakayan said:

Means colectomy an operation that can be done laparoscopically in Thailand. Most likely to survive well into his eighties.

I had colon cancer surgery at Queen Sirikit hospital near U Tapao a few years ago.It was done the old fashioned way I guess.Recovery was the worst 2 years of my life.The surgeon wouldn't reverse the colostomy until I took chemo.I refused and instead had a PET scan.It was clear and had a Dr do the surgery at Ramathibodi in BKK. Horrible experience.There won't be a next time.

[Sheryl]

1 hour ago, Tiber said:

Again, thank you Sheryl, feel like bursting into tears at times then surreal, feel too like reaching out for my mother, not there for many a year

Catching bus to chonburi cancer hospital in an hour, see what they say, seeing as ive a day in hand, but I know I'll be put on hold

Tried ringing bch yesterday, I'll try today 

I would not use local hospitals for this given that world class care available at same low cost in Bangkok.