u/Key-Neighborhood2985

So heartbroken right now. Just wanted to give an update. :(

Anyone else going/went through something similar?

My dad (76m) was diagnosed stage 4 KRAS mutation Jan 2025. He did 12 rounds of FOLFOX with no breaks and it shrunk liver Mets. Did maintence for a while before going to FOLFIRI. That was effective for a couple months but then quit working. He was still doing well, but cancer began to progress and spread to lungs.

They suggested he try to get try to get into a clinical trial. They found a slot for him. In the meantime to try to keep things at bay, they offered stivarga,but after I read the side effects I asked his oncology if he could do Lonsurf first. They agreed to this.

He did one full round a was feeling good. Then he took the break from it, and started round 2. He was good until he finished round 2. Then he started getting EXTREMELY fatigued and weak. Literally within a week he went from getting up and going to work (self employed at his business) everyday to not even being able to get out of his chair without help.. within a week. He lost his appetite completely and was barely eating or drinking. He would have 1 or 2 protein shakes a day and couple bites. He got blood work and it showed his hemoglobin was 7.9, but CEA was stable (it’s generally been a good indicator for him). He got a blood transfusion. I pushed for him to get repeat bloodwork a week later because he was still feeling so weak and tired. It showed his hemoglobin went up to 8.9 so they wouldn’t do another transfusion. However, he was extremely dehydrated.

They now admitted him to the hospital saying his kidney function was near normal before (blood work 2 weeks ago) and now it’s bad. They are giving him fluids to try to hydrate him to get his kidney function back. He’s getting tons of fluids, says he’s feeling a little better and has been able to eat a little at each meal.

Has anyone went through this? He is supposed to be going for blood work to qualify him for his trial on Tuesday and now I’m thinking that’s not going happen :(

What happened? Does cancer really make someone go from eating full meals & getting up at 6am everyday going to work, being able to climb flights of stairs & self sufficient to completely deteriorating in 1 week?

My dad (75) has stage IV KRAS-mutated colorectal cancer. He has already been treated with FOLFOX and FOLFIRI and those stopped working. he’s currently on lonsurf and is now being screened for a Phase 1 clinical trial called ERAS-0015, a new RAS-targeted therapy.

I know nobody can tell us what the “right” decision is, but I’m curious what others would do in this situation.

If you or your loved one had already gone through the standard treatments and were eligible for a trial like this, would you enroll? Why or why not?

Thank you for any experiences or perspectives you’re willing to share.

For those who don’t remember, I posted about my mom yesterday getting a colonoscopy and how I was panicking. She’s 70, never had a colonoscopy, had a positive Cologuard years ago that was never followed up on, and recently was found to have iron deficiency (iron 41, saturation 11%). I’ve been absolutely terrified that this was going to turn out to be colon cancer. My dad has stage 4 colon cancer. :(

The results: Her colonoscopy was completely clear. They found one tiny spot that they aren’t even sure was a true polyp, but otherwise everything looked normal. No cancer, no masses, nothing concerning. They told her she can come back in 7-10 years!

I can’t even describe the relief I’m feeling right now. Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences, reassured me, and talked me through my anxiety while we waited for answers.

We still don’t know the cause of the iron deficiency, and that will be something we follow up on with her PCP, but today was the best outcome we could have hoped for. Thinking it’s likely from a hiatal hernia & 11 years on blood thinners & aspirin.

Thank you all so much. ❤️

My mom just turned 70 last week. She refused the routine colonoscopies because she was scared and said she felt fine. I’m only in my twenties so was a young minor when she should’ve got screened. I didn’t know to explain to her that it wasn’t only for colon cancer, but also to look for other problems that could *prevent* cancer. So long story short she never got one. She had a heart attack 11 years ago in 2015. Since then she has been on plavix or eliquis (blood thinner) + aspirin daily for the past 11 years. Her heart health is MUCH better now. She also has a stomach hernia.

Because she refused to get one her PCP ordered cologuard in 2021. It came back positive. She ignored it (I didn’t find out it was positive until recently) :(

Fast forward to January 2025, my dad got diagnosed in the ER with stage 4 colon cancer. He’s still alive now but is on the last line of treatments and it’s really taken a toll on him. I live with my parents and my 3 babies so it is EXTREMELY hard to watch this happen to him.

She gets routine blood work yearly with PCP. Last May 2025 she got her bloodwork and hemoglobin was 11.5. This prompted PCP to order an iron work up. It showed ferritin & iron saturation were low. Ferritin 14 & iron saturation 10.5%. They had her repeat CBC a week later and it showed her hemoglobin went up to 12.1. They had her do a stool test to ensure no blood found in stool. It came back negative for blood. so they just started her on an iron supplement… repeat blood work in a year.

She got her blood work in April 2026 and it showed hemoglobin is up over 13 now, yay!!! iron saturation went up to about 11% and ferritin rose to 19. So while the numbers did go up, they didn’t much so my mom decided she would get a colonoscopy.

Doctor at consult told her because hemoglobin is normal they aren’t overly concerned. They said 8 out of 10 people that they see with a positive cologuard end up NOT having cancer.

I’m hoping and praying that it’s not cancer and that it’s a GI bleed from 11 years of blood thinners & aspirin. I am so worried sick though. I can’t even function today. Her procedure is about 24 hours away and she’s doing her prep today. I am on the verge of a panic attack. What are other peoples thoughts & experiences?

I posted before that we went to an appointment last month for my dad, 76m, (stage 4 KRAS mutation) to discuss next steps for his cancer treatment as the chemo stopped working. I thought he had only ever been on FOLFOX but at that appointment we found out it was not only FOLFOX that stopped working but FOLFIRI stopped working also. It’s in his colon, liver & lungs. He still is active, gets up and goes to work every single day he does construction & farming (self employed).

He just got into a center for clinical trials and they’ve applied for one for one. We’re so anxiously waiting and praying. The oncologist said if this one doesn’t come through, he has 2 more trials they can apply for. We’re hopeful as he said they’ve had promising results for people who have even done like 5 types of chemos before. He seems to have so much life left. He’s not ready to give up yet. Anyone else onto clinical trials right now?