Living with Stomach Cancer

My Mom was diagnosed in Aug 2007 with Stomach cancer. After going through 9 months or so of other, more common, diagnoses. It began with bouts of diarrhea after most meals. The doctor said that they were not sure if the cancer had spread but were going to begin a regimen of chemo for 9 weeks, then determine if it had spread and whether or not to operate. She also had to take 5 Xeloda chemo pills for 3 weeks, one week off, then begin again.

After the second treatment she became very ill with more and more diarrhea each day. She was unable to eat or even drink. She returned to her doctor who discovered she was dehydrated and had some sort of infection, with a fever of 104. They sent her to the hospital, where she is still having 8 to 9 bouts of diarrhea daily and they have not yet discovered the root of her infection. She has stopped the chemo altogether.

Has anyone ever had these same symptoms? Is the doctor not really telling us all that he should be? He has yet to even tell us how far along he thinks the cancer is. Does anyone have any information that may be helpful?

She is, as anyone would suspect, very depressed and giving up. I try to tell her to be positive, yet nothing the docs are doing is helping to help her.