I'm going to take a second and share a quick anecdote both because it was somewhat humorous at the time, and as a manner of showing all of the ways doctors try to treat colon cancer. Apologies for the length:
My mom had an immediate surgery scheduled just a couple weeks after her diagnosis. The surgeon that performed the surgery was rather grim when he met with my dad and I. After surgery, she was transferred to an Oncologist and started chemo. The doctor she got was incredible and happened to be the head of the entire cancer center, associate dean of the medical school....very well known in medical circles throughout the country, etc etc.
She responded very well to chemo during her first year. So much so that her oncologist suggested she may be a candidate for a procedure called a Hi-Pec. This was literally invented at Baptist Hospital back around 2000 and their surgeons went throughout the country over the next decade plus teaching the procedure to other research centers. It is an extremely difficult surgery for both the surgical team and the patient. Effectively, they cut the patients abdomen wide open...cut out anything cancerous they can see...close the patient and insert a tube through which a heated chemo concentrate is literally pumped directly into the abdomen. Once they have done that, the surgical team spend hours literally rocking the patients body on the surgical bed. They are literally "sloshing" hot chemo around the entirety of the abdomen. The theory being that the chemo is so potent that it can kill individual cancer cells on contact. After doing that, they open the patient back up to remove all of the chemo they can before finally finishing the surgery. Surgery will last anywhere from 8 to 14 hours. IIRC, Mom's took 11 or 12 hours. It actually has a cure rate of about 50 percent. They only do it in limited cases with patients that responded very well initially.
The day her Oncologist suggested it to her he called her surgeon while we were all in the room and had him on speakerphone. Her surgeon did not know he was on speakerphone. The Oncologist gave him his thoughts and the surgeon responded with "I don't want to put her through that. I've seen inside of her already. I've seen all of the cancer she had." Fair enough I guess. But her Oncologist was not happy with that response and suggested that she was a great candidate. There was some hemming and hawing by the surgeon when her Oncologist had had enough and said:
"Last time I checked, I'm the head of this cancer center and also your boss. I've seen how she responded. I've explained how difficult this is. She is willing to do it. I believe we have a chance to cure her. And as your boss, I suggest that you're next response be 'I'll get her on the surgery schedule'." There was a moment of silence and then a "OK" from the surgeon.
It was a very serious moment and the surgeon was right to have concerns....but all of myself, my mom, and my dad had a bit of a chuckle when that call was over.
