Intro

I was diagnosed 17 September of 2012 with colorectal cancer.  I had symptoms of rectal bleeding since January of 2011 while I was pregnant with my second child.  My gynecologist was informed of the bleeding and continuously told me it was hemorrhoids.  When the bleeding was persistent for the following year and started to cause gastrointestinal issues I requested a colonoscopy.  Diagnosis was done through a colonoscopy where a large tumor was found in my sigmoid colon.   I received a CT scan where they found nodules in my lungs that have never changed size, but other than those nodules the cancer was believed to be confined to the colon.  To this day the nodules have continued to remain the same size.

I had bowel resection surgery at Miriam Hospital in Rhode Island on 28 September, 2012 and the pathology showed that 7 out of 28 lymph nodes were positive and that the tumor had broken through the colon wall and that I tested positive for the KRAS mutation.

Starting Oct 30, 2012 my single power port was placed and I received 6 months of FOLFOX   chemotherapy treatment under the care of Dr. Howard Safran at Miriam and had a CT scan in April that showed something suspicious in my left ovary.  Upon further tests including an MRI it was decided to do surgery to remove both ovaries.  Surgery was done at Miriam Hospital on 14, May 2013 and upon pathology it was found that the cancer had spread to my ovary.  Believing this was just a Krukenberg tumor, I chose at this point to do no further treatment.  On September of 2013 I requested a scan due to my extended belly and gastrointestinal issues.  It was then discovered that there were numerous tumors in my peritoneum along with a good amount of fluid in my belly.  I then switched to Dana Farber under the care of Dr. Jennifer Chan and I proceeded to do the FOLFIRI with Avastin.  The plan at this point was to stay on this treatment until it didn’t work anymore.  I continued with the treatment until June of 2014 when I decided to try some alternative methods and take a break from chemo.  The chemo at this point had me vomiting for many days and was affecting my quality of life.  In August of 2014, due to gastrointestinal issues and also the discomfort of the tumors I decided to get a CT scan.  The scan showed more growth in my peritoneum of the existing tumors and now I had multiple mets in my liver.

It was believed that the Irinotican (part of the FOLFIRI treatment) was the culprit of my vomiting and therefore I chose to receive the 5FU with Avastin at this point without the Irinotican.  I continued to follow this protocol as it appeared to not be affecting my quality of life as much.  I had a scan Oct 20 which showed growth on the mets on my liver and thickening of the peritoneum.  I was then recommended for a trial with MPDL3280A and cobimetinib (GDC-0973) through Mass General.