Hello all,

I'm writing regarding my Mum - she's in her mid-60s and in October was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer, which had spread to her liver (multiple large tumours) and her lung (small spot).  Her diagnosis was terminal, with a 2-2.5 year outlook based on successful chemo (3 months without).

My mum started chemo in November (2019) on a cocktail of cancer drugs: Irinotecan, Fluoroaracil, Folinate and Oxaliplatin.  She has these every 2 weeks.  After ~4 rounds, my mum deteriorated - she wasn't eating, was extremely tired, wobbly and confused.  The consultant immediately dropped the Oxaliplatin and put her onto steroids, and this worked wonders.  Her appetite increased, her confusion reduced and she started living a relatively normal life again. We've now had 8 cycles and she's doing well, with the main symptom being Chemo brain (she's definately more confused and unable to hold a conversation as easily).  Other than that, she's living a good life.  She's happy in herself, out every day at the shops or what not.  Yes she gets more tired and she can get confused, but she's happy.

In a recent scan, my mum showed that the tumours have responded to the chemo.  Her spot on the lung has completely gone, the liver tumours have shrunk, as have those in the bowel.  This didn't come as a surprise as mum has been able to go back to eating normally, so she had expected this news.

The consultant has started pushing for a break from chemo.  This would by a 12 week (3 month) break, with a scan in the middle. I have to be honest, I don't particularly like the consultant; he's rude and never appears to have much time for her.  In the latest consult he walked in, immediately started talking about having had "all these strong drugs" for a "long time", and suggested a break. He had "forgotten" Mum had stopped Oxaliplatin, which obviously didn't impress me nor give me confidence in his recommendations.  I challenged him on what the benefits of a break would be, and he just kept stating "quality of life". He told me that it makes "very little difference" to her outlook (he explained that the chemo is most effective in the first few months), but my own brief Googling suggests this probably isn't true and that a break can have an impact on the length of survival. 

I came away wondering if he was just looking to save the NHS money, and I still don't really feel that there benefits are there - yes she's confused but she's happy and living her life.  Would a 12 week break even reduce these confused symptoms significantly? It doesn't seem like a long period so I am sceptical.

I am aware that chemo symptoms get progressively worse, but she's only been going 4 months. Does anyone have any experience or advice on taking a break vs carrying on? I'm thinking about paying privately to get a second opinion - have them review her medication and scans (pre chemo and last months more positive scan).

Any advice very welcomed, thank you.