When were you diagnosed and what stage were you?

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Comments

  • tommycat
    tommycat Member Posts: 790 Member

    Might as well shoot for 100...
    why quit while you're ahead? :)

    Anna/Danker
    Love your comment very much :)
  • Doc_Hawk
    Doc_Hawk Member Posts: 685
    Hooley said:

    Great news. Great attitude.
    Great news. Great attitude. What treatment shrunk ur tumors. Im praying mine shrink cos it's been two years and no shrinkage but No more either!

    2mor B Gone
    Mine started to shrink right about week three of radiation. By time I was done on 10 Aug 2010 it had been eradicated. I shook the docs hand and thanked him for saving my ****.
  • Doc_Hawk
    Doc_Hawk Member Posts: 685
    tommycat said:

    Anna/Danker
    Love your comment very much :)

    Wager anyone?
    I'm betting that Danker makes my goal of 120!
  • omrhill
    omrhill Member Posts: 125
    Dx Friday the 13th
    In april of this year, stage 3. Large rectal tumor and several lymph nodes, but luver and lungs are clear. 28 treatments of radiation simultaneously with the 5 fu pump. Successful in removing tumor. LAR schedule for this thursday - wasn't nervous at all until this morning. Now i feel very out of control. But, my concern is more about the surgery itself than the cancer. My treatment thus far as been very successful with relativrly minor side effects.

    (Except the side effect of late night binges on the colorectal message boards! I never get to sleep on time anymore.)

    Please journey with us. We all need each other.

    Robin
  • PatchAdams
    PatchAdams Member Posts: 271
    WAS Stage IIIB
    Stage IIIB colon for over 3 years then a met to liver.
  • Momof2plusteentwins
    Momof2plusteentwins Member Posts: 509 Member
    Diagnosed 4/11/2012
    Diagnosed stage IV, mets to liver. Started chemoradiation 4/18/2012 for 5 weeks. Waited 4 weeks, had surgery 6/19/2012, rectal tumor, gallbladder, liver mets taken out with good margins. Recovered for 4 weeks, now on FOLFOX for 6 months, had 2nd dose last week. Stated out CEA 54 after surgery CEA 0.5, CT scan scheduled for September. I go to bed thinking about cancer, wake up thinking about cancer, and think about it all day. I don't cry everyday now but I think about dying and leaving my family a lot. It has only been 4 months but life has changed. Best wishes for your treatment.
    Sandy
  • Helen321
    Helen321 Member Posts: 1,459 Member
    I'm 42, staged at I in Feb
    I'm 42, staged at I in Feb 2012 by a local doctor. Had first surgery, it didn't work. Went to a cancer hospital, best move I ever made because local guy was about to do another surgery with no chemo/rad and I'm now stage III so he probably would have made things worse. Even thinking the last biopsy he did of my lymphs may have been what spread it to my lymphs from the reading I've been doing about the risks of biopsies (someone on the boards mentioned that so I did some research). Or it could have been it just wasn't showing yet on the initial scan, I'll never know. What I have learned is that it is very important to get a second opinion preferably from a cancer center even if you end up getting local treatment, I can't say that enough. Ask a lot of questions when getting tests done. What is the risk with this biopsy, what are my choices, what else do you recommend I should do outside of treatment. Be proactive. My cancer was doing something called tethering and my first doctor completely missed that. My cancer center doctor used the words "misdiagnosed" several times in my initial appt. and said that tethering is very important and has to be looked at and treated differently. The other course of treatment (just having a second surgery with no chemo/rad) wouldn't have worked because it had already spread.

    Was fully panicking at first (in a major way) but a few months have passed and now I'm dealing with the present mostly calmly, even have some great days. I have cancer, there are treatments that can save me, I can do things to help myself. It's all very tolerable so far. Sloan doctor is trying things in a different order based on a study done in a sister hospital in Australia so I'm doing chemo, then chemo/rad, then surgery. It's usually chemo/rad, surgery, then chemo. I'm on my third round of chemo- xeloda (for local treatment) and oxaliplatin (for regional treatment) and I do this every other week. One thing I will say, get a port put in right away if the person needs IV chemo and the person is able to. I did my first infusion through IV in the arm and that was just unpleasant all around. Last two rounds, I got stuck once through the port and it was simple. I will do chemo/rad after this. Then I'll have my rectum removed, ileostomy (a hole where you have to go to bathroom into a bag) and then I'll have that reversed and go to the bathroom normally. Lots of people live with this, lots of people go into remission, lots get cured. The statistics are outdated and need to be updated. Helen
  • christinecarl
    christinecarl Member Posts: 543 Member
    I was diagnosed stage IIIB
    I was diagnosed stage IIIB in December 2008. Things are fine now, it is almost like it never happened health wise. I hope the same for your family member.
  • Al422
    Al422 Member Posts: 2

    I was diagnosed stage IIIB
    I was diagnosed stage IIIB in December 2008. Things are fine now, it is almost like it never happened health wise. I hope the same for your family member.

    Stage IIIA, June 12, 2012
    My nightmare is fairly new, and in the grand scheme of things I guess I have nothing really large to complain about. The tumor was found in a colonoscopy conducted on June 12, 2012 in response to a complaint to my doctor that I could not get food down.

    The resection surgery went very well thanks mostly to the brilliance and skill of the doctor. I am mostly healed from that now.

    Chemo started last month, 2 infusions down and 10 to go, the standard 5FU, leukovorin and oxaliplatin. Neuropathy was really bad last time and will probably get worse, but that is the only really debilitating side effect. Other sides have been minimal to non existent.

    My biggest fear, by far, is after doing all of this, the nightmare will come back. I know survival rates are really high, but not high enough to make the feeling of terror go away. It overwhelms me so badly that I would gladly accept a doubling of the neuropathy in exchange for a 100% guarantee that once the chemo is over, the nightmare will be over too.

    I just can't fathom how I am ever going to lead a normal life with this hideous sword of Damocles hanging over my head forever. How do the rest of you deal with this?
  • Grace14
    Grace14 Member Posts: 65
    Al422 said:

    Stage IIIA, June 12, 2012
    My nightmare is fairly new, and in the grand scheme of things I guess I have nothing really large to complain about. The tumor was found in a colonoscopy conducted on June 12, 2012 in response to a complaint to my doctor that I could not get food down.

    The resection surgery went very well thanks mostly to the brilliance and skill of the doctor. I am mostly healed from that now.

    Chemo started last month, 2 infusions down and 10 to go, the standard 5FU, leukovorin and oxaliplatin. Neuropathy was really bad last time and will probably get worse, but that is the only really debilitating side effect. Other sides have been minimal to non existent.

    My biggest fear, by far, is after doing all of this, the nightmare will come back. I know survival rates are really high, but not high enough to make the feeling of terror go away. It overwhelms me so badly that I would gladly accept a doubling of the neuropathy in exchange for a 100% guarantee that once the chemo is over, the nightmare will be over too.

    I just can't fathom how I am ever going to lead a normal life with this hideous sword of Damocles hanging over my head forever. How do the rest of you deal with this?

    I was diagnosed in 2010 and
    I was diagnosed in 2010 and i worry all the time about this coming back. It does get easier but boy does 3 months go by fast! The last time I was scanned which was In Jan. I thought I was gonna die I was so nervous! Like I said before I go to bed thinking about this and I wake up every morning thinking about this. There is not a day that goes by that cancer is not on my mInd. My life will never be normal again. I will always be looking over my shoulder. We just have to learn to live with this new normal!
  • So Worried
    So Worried Member Posts: 111 Member
    Grace14 said:

    I was diagnosed in 2010
    I was diagnosed in 2010 stage 2A. It's getting a little easier but it's something that I think about when I go to bed and when I wake up in the morning! Not a day goes by where I don't think about it. Do I think about every minute no but it never seems to leave my mind. This has changed my life forever. It's very hard in the beginning but it does get better.

    Hi Stage 2A
    Did you do chemo? Thank you.
  • barbebarb
    barbebarb Member Posts: 464
    Grace14 said:

    I was diagnosed in 2010 and
    I was diagnosed in 2010 and i worry all the time about this coming back. It does get easier but boy does 3 months go by fast! The last time I was scanned which was In Jan. I thought I was gonna die I was so nervous! Like I said before I go to bed thinking about this and I wake up every morning thinking about this. There is not a day that goes by that cancer is not on my mInd. My life will never be normal again. I will always be looking over my shoulder. We just have to learn to live with this new normal!

    Stage I 2008 .Stage IV 2011
    First diagnosis was a polyp with clear margins. I read my report before gastro surgeon told me the news. My regret is I trusted my local hospital surgeon and oncologist. I did not educate myself about later stages and was going thru a difficult time with my ex-husband and busy with my two active kids.

    It was luck that I found the cancer advanced just about one year ago. Felt great
    but had some wierd breathing when I would lie down to sleep.
    It was the statement, "We missed a spot on your liver from 2008" and nodules in both lungs that had me rush to an NCI hospital for two surgeries and treatment. I was an emotional rollercoaster upon diagnosis and have had many dark moments with the surgeries and chemo.

    There isn't a day I don't think about the future of what I can handle and may lose. It is very scary and I have friends as support mostly.
    My son and daughter are 20 and 22. They are being more understanding which really helps. I am finding some resolve with all of this but the anxiety sometimes is overwhelming.

    I try very hard to make each day count as I feel well. Next week I will scan and know if I am going back to work. This will bring a new host of adjustments to deal with but I hope some normalcy.
    Its so difficult living with so much unknown.

    Thank you for letting me share this...
  • Kathryn_in_MN
    Kathryn_in_MN Member Posts: 1,252 Member
    Three years ago
    Stage IVb, and diagnosed 3 years ago. As with any major life change, it is a journey and we deal with it differently at different stages and on different days.

    There are no right or wrong answers on how people deal with it - you find your own way.

    After 3 years there is way too much to read on my Caring Bridge page, but feel free to read what you want to see how I've dealt with it over time. Click the link below.

    CARING BRIDGE
  • HollyID
    HollyID Member Posts: 946 Member
    Stage IIIB
    Diagnosed in November of 2009. left hemicolectomy and 7 rounds of FOLFOX, 5 rounds of 5FU and Leucovorin. I'm NED with some complications due to the chemo. Feeling great most days. Had a new cancer in June of 2010. Surgery to remove uterus and ovaries. Chemo has caused a few side effects I wish it hadn't.
  • So Worried
    So Worried Member Posts: 111 Member
    Al422 said:

    Stage IIIA, June 12, 2012
    My nightmare is fairly new, and in the grand scheme of things I guess I have nothing really large to complain about. The tumor was found in a colonoscopy conducted on June 12, 2012 in response to a complaint to my doctor that I could not get food down.

    The resection surgery went very well thanks mostly to the brilliance and skill of the doctor. I am mostly healed from that now.

    Chemo started last month, 2 infusions down and 10 to go, the standard 5FU, leukovorin and oxaliplatin. Neuropathy was really bad last time and will probably get worse, but that is the only really debilitating side effect. Other sides have been minimal to non existent.

    My biggest fear, by far, is after doing all of this, the nightmare will come back. I know survival rates are really high, but not high enough to make the feeling of terror go away. It overwhelms me so badly that I would gladly accept a doubling of the neuropathy in exchange for a 100% guarantee that once the chemo is over, the nightmare will be over too.

    I just can't fathom how I am ever going to lead a normal life with this hideous sword of Damocles hanging over my head forever. How do the rest of you deal with this?

    Hi A
    I know exactly how you feel. Even though it's my hubbie and not me, our life is a nightmare. I feel like things will never, ever be anywhere close to what they were before. It's so sad. I do not know how people deal with it either. I think they have had it longer and they adjust and try to be positive and live day by day.
    Good luck to you.