Questions, Questions, Questions

nanuk
nanuk Member Posts: 1,358 Member
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
I'm recurrent rectal cancer-(lungs) confirmed by CT & lung biopsy, and about to start chemo in about a week; I asked Onc if more tests were needed, to see if my primary cancer was back-(colonoscopy) or MRI, PET, etc., to see if mets in bone, brain, etc. & she said that further tests were not necessary at this time because pelvic/abdominal films were clear, and the chemo is systemic, therefore will work on any other cancer cells in my body. Lung mets are many, but small-(1-3mm) and she says PET can't see that small. I just wonder if the buggers are anywhere else..? Bud

Comments

  • chuckneddi
    chuckneddi Member Posts: 12
    Bud

    Try working through what you can at one time. I know I get so overwhelmed when I try to take in the whole picture. Try to deal with it a little at a time. Keep posting, not good to deal with all this alone.

    Michelle
  • spongebob
    spongebob Member Posts: 2,565 Member
    Bud -

    I had a scare about a year ago and the onc told me that we should wait and let the suspected little bugger grow so that it could be visualized by a PET. Now wasn't THAT intuitive dissonance!

    Anyway, the good news is that your chemo meds are systemic and don't have to wait until the Cx achieves a certain size, meaning that, like good vodka on a cold Russian night - they will warm your whole body through and through!

    Go pickle them little bas**rds!

    - SB
  • jsabol
    jsabol Member Posts: 1,145 Member
    Hi Bud,
    Good to continue hearing from you and knowing that you are fighting the good fight. It is scary not to know, but after my initial surgery, my surgeon said basically the same thing. We knew it was in my node, but we didn't really know where else the micrometasases may be lurking, so better to "just blast this stuff".
    I recently got great news that seems to apply, sort of, to your situation: a colleague found out one year ago that she had a large diffuse lung mass and the workup revealed mets to the brain. After tx, she has reached the one year mark, and all evidence of both tumors are gone!! She knew it could happen, even when her odds weren't so great.
    So keep fighting, posting and hanging in there. This is quite the club we belong to. Many warm and positive thoughts going your way. Judy
  • jsabol
    jsabol Member Posts: 1,145 Member
    Hey SB,
    I worry that after all your home remedies, we may be hearing from you at a detox. I have to forego my glass of wine or port each night now, gives me a tummy ache :(, so have a small one for me. Judy
  • spongebob
    spongebob Member Posts: 2,565 Member
    jsabol said:

    Hey SB,
    I worry that after all your home remedies, we may be hearing from you at a detox. I have to forego my glass of wine or port each night now, gives me a tummy ache :(, so have a small one for me. Judy

    ironically, Judy, I'm not really that much of a drinker. You know something, I have found that a small glass of merlot helps settle my innerds at night after eating. I kinda think it's the tannins. Rest assured that you won't have to write me in detox. Hey, gotta run - Robert Downey, Jr. is on the phone and wants to got part... er... BOWLING!

    - SB
  • 2bhealed
    2bhealed Member Posts: 2,064 Member
    spongebob said:

    ironically, Judy, I'm not really that much of a drinker. You know something, I have found that a small glass of merlot helps settle my innerds at night after eating. I kinda think it's the tannins. Rest assured that you won't have to write me in detox. Hey, gotta run - Robert Downey, Jr. is on the phone and wants to got part... er... BOWLING!

    - SB

    So as a Navy man if we were to say you were submerged in the drink it would translate to being in a submarine not a lush on the bar stool??

    As for me I can only sniff the St. Pauli Girl or Spaten...sigh....yes, sometimes I would love a good beer. Okay the secret is out. No Merlot for me but a nice Beaujolais with rack of lamb....or prime rib....cripes! Probably what got me here in the first place. Nothing as obnoxious as a rehabbed carnivore....

    peace, emily the bean sprout nibbler
  • nanuk
    nanuk Member Posts: 1,358 Member
    spongebob said:

    Bud -

    I had a scare about a year ago and the onc told me that we should wait and let the suspected little bugger grow so that it could be visualized by a PET. Now wasn't THAT intuitive dissonance!

    Anyway, the good news is that your chemo meds are systemic and don't have to wait until the Cx achieves a certain size, meaning that, like good vodka on a cold Russian night - they will warm your whole body through and through!

    Go pickle them little bas**rds!

    - SB

    Yepper, my dermatologist just told me that the 5fu will "light me up like a Christmas Tree.." because I have so many Solar Kerotosis-(pre-cancerous) spots on my skin; the chemo works on them from the inside-out. See, there's always a sunny side.. Bud