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Colorectal Cancer

Archives for June 2016

Update on Robert
Robert was admitted to the hospital again last week for confusion and disorientation. They found sepsis and high ammonia levels. A couple of days in ICU and he was brought to a regular room and treated for infection and ammonia level. He has been on a steady decline the past few days. His liver is failing and he is not…
Radiation necessity and Maintenance Medication
My mom who is in stage 4 with mets to liver and lung, is continuing her chemo treatments. She's had 7 out of the 12 done so far. My question is about radiation. Is radiation not suggested or needed if the cancer has spread? That's what I've been told and wanted any input on your experiences. She is to take maintenance…
Lesson Learned (I was going to title it Once Upon a Time)
I kind of fell down on the job last year. I tend to get on soapboxes and talk about the benefits and need to stay actively engaged in one's treatment and to make sure the healthcare provider does the same. Never assume that whoever is providing treatment is dotting all i's and crossing all t's. Ask questions of the…
Horrible Twist - Updates
Update: 7/8/16: This morning he has the port insertion surgery, next Thur chemo begins to get at those liver spots, 12 in all. This is more than I can comprehend at times. I though Jan 2017 would be my 5 year NED and cancer would leave my family - I was wrong. This sucks bigger than any word or phrase I can think of. Since…
Pet Scan Results for Mom
Hi Everyone, it's been a while since I've posted. My mom just had her PET scan done and the results said that everything significantly decreased in size. I started crying from happiness because I haven't missed one appointment with her and I've been there along the way with the rest of my family. She's had 6 rounds of…
A Total 180 from Last Week
Has anybody at first thought - yeah hospice is a good idea and then a week later flip out and say you're pissed that the doctor didn't give you more options? That happened with my dad. At first he was accepting, almost at peace, now he's pissed that his doctors didn't try harder. I told him you talked to one doctor who…
Three years NED and in the anger phase of healing... First steps a doozie
Glad to be alive but my quality of life is something I'm going to have to deal with and work on. It's very difficult to be this person at 46 years old. I was in my prime and I got catapulted into fast forward. I've started therapy about my body image and my physical limitations and my doctor wants me to go to physical…
Update from Laz
Got my test results back and it's all good. My CEA is 2, but it's been always fluctuating around here and the oncologist says it's cool. Well what's is he gonna say? So I'm ok with it too. Worry never ends though. Will be 3 year NED in October. I come here every day to check on you and trying to support those who need it.…
Good Update
He's eating and drinking again. He's even cooking dinner on his own. His leg strength is coming back and so is his cognitive function. He declined hospice because he's feeling better and less weak (his decision, not ours). His doctor was shocked when she saw him this week and found he had stopped losing weight and was on…
Petscan lit up but can't find spot with scans
I am a stage 4 survivor. I have had a couple of recurrences and each time my CEA has been a good indicator. I've been NED for 3 years. During a routine check up my ct scan was clear but my CEA raised from 1.9 to 4.9. I had a petscan which had one spot light up on my abdomen with an uptake value of 5.1. I then had an…
Difficult recovery
I need help! I had APR Surgery May 25. It took 2 weeks for my bowels to restart. Got out of the hospital and the next day they slowed again. So I have 1 good day and 2 bad. Wicked vomitting and nausea. Doing miralax, stool softeners and magnesium citrate. Not working. Has anyone else been through it like this? Surgeon…
Roller Coaster - Hospice or Not...
Last Monday my mom called my dad's PCP because he decided to stop eating and drinking and was falling... this was right after we saw the oncologist the Thursday before. They put him in the hospital for failure to thrive. His PCP called my mom and I to speak privately. She suggested we stop all treatment and go on hospice.…
Foot Pain for no Reason
If I posted about this before, please tell me. You know, chemo brain and all that. I still have some neuropathy in my feet but is is lessening. Smetimes it feels like walking on bubble wrap, other times like they're asleep, always like they have something on them like a small sock or like I walked through mud and it dried…
Metformin Treatment
Good morning Some weeks ago Takingcontrol58 posted an interesting thread on metformin I asked our onc and she said this could be an option at least to control or reduce mets, so 2 days ago we started our journey through metformin. We are in a low dose of 425+425 and we are controlling or glucose levels, no side effects…
Web Scams
Web Scams I posted this to the same thread that I had flagged earlier. It bothers me that there are so many damned scams that prey on those most vulnerable and cause them to accept a "remedy" that does nothing more than put cash in the pockets of the promoters. Searching on the web has become very difficult lately. Finding…
Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma (NHL)
I was wondering how many of you had NHL before you had rectal/colon cancer. My brother had NHL in 2000 and treated aggressively with CHOPS, a type of chemo cocktail. His doctor feels that treatment led to his rectal cancer. Just wondering since Joemetz and WinneyPooh also had NHL. I was thinking recently of my…
The NEDness continues
I saw the Onc yesterday, he had the blood test results, but not the scan yet, said he'd call me later and if things are okay we'd bump the next round to four months. Well he called, and this very conservative doctor sounded almost giddy talking about my liver looking exactly the same over a few scans now, so he bumped the…
Horrible Twist
I have been on this site a few years updating all at times - I am NED 4 1/2 years. Just living life. Was able to see my daughters graduate through Masters programs and my older daughter married this past Nov. I am doing well, clean everything, great CEA's. My new son in law was having some symptoms, including bleeding and…
Arthritis in the Hip after radiation
12 years ago, I was treated with chemo and radiation for a tumor at the end of the colon (where it meets the rectum). I was told at the time that I would likely develop arthritis in my hips from the radiation. From that point on, I have had sore hips (and surrounding area). I'm not able to lay on my side on a hard surface…
Aspirin and Cancer (Colon Specific) New Study
Wanted to add to the recent thread, but could not find it. A study which is going to be of interest http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3638887/Aspirin-boost-chance-surviving-cancer-25-study-claims.html http://jco.ascopubs.org/content/early/2016/05/25/JCO.2015.65.3519.abstract
Please Update Search Function (Mods)
One of the real weaknesses of this board is the search function. I cannot even find posts from two months ago or less when using very specific phrases that I know were in the posts. There was a recent one discussing aspirin. I did a search for aspirin, 2014 was the latest one. Tried advanced search and other things to try…
Mom with cancer - question about kids
Hi everyone - I'm new here, this is my 1st post. I am 41 with 2 kids (ages 11 & 13) I have Stage 4 Colon Cancer which has spread to my liver and lymph nodes. I am told I am terminal, but going to fight as hard as I can anyway. My first 'set' of chemo has been cut to 60% for my 6th cycle this week. It will might be my last…
Memorial for those passed 2015/2016
Please forgive my tardiness. I was on vacatoin over the Memorial Day weekend. It is never too late to remember members of our forum who lost their lives to Cancer and the loved ones of our caregivers who post here. Today, I would like to remember several who have lost their lives since Memorial Day 2015. Skeets1961 -…
adhesions after colorectal surgery
Any one have any luck finding a doctor help them manage pain and vomiting from adhesions via diet, medication or otherwise?
Cancer and Pets
We have three dogs. Chloe is our oldest dog at 8 years old. She's had some bigger skin tags on her tummy for some time. In November I had them checked at the vet's and they came up as non cancerous. This morning one of them came off, no idea how, and was bleeding all over the place. Got her into the vet and it turns out…
An interesting article worth reading.
An interesting article worth reading. Sometimes our choices appear more difficult than they need be. Never, ever allow fear to be your driving force. Treatment options There are "other ways". Results may vary, and there is presently absolutely no "cure" or guarantee that any modality will work against cancer. Recurrences…
Moving to Irinotecan (So scared). Please any experiences with Irinotecan?
Good morning We had bad news yesterday. It seems there are new met spots in the liver and we are moving fro FOLFOX to FOLFIRI. From Oxaliplatin to Irinotecan. We were able to cope with Oxaliplatin side effects easyly. No big side effects, but I wonder if it will be the same with Irinotecan. I read teh web and it seems it…
Good News and Questions
Had an appointment today with the new oncologist. My dad had a CT scan yesterday and it showed that his colon/rectum show no evidence of tumors (2 years!), just some diverticulitis, and the thyroid area still is tumor free (6 months). MRI of the brain confirmed that he just has some slight residual damage from the…
What to do.......
My brother started his 2nd round of Lonsurf last week and was hospitalized this past weekend. He had what they believe was a GI bleed and low BP and heart rate. Chemo is weakening his heart and the cardiologist feels it will only get worse. The oncologist said he can go back on Lonsurf at a lower dose and risk having this…
Of colon cancer and brain mets
There isn't a lot of info out there on mCrc brain tumors, except that the prognosis is poor.. A search on this site pulled up Kerry S (Attitude,Attitude,Attitude). Such a character he was! The longer survival of mCrc patients means the incidence of brain mets is increasing. Seven and half years after diagnosis, 1.5 cm…

Colorectal Cancer

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