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Port won't draw blood - has anyone had this happen?
Hello all: Yesterday was a chemo infusion no. 6 and they could not get this to work even after the altapaste sp? I have an order to get it checked at my local hospital where it was placed. When I had my second surgery in April this problem occurred and when I went for chemo infusion a month ago it did work. The nursing…
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Do I buy a car?
So, I'm relatively new here - have posted a few times. I'm recently diagnosed - stage 3, rectal, and tomorrow is my last day of radiation/chemo!!!! Yippee! Surgery will follow in August, and then Folfox for 6 months. The doctors say I am tolerating treatment exceptionally well and there's no reason not to expect a good…
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Calling All 4's..
How many colorectal stageIV's-(mets to lungs,liver,etc) do we have ON csn,what kind of treatment are u recieving,and how many years have you lasted? Oh yes, and how many are NED? Nanuk/ mets to lungs-not growing)/Avastin/Erbitux; no tx 3 months
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Help Please..Distance of Tumor from Rectum..Surgery Next Week
Hi everyone, I'm really new here and everything is happening fast. Overwhelmed today. Long story short..(If anyone has any knowledge about this; pretty please reply)...I'm having colon resection in a week..the tumor is (on surgeons report from flex sig) 14 cm from anal verge. He said he's planning to resection and sew me…
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A Taste of Honey
Has anyone else had a change in their taste buds since starting chemo? I've found that I can no longer even tolerate the smallest amount of peppers. Even a little bit of black pepper makes food inedible anymore. I've had other people taste foods that I thought were too peppery and they couldn't taste any at all. Other…
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dr visit update
hey semi's. well went to dr thursday and he was pleased with my weight loss and everything is looking good. i go back in 3 mohths for a stress test and than i can start to work out. for fyi i had congestive heart failure in march and i am doing well now so far. never,ever give up!! bruce
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Does Minimal Ascites means metastasis?
Hi My mom, was diagonosed with stage 3c (10/26 lymph nodes +ve) rectal cancer May'11 and underwent durgey, radiation and chemo (folfox) which ended in dec'11. Onc has advised for ultrasound scan, CEA every 3 months. Her last scan in Mar23rd, said Mild hepatamegaly with fatty changes with liver measuring 158mm Doc said its…
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Reflection for Today
How do you keep enthusiasm going? Form a mental picture of the goal you wish to attain and another picture of that goal as being already achieved, and you have put wings under the hard toil of trying. Norman Vincent Peale
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My 19-year-old is getting a colonoscopy Friday - UPDATED
UPDATED*** All is well. After giving me a scare (fainted while sitting in the chair pre-procedure, which the nurse said is common) all went well. The GI took a few tissue samples to check under miscroscope for early IBD, just in case, but said all looked well and he is good to go until age 35. His labs came back normal.…
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Of kids, cancer.....and turnips
Steved's post made me think about how hard our cancer can be on our children/loved ones---I felt like sharing this story with you all. My girls---identical twins---are now 7 and they were age 4 when I was dx with Stage 3 rectal cancer. It was a brutal road to get where I am today (currently NED) and I think all the…
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Surgery tomorrow APR & liver resection & gallbladder out
I go in at 730 tomorrow morning for surgery. Getting really nervous. Have not eaten since yesterday breakfast - been on clear liquids and tonight get to do that wonderful MoviPrep to clean the rest of me out, yay. Sandy
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Rainy days and cancer always get me down.
Hi all, 3 something in the morning. We had a full on thunder storm and the lightning was hitting the park one block from my house so I woke up. Good thing because my teeth were clenched and serious acid reflux. I'm going to go the GI about the reflux. Colonoscopies did a number. I think I'm having it a lot more than I…
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Lot Going On.....
Hey Guys...... I have been putting off posting until I had all my ducks in a row...... I guess the row is as straight as its gonna get for now. I have had some very minor lung mets recur but that is not the issue. I went to the hospital a few weeks back with a major headache. I never get headaches so it was odd. I had just…
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post holiday
Hi all, posted to ask advice on going away while my husband was receiving chemo, took your advice and we both had a fab time, hot and lots of swimming, so nice to be normal for a short time. Got home Wed and hubby had bloods done then on the Thurs he had his chemo. Would love to do it again. All take care Chin up.
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Good News
My doctor told me yesterday that chemotherapy saved my life. I am having a Petscan and an MRI on July 6th after that I find out if I am a candidate for a laser surgery to zap the spots on my liver. The Dr said that if I do qualify for the surgery and the surgery is successful I will be cancer free and will no longer have…
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Hi mates, it is FRIDAY, any interesting plan for the WEEKEND?
Going to the beach house ad usual , there dinner with siblings and wife or friends,.......oooops NO! No dinner, now I remember Saturday Spain plays quarterfinals !.Will remain at home watching the match !
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confused on diagnosis
I am a 29 year old female who found out I have a tumor in my rectum,well it turns out it is a squamous cell cancer and because it is low in my rectum they say it may be anal.I went to have a colonoscopy because of pain in my abdominal area,blood and mucus in my stools,change in my stools and a very bad pain when I would…
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Dupuytren's contracture.....does anyone else have this?
I am just curious to know if anyone else suffers from Dupuytren's contracture of the palms. I have a large lump on my left hand under the ring finger and now it is starting around the base of the thumb....general thickening of the fascia there. I understand this disease can be heritary.....my brother suffers from it and…
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One of Twelve
My first FulFox infusion is nearly done. Yay. The nurse told me that the 5-FU will make me sensitive to sunlight and prone to sunburn. That was the first I heard of this side-affect. Is this true? She said I should wear long sleve shirts, sweat pants, and 50+ power sun screen on my hands and feet, along with a wide-brim…
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My dad was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer 11 yrs ago; 4 recurrances since and now mets to sacr
Hi, I am new to posting but have read posts over the years. My dad was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer in 2001. He has had 4 recurrances since, has a colostomy, left kidney was removed and has a ureter stent in remaining kidney because of scarring from radiation. He has had all the radiation he is allowed. Biopsy in…
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No more colonoscopies?
My oncologist told me yesterday there is no need to put me through any more colonoscopies as it would not change his approach to my Stage IV disease. My cancer spread to my abdomen area and at this point our goal is to keep everything stable. I have built up a resistance to the chemo that I could take to possibly kill it…
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Clinical trial for TRC105 Phase 1b
Robert is a candidate for a trial in Birmingham @ UAB. This new drug works like Avastin. We weren't too sure about doing this trial since we don't know if the increased tx with Erbitux and Camptosar is working, yet. But Robert's onc said he worked with this drug in a trial last year for prostate cancer and the results were…
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New member and new treatment
Just found out I had cancer 2 weeks ago. Started on the continuous pump with 5FU this week. Start radiation next week. Been a whirlwind so far! Hopfully they can shrink it enought before surgery so everything can be conected back ok since it's close to the rectum. Everything is going well so far but it's only been 3 days.
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Petscan results in - relatively good news
My petscan showed just the one nodule in the lung - yes! My oncologist has offered two options - surgery of the nodule (he doesn't think a biopsy is worth it and they are often false readings) or waiting 6-8 weeks, do another ctscan (non-contrasting since it's just looking at the lung) to see if the nodule is still there,…
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Here's To My Team of Angels
Good morning... I was just reading through some post and I am not sure of what and when things were said but this is how I feel about about my team of doctors. I have the love and support of my family so this is only addressing those in the medical field. I am not in this fight alone. My team of surgeons and nurses are…
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Starting Chemo, nervous
Hi All, I am new on here. I had a diagnosis on feb 14, then a resection on march 28, which i'm still not feeling great from. i was going to start radiation 5 weeks later but they found a tiny leak at my resection and cancelled that. had a port put in last wednesday and not sure what day im supposed to start chemo, but sure…
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Foot cramps?
Has anyone had foot cramps? I get them every night. I am post chemo/radiation. Surgery scheduled for 8/2. Any recommendations?
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Treatment Plans
I thought I'd share what two oncologists have told me and invite your feedback and thoughts and comments. Any insights you may offer are very welcomed! I met with the small-town oncologist first. My diagnosis was a single tumor in the lower colon (just above the rectum). And a metastisis of the colon cancer in a single…
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Pete ... the language of some of your posts ...
When I read language like this from one of your last posts ... I am confused and saddened. "just because we a desperately fighting for our lives in the presence of a few blood sucking scumbag conartist charletane doctors around does not mean they can out smart me and my many committed friends. we are simply smarter than…
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Hand of Doom
Ok, that's the best song title I could think of for this string. Since treatment last week, some of my fingertips have been hyper sensitive. So much so that just brushing the tip of my left ring finger against one of it's neighbors is irritating. It reminds me of the way my feet felt before I started getting treatment for…