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newbie here
I was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer that spread to liver and lungs in August. My initial CEA was 247. Of course I was devastated, my doctor ordered a liver biopsy just to confirm what CT scan showed (2 inch tumors on both sides). For two weeks without really knowing anything I was numb, and one Sunday I remained on…
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Liver mets bs lung mets
Does anyone know why lung mets respond less quickly to chemo than liver mets do?
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LARS
I heard the term LARS used a lot on this board, but never really fully understood what it meant. Here is an article with a "consensus definition" of the term: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ans.15421 To meet the definition of LARS a patient must have had an anterior resection (sphincter‐preserving rectal…
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ALPSS for liver mets.
Trying to get information about ALPSS prosedure for liver mets ?? I did search on forum but didnt finf anything. Did someone have this prosedure??
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Stage 4 Rectal Cancer: Lymph Node Involvement
Hello group, Firstly so sorry that we are battling this dreadful disease. I have been fighting since June 2017 with surgery in October 2018 to remove rectum and forced to have a colostomy bag at only 53! I Recently had a scan and they noticed a few retroperitoneal or para-aotic nodes that have increased in size! I have…
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Exercise helps with everything
More support for my saying that "exercise helps with everything." https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213231719314636 Accumulating convincing evidences show that exercise reduces cancer progression and recurrence mainly in colon and breast cancer patients. Interestingly, the positive effects of exercise on…
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Tumor fevers or the Plague
Oh my stars this has been such a crazy time! I fell ill and went down hard. I ended up in the hospital twice the first time was only for 2 days but the let me go despite my protests for a specialist. The very next day my vitals tanked and I my O2 sats were in the low 80's. I spent 10 more days in the hospital being treated…
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First chemo Monday
Hi all- A month after being diagnosed I am having my first infusion chemo session Monday. Does anyone remember how they felt after having the first session? Were you able to drive home afterward? Thanks- Kelley
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From Butt.....................
Typing from my mobile....I got diagnosed in Fall 2017. They put me in chemo and a few other things were done. In May 2018 I had a liver resection I started to push myself with walking because I really wanted to go back home for 3 weeks in July to see my family and friends. One doc suggested a mop up chemo and instead of my…
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Abstract about adjuvant chemo after neoadjuvant chemoradiation
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31996583 This is not my situation, but the abstract may be interesting to those affected: In stage 2/3 rectal cancer treated with chemoradiotherapy and surgery, the addition of adjuvant chemotherapy was not associated with decreased recurrence-free survival in the entire cohort or in any…
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Cost of Xeloda
My insurance company formulary does not offer coverage for Xeloda, which is what I was told on Thursday I will have to switch to for startup chemo due to the 5FU shortage. How much will I have to pay for the 21-day dose of Xeloda per month in the U.S.? I have heard that the manufacturer, Roche, has a financial assistance…
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MikeNH
When I started my journey, he was posting his enitre journey through this. I got a lot of valuable information that helped me from those discussions. THe past few days, I have been wondering if anyone heard from him. My hope is that he had success, and is putting all this behind him.
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Second CT Scan Clear-NED
Yesterday was the second CT scan following my husbands Colon Cancer journey. He had surgery and then 3 months of Chemo. He had a baseline scan directly at the end of his Chemo and now yesterday. Everything was clear/NED-no evidence of disease!! Bloodwork was perfect as well. Oh happy happy day. I did not know that I was…
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How to help husband
Good Morning all. Long story short, my husband (age 53) was diagnosed with colon cancer stage 3B 3 1/2 years ago. Did the chemo treatments. Caused severe neuropathy in feet causing him to have trouble walking even today. In March scans and blood work normal. In September golf ball size tumor and blood work crazy. This time…
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Official pathology report
Its been an emotional day. I cried and hugged my surgeon. Got staples out of my abdomen. Pathology report states: clear margins, stage IIIB. I now have 4 months of folfox to go. Its the last sprint in this marathon to beat cancer!
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8 Years NED Today - Oh the Joy
To All Oh the joy! Each year this is my favorite thing to do. It was 8 years ago today, Jan 31, that I was NED from Stage 3b signet cell colon cancer - it's another birthday for me. To all on these posts - thanks for always supporting and providing encouragement. I hope I have been able to help when I could. PM me if you…
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Our friend Butt
Hello all, I noticed that Butt has been missing from the forum, so I sent a DM, I was told that I could share the response with all of you... I am on a trail from MD Anderson. No results yet. My recent visit there was very problematic. They made some mistakes. They were denying everything abd failed to control a strong…
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Surgery getting real close
I wish all of you could be at the hospital with me when I have surgery! You all know how it is suppose to be and how things are suppose to look and feel. Ya, I'm super nervous. Never had surgery before so this one is first and hopefully last!
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So tired of hearing a positive outlook is healing
No matter how positive one is during this illness, thinking isn't going to kill the cancer cells. I am getting so tired of hearing the comment, it is so good you have a positive outlook, the brain is healing. From now on, I will respond, "how do thoughts kill cancer cells." The problem is, that statement is like saying…
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Scanxiety
It is so real. I am, was, even so confident that my results will show everything stable at the very least, and hopefully shrinking for the win. Nonetheless, the closer it gets to results day, the more my subconscious is freaking out. I realized once I started to feel like I was going to cry while binge watching a very…
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Reliability of PET for diagnosis
Hi. Had stage III-A colon cancer and finished chemo in mid-2017. December CT showed a 2x2.5cm mass in spleen which doubled in size since previous December. Have PET scan on Tuesday. a) is that considered rapid growth? If not, what is? b) any info on false positives/negatives on cancer diagnosis using PET scan? Did some…
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This is relevant to chemo brain as well
i know that I’m getting older but it also made me think of the dreaded chemo brain
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Folfox7 2 down 10 to go
So far I have been blessed I guess. I get tired at the clinic during my treatment and a little tired for the 2days with my bag buddy. Other than that the only side effect I get is the prickly feeling on fingertips and throth. Blood counts remain good. All in all I feel pretty good. I am attacking this all with a very…
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How is mop up chemo different
They say to do mop up chemo to kill any errant microscopic cancer cells. This would make it seem that chemo can get rid of the cancer. But then, they also say that chemo alone cannot cure cancer. Why is it that if there are microscopic cancer cells in the bloodstream or wherever, mop up chemo can kill them and prevent a…
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Hubby update
So, another 3 months has passed and last week Richard flew down to MD Anderson for his scans. Since the APR in March 2019 his scans were clean. However, not so lucky this round. The CT showed two spots on the liver. 1 spot is in the location where his liver ablation was completed in WV back in 2017 when first diagnosed.…
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APR repair for butt hernia
Good Morning I am looking for suggestions/ people that have gone thru this. I have stage 3 colorectal cancer and had a APR with colostomy done Now I am having issues with butt hernia and the plan is to take muscle from my thigh and put it in my butt to repair (at this pont they will not use mesh) It is called a APR repair…
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Waiting and wondering
So now me and my dad are waiting to go to ann arbor for his second surgery . But after the pathalogy report I still have alot of questions . Like one of things in the pathalogy report is that my dad's cancer is grade 1 tissue . Does anyone know what that means if its grade 1 tissue ? Also one of things the doctor said is…
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Hepatic metastasis from colorectal cancer (article)
This topic has been much discussed lately and I thought this article might be useful and hopeful. Abstract follows, with full-text link at the end for those who are interested. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers in the world. About two third of patients with CRC will develop distant recurrence at…
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CEA is lower!
I know not to place much merit into CEA counts but we did get an encouraging number today. 26! I know that is still high, but what's made me so thrilled is in July when were were given the doomsday news Jim's count was 611. Opdivo is doing it's job THANK HEAVENS. I really am surprised though, since he is on it with…
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Oncology case manager
I was recently diagnosed with colon cancer and I got a letter in the mail offering the free services of an "oncology case manager"- she works for my insurance company, of course. I am wondering if anyone has had one of these and if they found them useful or if they basically are just there to keep costs down for the…