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Personal messages gone also
All of my personal messages are gone, as well. Now I wished I had saved them to a file. Tru
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Made It To 5 Years!
I was diagnosed in May of 2013 with Stage 2-3 rectal cancer and went through of 9 months of radiation, chemo, surgery and more chemo treatment. I count my NED from the day they removed my cancer and that was in October 5 years ago. I rebounded pretty good even though I had to start my career over, divorced and was left…
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Dealing with Chemo
I know that much has been said here. I've consolidated pointers from my experiences as well as others, as so many friends now have turned to me for advice for themselves or family members, so I thought I'd add it here. Please feel free to add suggestions or your own experiences. This is my own list, my own creation based…
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Lost posts
CSN says all posts since October 29, 2018 have been lost. When I first scanned the announcement, I thougth it read January 29, so I did not think too much about it. But looking at the newest posts, sure enough, we have taken a time machine back to October, 2018. It looks like the profile photos and email addresses have…
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Where am I in my journey?
Hello everyone! You may be puzzled by the title of this post but you couldn't possibly be more than am about my situation. No one knows the hour, day, month or year of when everything is going to fail and there is no turning back, I am not expecting to find this out. It's just strange to me that I have sort of felt this…
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Can Someone Explain Staging & Why I Still Have No Clue?
The only staging I was hoping to ever have to concern myself with would be staging this house when we went to sell it but this pesky colon cancer has changed all that. So because I'm slow as molasses. Actually I'm even slower than molasses (literally if you held say, a downhill race and it was me and my opponent was a…
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Microwave with Y90
Hi everyone! Mom is stage 4 colon cancer mets to liver. But the surgeons removed the main colon tumor and we're now tackling the liver tumors. We had Y90 radioactive spheres put in for the liver tumors a few months ago (with not much results) and now they want to try microwave on the tumors in the liver. I just have a…
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Nuts, again
For those who are relatively new to the forum, there has been considerable evidence that eating tree nuts helps with colorectal cancer. Here is another study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6182034/ The study included 826 stage 3 colon cancer patients which reported their intake of nuts and other food groups…
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This is a good article - it concerns death, so be warned
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-45912254#_=_ I do believe there is a balance between the feelings of the patient, and the feelings of those around us, be it loved ones, or the general public. I think it is important for those of us who are patients, to understand how uncomfortable others around us can be, and allow that as…
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Met With The Surgeon Yesterday, Off Into Hiding I go...
My complete lack of both time and sense of direction was in full swing yesterday. Up at 4 AM for a 10:45 appointment at Yale New Haven which I had somehow convinced myself was at least an hour away with traffic - so off we went with my bag of bottled water and note books full of questions and fears for our "Thelma &…
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Health insurance anxiety
I hope I am not inundating the board too much, but one of the things keeping me up at night is health insurance. My husband is mostly retired and our insurance is through my employer. Should I lose my job due to this illness, I would probably be eligible for COBRA for 18 months, but I worry what would happen after that.…
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Folfox with Avastin..First Treatment
Good morning to everyone here! I will have my first chemo treatment this Tuesday and I'd be a liar to say I wasn't scared. My nurse said I would get Emend with the IV pre-meds. I'm wondering how long that will last...just the day of infusion or for a few days after? I've read really good things about it working for a lot…
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New to this, Curious about CEA levels
My father finally rlented and went to the Dr. after having bowel movements for about a year with blood. The blood work came back and while the red blood cell count, platelets, and white cell counts were elevated, it wasn't much. His PSA came back fine BUT his CEA level came back at 4,000. I can't find anything on a result…
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Nutritional supplements/superfoods
hello, i was wondering if you guys could share your thoughts/intakes about nutritional supplements and super foods. our two oncologists said not to take, because you're trying to kill the cancer cells and they feed off the vitamins. so we are only taking iron. also, we are continuing taking turmeric pills, as it's…
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stage 4-new spots/chemo long-term?
Six years ago, my dad had colon cancer (stage 3) and went through chemo for six months (12 treatments). While difficult at the time as it was new, I thought it was a chapter in my past. Over a month ago, a year from his 5 year year remission, he went in to his general doctor for a regular checkup and a routine blood test.…
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Great PET Scan Results
Hi, All, This is my first post. I was diagnosed with Stage 4 colorectal cancer the end of this June. Had my second PET a couple of weeks ago. My chemo is working: Avastin and FOLFOX. Compared to my last PET, the tumor in my colon is significantly reduced and 8 of ten liver tumors show no hypermetabolic activity; two others…
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Telling People I have Colon Cancer - The Aftermath
The title of this post should really have been "Telling my elderly parents I have colon cancer" Since my diagnosis last week I've been an open book sharing the news with those close to me and there's been some very kind and supportive responses. My cancer has even motivated me to do a little online shopping, as I sit here…
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A Note Of Thanks To Every Member Here And.....
We're off to see the surgeon tomorrow and I wanted to say thank you to everyone for the incredibly kind support I've received here in this forum. I now have what I think is an excellent list of questions and without question a better idea of what to expect from the surgery to post operative care and so much more. Today…
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Seeing my onc tomorrow and whining about it, that's all
I'm all sensitive and down this week. I havent had chemo since March and I see my onc tomorrow and will probably start again on Friday. The rest of the time I'm good but the week I have to go in just really brings me down. I think most or all of us are like this so at least I'm in good company. I think the rest of the time…
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Folfiri every 3 weeks, instead of every 2 weeks
I am changing my chemo schedule to every 3 weeks in hopes of having reduced side effects. My oncologist said it is about as effective at killing the cancer when it is given at 3 weeks intervals as 2 weeks. The negative effects on our bodies is cumulative, such as the damage to our overall health and especially damage to…
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A bit graphic but need some advice
Okay, so I've had the ostomy for over 4 years. So nothing comes out rectally except some mucous which is normal. I'm having a problem that I've had before and I still don't know what to do. The mucous has bult up in my rectum for the entire 7 plus weeks since the surgery. I had it when I went in but I assume they cleaned…
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need positive thoughts after 15 years
Hi everyone, I am 15 years out from my stage 3 rectal cancer diagnosis. I have had 15 inpatient hospitalizations and am now getting ready for my 16 th. I have a hole in my cecum and need to have surgery on 11/12. I am not looking forward to more surgery yet thankful that I have remained cancer free. My youngest son was 14…
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Peter_S
Did you go to see the surgeon today? If so how did it go? Kim
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Worried I have colon cancer!
testing
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A Quick Tip To Help With Pain If You Have A Spine/Back Met (Worse At Night)
In my continuing effort to find every less common version of my cancer - from genetic mutations to metastsis patterns that are "weird," I decided to try out a tumor in my lower back that went into my spine (And yes the location of where in the spine it decided to show up is a rarer spot.) Kidding aside, this tumor came out…
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Anti-cancer effect of cannabis
Here is an article that discusses the potential anti-cancer effect of cannabis: https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/can.2018.0010 C. sativa compounds interact synergistically for cytotoxic activity against colon cancer cells and induce cell cycle arrest, apoptotic cell death, and distinct gene expression. F3, F7,…
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Naked
Last scan showed no available know evidence of disease. Thanks new here for the new Ned phrase. haha i have been Ned now for 2 1/2 years. I am very blessed.
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My Sigmoid Colon and Choosing The Right Surgeon
Hi Folks, Hope all is well with everyone here and that fighting the good fight continues. I had a CT scan which showed that the middle of my sigmoid colon has gotten very narrow and this more than the cancerous tumor is what's causing the constipation and making it so difficult when I actually do try and get something to…
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Still doing well after nine years.
It has been awhile since I have posted here but I do like to drop by now and then to share my experience and hope with others. I was one of those people who didn’t have a colonoscopy when I turned 50 and didn’t until May, 2009 when I was 68 and only did it when I detected considerable amounts of blood in stools. I did the…
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HEMORRHOIDS
Does having colorectal cancer means you also have hemorrhoids?