Just found out

Hi Joe
My husband was in a very similar boat, diagnosed in 2006 but still alive and well despite several recurrences (currently no evidence of disease). I wish we had found these boards back then because I remember how completely overwhelming that time was.

I'd like to recommend a book that my husband and I have both found very helpful and reasurring, called Cancer: 50 Essential Things to Do. It's a friendly read, very informative and takes a can-do, action-oriented aproach to dealing with cancer.

I agree with the others who have stressed the importance of finding a surgeon who makes every effort to avoid permanent colostomy. Not every patient will be able to avoid it, but my husband did, and I believe it was because he went to a surgeon who is committed to preserving function as well as possible.

My husband had preoperative chemo and radiation as has been recommended to you. My understanding is that everyone responds differently to these treatments, but my husband tolerated them well. One side effect that no one told us could happen from the radiation was increased rectal bleeding. Because no one told us about it, it scared my husband to death--even though it turned out to be no big deal. It may not be a common occurence, but you might ask the radiation oncologist just to be prepared. I hope this is not TMI.

Very best wishes to you as you begin your journey of healing.

Nory

JR6020 said:

Not so good
Had ultrasound today no sedation, ouch!, pretty neat as far as technology goes just wish it were PBS documentery I were watching instead of my own butt. Not great news, staged me at T3N1. Guess could have been worse. Colostomy may not be avoidable. May get second opinion from Dr in Cleveland. Will find out more on Thursday. Hope everyone on here having good day today. I know just after 1 week they go up and down, pretty down today. Joe

JR,
I have a fantastic
JR,
I have a fantastic Surgeon here in cleveland, he saved me from a permanent colostomy! He is out of University Hospitals of Cleveland.
kathy

suelanders said:

just found out myself
Hi Joe,

I just found out on Feb. 21 that I have Colon Cancer, Stage IIIB, I did have surgery to remove tumor and cancer cells where found in one out of 40 lymph nodes. I will start Chemo on Wed the 28th of April and my out look is really good. I can't really say I know how you feel because I did not have to have a colostomy, the doctor removed a 8 inch portion of my colon and reconnected it. I am still recovering. The good news is I am currently cancer free and the Doctor is shooting for 100% cure, of course only time will tell. I am 55 years old with no history of caner in my family, I have to say it was quite a shock to me. I wish you luck and don't give up hope. I am glad to hear you have a veery supportive family, it means everything, I do know about that.I have a very positive addituted and I thing that is 70%of me getting better.

Sue

Hi Sue,
Welcome to this
Hi Sue,

Welcome to this forum; I am glad you found it. It sounds like you have a fantastic attitude for dealing with this. Take good care!

AnneCan said:

Hi Sue,
Welcome to this
Hi Sue,

Welcome to this forum; I am glad you found it. It sounds like you have a fantastic attitude for dealing with this. Take good care!

Hi Anne
Thank you for the welcome. I can use all the support I can get. I do have a great family and I live on Maui Hawaii, I guess if you have to get sick this is a great place to recover. The beach has great healing pwer, it makes me feel so calm.
Sue

suelanders said:

Hi Holly
Hi Holly,

Nice to meet you, sorry for the reason. I did have the port implant one week ago. I start Chemo on Wed. I don't mind telling you I am a little scared. I feel the same as you. My Doctor told me With just the surgery I could expect a 70% cure but with the Chemo we could shoot for 100%. I could not see taking a chance so I am going for it. My lungs and liver look good so I believe you should do everything you can to help yourself. My Doctors have told me this will be my chance to kill any of those nasty cancer cells which am be lurking about. My attitude is " lets go get them". You are almost done with Chemo, how did it go? I am staying off work while on treatment, did you feel like you could work? I will also be staying with my mom for a few day after my first treatment , as I don't know how I will react to it. Any advice for me?

Sue

Nice to meet you, too!!
I do work, Sue. I'm an RN and work with babies and moms. I only do 2 days a week and try to trade during chemo week so I have that Thursday, Friday and that Weekend off.

You have a great attitude which is 90% of the battle. My chemo has been interesting. I had a reaction to my oxaliplatin last time, so I do have to talk to my onc about either lowering the dose or spreading out the infusion time. My onc nurse told me he'll never give it to me again, but I'm gonna try to talk him into doing at least two more treatments, even if I have to do it in the hospital.

Other than that, it's been very tolerable. Ever since they did surgery, my elimination pattern has been way off. Sometimes I have a bowel movement several times a day and during chemo, I'm taking senakot on Wednesday night trying to avoid constipation which chemo gives me. Some people get diarrhea. I also take a pill called famotadine. It helps with the heartburn that the dexamethazone (steroid)gives me. The onc nurses also give me Aloxi (anti-nausea) on the first day. On the first night (Tuesday), I also take Ativan which helps me sleep. I also take home a pump that pumps 5-FU until the next day. I get leucovorin and a push of 5-FU plus the pump on Wednesday, where I totally feel fine and Thursday is disconnect day (YAY!!), but I do go home and I'm extremely tired. I don't get nauseated, but I do sleep almost constantly that first day. Friday is about the same. I don't have an appetite although I'm not nauseous. My taste buds are fried until about Sunday when I feel normal again.

I laugh because my bottle pump is hidden in a fanny pack. It's quite loud and goes "Woosh, click, woosh, click" and my patients look around the room and wonder what is making that noise. When I tell them it's just me, they look at me like I'm really weird. LOL

My taste buds are still a little fried, but I can taste things. It feels like I burned it on hot coffee. What's weird is that I now crave chicken and orange juice. Not together, but the Sunday that I feel good, my husband always fixes me chicken. He's the best!(I just had to add that!) I drink OJ by the quarts. I guess that could be better than craving beer or something like that.

Now that I see you live in Maui, I'll be there in December. A gift from my daughter who is taking me and her friend is taking her mother. I'd love to meet you in person. You should be done with chemo by then. You could also give me hints on where to go and what to do (cheaply) on that island. And yes, the beach is the best healing medicine in the world. I love hearing the ocean. I'm sure it reduces my blood pressure to a normal range. LOL

HollyID said:

Nice to meet you, too!!
I do work, Sue. I'm an RN and work with babies and moms. I only do 2 days a week and try to trade during chemo week so I have that Thursday, Friday and that Weekend off.

You have a great attitude which is 90% of the battle. My chemo has been interesting. I had a reaction to my oxaliplatin last time, so I do have to talk to my onc about either lowering the dose or spreading out the infusion time. My onc nurse told me he'll never give it to me again, but I'm gonna try to talk him into doing at least two more treatments, even if I have to do it in the hospital.

Other than that, it's been very tolerable. Ever since they did surgery, my elimination pattern has been way off. Sometimes I have a bowel movement several times a day and during chemo, I'm taking senakot on Wednesday night trying to avoid constipation which chemo gives me. Some people get diarrhea. I also take a pill called famotadine. It helps with the heartburn that the dexamethazone (steroid)gives me. The onc nurses also give me Aloxi (anti-nausea) on the first day. On the first night (Tuesday), I also take Ativan which helps me sleep. I also take home a pump that pumps 5-FU until the next day. I get leucovorin and a push of 5-FU plus the pump on Wednesday, where I totally feel fine and Thursday is disconnect day (YAY!!), but I do go home and I'm extremely tired. I don't get nauseated, but I do sleep almost constantly that first day. Friday is about the same. I don't have an appetite although I'm not nauseous. My taste buds are fried until about Sunday when I feel normal again.

I laugh because my bottle pump is hidden in a fanny pack. It's quite loud and goes "Woosh, click, woosh, click" and my patients look around the room and wonder what is making that noise. When I tell them it's just me, they look at me like I'm really weird. LOL

My taste buds are still a little fried, but I can taste things. It feels like I burned it on hot coffee. What's weird is that I now crave chicken and orange juice. Not together, but the Sunday that I feel good, my husband always fixes me chicken. He's the best!(I just had to add that!) I drink OJ by the quarts. I guess that could be better than craving beer or something like that.

Now that I see you live in Maui, I'll be there in December. A gift from my daughter who is taking me and her friend is taking her mother. I'd love to meet you in person. You should be done with chemo by then. You could also give me hints on where to go and what to do (cheaply) on that island. And yes, the beach is the best healing medicine in the world. I love hearing the ocean. I'm sure it reduces my blood pressure to a normal range. LOL

Holly
I had to laugh when you asked about cheap things to do on Maui. There is really nothing here that is cheap, oh you can go to the beaches and drive around the Island, sight seeing, but even gas right now is $4.00 a gallon. It is pretty expensive here but I can't thing of a more beautiful place to go on vactaion, just bring lots of money because there are many wonderful things to do here. It is great that you are coming in Dec. the whales will just be arriving from Alaska. They are so wonderful. I come to Maui in March of 2008 for a vacation (my sister lives here) and I fell in love. I was single at the time so I knew I had to come back here to live. As it happened my mom and stepdad had move here in June of 2008 so I packed my bags and moved here in July of 2008. This is where I will spend the rest of my life. AS I have told other people, I guess if I had to get sick this is the place to be.
I would really love to meet you when you come to visit, just keep in touch my email is susan_landers2000@yahoo.com you can email me any time, just let me know in the subject line who you are, as I delete email I do not know.

Sue

P.S. thank you for the infor.