Diagnosed in Januray of 2007...I have a couple of key questions leading up to my PET/CT scan tomorro
Comments
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Welcome, Jon!
Welcome to the boards, Jon! Not that this is the club everyone is wanting to join, but if you have to, then this is definitely the best one.
That is a lot on your plate... the coming and goings of spots, then surgeries, then all is clear, then another spot. Congratulations on the birth of your brand new daughter!! Is it any wonder your emotions are running the gambit right now?? Totally natural and totally normal that you would be feeling this fear.
But... take a big old breath... and try to relax. The best case scenerio is that the PET scan won't light up at that spot, so you can breathe easy knowing it's a benign one. But, IF it should light up, then it is one spot that will have to be treated and dealt with. That, unfortunately, is the nature of this beast... it comes, it goes and just when we think we are done with it, it pops up again. For some reason, the colon cancer beast seems to like the liver and the lungs. I'm not sure which place is the worst one to get these spots. So far (knock on wood) I don't have anything on my liver... but I do have spots on my lungs. First time we found them, there were 7, but I had one of them ablated, so now I have 6. That's 6 too many as far as I'm concerned... but they are "lazy" spots and are growing at a snails pace. So rather than treating them or bombarding them with chemo, we are in a wait and see mode... which means scans every two months to check on their progress.
Your beast seems to prefer your liver ... and if they are going to pop up there, they seem to pop up one at a time. All of us go through those times when we are afraid of the future... because you can't help it when something new pops up. Then, when you have a test and they don't find something, we are sooo excited. The highs and the lows are hard on us emotionally.
But you hang in there! You've made it this far and you are going to make it much farther! If the beast shows his ugly face, we beat him back into submission... and onwards we go! Heck, you've got to beat the beast because you have to be around to walk that little darlin' down the aisle at her wedding one day
Hugggggs,
Cheryl0 -
Minnesota?
Hi Jon,
Welcome to the Semi-colons and CONGRATULATIONS on your baby girl! How wonderful. I can't help your predicament (my tumor didn't give off a CEA and I didn't do any chemo for Stage III), but I was just wondering if your Apple Valley was the one outside of MPLS. I live on the North Shore and just wanted to say HI!
peace, emily the juice chick0 -
apple valley got my attention also.2bhealed said:Minnesota?
Hi Jon,
Welcome to the Semi-colons and CONGRATULATIONS on your baby girl! How wonderful. I can't help your predicament (my tumor didn't give off a CEA and I didn't do any chemo for Stage III), but I was just wondering if your Apple Valley was the one outside of MPLS. I live on the North Shore and just wanted to say HI!
peace, emily the juice chick
Congrats on the baby girl! I'm a stage III going through chemo, not familiar with CEA, still haven't learned a lot of the terminology. But - I'm in Woodbury......0 -
apple valley2bhealed said:Minnesota?
Hi Jon,
Welcome to the Semi-colons and CONGRATULATIONS on your baby girl! How wonderful. I can't help your predicament (my tumor didn't give off a CEA and I didn't do any chemo for Stage III), but I was just wondering if your Apple Valley was the one outside of MPLS. I live on the North Shore and just wanted to say HI!
peace, emily the juice chick
I was wondering the same thing. We lived in Apple Valley, MN for 4 years. Are you in MN or CA or a different Apple Valley.
Kathleen0 -
Jon in Apple ValleyKathleen808 said:apple valley
I was wondering the same thing. We lived in Apple Valley, MN for 4 years. Are you in MN or CA or a different Apple Valley.
Kathleen
Hi. We live in Apple Valley, Minnesota. I did my undergraduate work at the University of St. Thomas while my wife went to the College of St. Catherine. Small world hugh?0 -
small worldJONinAPPLEVALLEY said:Jon in Apple Valley
Hi. We live in Apple Valley, Minnesota. I did my undergraduate work at the University of St. Thomas while my wife went to the College of St. Catherine. Small world hugh?
Hi Jon,
MN was a wonderful place to live. I know the medical facilities there are great. I wish I had an answer to your question. We are at the beginning of this journey and are really in the learning mode.
Take care. Stay warm by the fire.
Kathleen0 -
BestKathleen808 said:small world
Hi Jon,
MN was a wonderful place to live. I know the medical facilities there are great. I wish I had an answer to your question. We are at the beginning of this journey and are really in the learning mode.
Take care. Stay warm by the fire.
Kathleen
Hoping for the best on your scan......seems sometimes the hardest part
is to beat back that emotional beast that raises its shaggy head before
every test. I share your concerns since my ca hit my liver as well.....
would rather it not mess with my liver anymore.....I can do without by
ovaries now or some other parts. If treatment does turn out to be needed
maybe RFA is a route to consider......sending healing thoughts your way.
Barbara0 -
ya, you betcha!Kathleen808 said:small world
Hi Jon,
MN was a wonderful place to live. I know the medical facilities there are great. I wish I had an answer to your question. We are at the beginning of this journey and are really in the learning mode.
Take care. Stay warm by the fire.
Kathleen
It IS a small world doncha know!0 -
Hey good luck and congrats.
Hey good luck and congrats. Ypour story sounds like mine (dx 9/06 Stage 4 - liver resection, chemo, clean, lung mets show up, surgery, clean scan...more surgery...clean scans....)It is great that you can get the scans and surgery remains an option. I have 2 kids as well and realize how much that weighs on me. I go for a scan at Stanford on Monday and then find out if all is well for 3 months or more options...It seems that CEA can be a marker for you which is great. That allows for PET /CT scans when needed. I read a comment once from a nurse who gave some advice that did stick with me... "Don't worry about any problem, until there is a probem." It sounded initially so stupid but it gets me through the day when my mind gets going.
Prayers and support
Chip0
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