I'm new here. Looking for knowledge/advice.

PamPam2

Hi Chew
Hi Chew
Thought I'd throw my two cents in too. I was dx stage 4, tumor had grown through colon and engulfed overy too. Had 3 lymph nodes positive too. I am nearing my 5 year mark this fall, so this is a very treatable cancer. Had chemo and surgery, and like everyone said, having the port put in your chest for the chemo is the best way to go. The side effects of chemo vary from person to person, for me it was more cumulative, the more treatments, the more fatique and side effects, but as I had the chemo every other week, I still felt halfway decent about half the time. Hope all goes well for you.
Pam

Chew

PamPam2 said:

Hi Chew
Hi Chew
Thought I'd throw my two cents in too. I was dx stage 4, tumor had grown through colon and engulfed overy too. Had 3 lymph nodes positive too. I am nearing my 5 year mark this fall, so this is a very treatable cancer. Had chemo and surgery, and like everyone said, having the port put in your chest for the chemo is the best way to go. The side effects of chemo vary from person to person, for me it was more cumulative, the more treatments, the more fatique and side effects, but as I had the chemo every other week, I still felt halfway decent about half the time. Hope all goes well for you.
Pam

Met with my surgeon today
Met with my surgeon today and he said I'm healing nicely from the colectomy surgery. Have a consultation Thursday with the oncologist in Kingwood, TX. Next Friday I will be getting the port put in my chest for chemo. Fun fun fun.

polarprincess

neuropathy
what i mean by lasting neuropathy is that many of the people or should i say most of the people who do folfox have neuropathy of the hands/legs/feet/ and you will most likely get it in your mouth as well as was mentioned above about not being able to eat cold foods or it is like having razor shards in your mouth...for me the neuropathy following each cycle was terrible.. i actually became briefly paralyzed..could not walk or move my legs..would get pins and needle sensations and it would hurt terrible to walk on a cold floor or to put socks on etc.. i could not touch cold things either or it would hurt..fingers also would clench up so i couldn't type well or use a knife etc...if i cried my eyes would freeze shut..mine did not go away between chemo cycles as most people's symptoms seem to and it got to the point i simply could not take it anymore and then my body finally said no more as well. The sad part is that there are many many people who have finished the chemo and have lingering neuropathy that does not go away and they have trouble walking and pain and numbness etc...i was fortunate that my doctor stopped the oxaliplatin in time for me to avoid that. She did tell me that men tend to do better with it than women...
i would also like to invite you over to the colonclub.com another great forum where there has been alot of discussion on neuropathy.. i just read a good study on vit d as prevention for it and of it drastically reducing symptoms of it. I had my vit d levels tested and they were very low and likely contributed to my cancer. I take 2000 iu daily now and according to the research that will result in 50% reduction of risk in it coming back and 75% chance reduction of dying from it- they hav gone so far as to say that if the entire population would get adequate vit D that colon cancer cases would be cut in half. That is pretty crazy.

Julie 44

polarprincess said:

neuropathy
what i mean by lasting neuropathy is that many of the people or should i say most of the people who do folfox have neuropathy of the hands/legs/feet/ and you will most likely get it in your mouth as well as was mentioned above about not being able to eat cold foods or it is like having razor shards in your mouth...for me the neuropathy following each cycle was terrible.. i actually became briefly paralyzed..could not walk or move my legs..would get pins and needle sensations and it would hurt terrible to walk on a cold floor or to put socks on etc.. i could not touch cold things either or it would hurt..fingers also would clench up so i couldn't type well or use a knife etc...if i cried my eyes would freeze shut..mine did not go away between chemo cycles as most people's symptoms seem to and it got to the point i simply could not take it anymore and then my body finally said no more as well. The sad part is that there are many many people who have finished the chemo and have lingering neuropathy that does not go away and they have trouble walking and pain and numbness etc...i was fortunate that my doctor stopped the oxaliplatin in time for me to avoid that. She did tell me that men tend to do better with it than women...
i would also like to invite you over to the colonclub.com another great forum where there has been alot of discussion on neuropathy.. i just read a good study on vit d as prevention for it and of it drastically reducing symptoms of it. I had my vit d levels tested and they were very low and likely contributed to my cancer. I take 2000 iu daily now and according to the research that will result in 50% reduction of risk in it coming back and 75% chance reduction of dying from it- they hav gone so far as to say that if the entire population would get adequate vit D that colon cancer cases would be cut in half. That is pretty crazy.

Working
Hey just wanted to let you know that I went on medical leave while on chemo and then as I got stronger I went on intermitten leave so when I felt good I could go to work and when I didn't feel could I could stay home....Your job will be protected if you do this otherwise you never know....
Just remember to take one day at a time and that you CAN and WILL get through this...I have been NED for 4 months now and there are many people who have been NED for longer than that...Good luck and keep on posting here for advice and wisdom....JULIE