New to the Board

grammadebbie

Hi Everyone,

I've been reading the posts for about a month but just recently had the courage to respond to 1 or 2. I wanted to introduce myself as I feel like I am eavesdropping on a wonderful conversation among comrads.

My name is Debbie (their is another Debbie on this board so I added gramma to my name). I had my resection on Oct 17 2007 had pick line during my hospital stay of 14 days. 8/38 lymph nodes positive, Stage IIIC started 6 months of Chemo in Dec. I was only able to complete 11 of the 12 sessions dueto complications, completed end of July 08. Have CT and labs done every 3 months.This is the condensed version ...Ha)

Now I don't feel like I'm eavesdropping anymore. I sure wish I had been apart of this wonderful forum during my treatment. You are all such a blessing and such an encouragment and source of information.

God Bless You all

Debbie

kristasplace

Hello Debbie!
And welcome to our little family!! Don't worry about lurking, there are many of us that do that, not just before we join, but even afterwards!

It sounds like you were diagnosed around the same time i was. Dx Aug 2nd, 07. Stage IIIb rectal with four out of fourteen lymph nodes positive. Chemo/rads for 6 weeks with a colon resection in Jan, 08. Six months of folfox, then ileostomy takedown in May, 09. I'm still in limbo with a questionable lung lesion, so no NED for me yet. Have you been deemed NED yet?

Hugs,
Krista

grammadebbie

kristasplace said:

Hello Debbie!
And welcome to our little family!! Don't worry about lurking, there are many of us that do that, not just before we join, but even afterwards!

It sounds like you were diagnosed around the same time i was. Dx Aug 2nd, 07. Stage IIIb rectal with four out of fourteen lymph nodes positive. Chemo/rads for 6 weeks with a colon resection in Jan, 08. Six months of folfox, then ileostomy takedown in May, 09. I'm still in limbo with a questionable lung lesion, so no NED for me yet. Have you been deemed NED yet?

Hugs,
Krista

Wow Krista, you sure have
Wow Krista, you sure have been thru it. No one has ever used that term (NED) before but I will check with my Doctor in Sept. I feel silly not knowing. I just know that everyone is pleased with my progress. I wonder how you feel. I wonder if I will ever get back to feeling like I used to. I had been sick for a year and they did a hysterectomy then when that didn't get rid of the pain did 2 exploratories, then took out my cervix. The pain just got worse and a year later ended up in Emergency Surgery for a blockage.The result was cancer. That said, I know its been a ruff 5 years but am hoping I will get more energy and brain function( ha) back.

Thanks for making me feel welcome. I will be praying for you and am happy to meet you.

Warmest thoughts

Debbie

kristasplace

grammadebbie said:

Wow Krista, you sure have
Wow Krista, you sure have been thru it. No one has ever used that term (NED) before but I will check with my Doctor in Sept. I feel silly not knowing. I just know that everyone is pleased with my progress. I wonder how you feel. I wonder if I will ever get back to feeling like I used to. I had been sick for a year and they did a hysterectomy then when that didn't get rid of the pain did 2 exploratories, then took out my cervix. The pain just got worse and a year later ended up in Emergency Surgery for a blockage.The result was cancer. That said, I know its been a ruff 5 years but am hoping I will get more energy and brain function( ha) back.

Thanks for making me feel welcome. I will be praying for you and am happy to meet you.

Warmest thoughts

Debbie

Very similar stories
It's funny how this illness is so similar in many of us! I didn't have the hysterectomy or cervical problems, but i was symptomatic for two years before diagnosis, just like you. I kept going to the ER for terrible abdominal pain and rectal bleeding. They kept telling me i had internal hemorrhoids, and never found anything they thought was suspicious (the bleeding is something they should've taken very seriously). Even after two years when the bleeding was so bad and the tumor was so large i could no longer poop but strands of ribbon, they couldn't see it with a CT scan, and it went undiagnosed. It wasn't until i needed a blood transfusion that someone took my case seriously, and then the colonoscopy diagnosed me immediately. The medical profession is simply too arrogant to see past their noses. No doctor ever suspected cancer because i was only 35-38 years old, and even when i told them i thought it had to be cancer, they poo-pooed my medical "opinion". After all, i'm not a doctor, so how would i know? I think i have more of my doctors listening to me now. I've been right about everything my body tells me, against what the doctors tell me, every single time. Now i told my GI today that i thought i had a recurrence. He was wrong about the stricture, so scheduling me so soon to have another procedure tells me he may finally be listening.

As far as brain function?? Boy, mine just seems to get worse with time. Sometimes i think i have neuropathy of the brain!!

Hope to see you posting lots!!
Hugs,
Krista

TxKayaker

kristasplace said:

Very similar stories
It's funny how this illness is so similar in many of us! I didn't have the hysterectomy or cervical problems, but i was symptomatic for two years before diagnosis, just like you. I kept going to the ER for terrible abdominal pain and rectal bleeding. They kept telling me i had internal hemorrhoids, and never found anything they thought was suspicious (the bleeding is something they should've taken very seriously). Even after two years when the bleeding was so bad and the tumor was so large i could no longer poop but strands of ribbon, they couldn't see it with a CT scan, and it went undiagnosed. It wasn't until i needed a blood transfusion that someone took my case seriously, and then the colonoscopy diagnosed me immediately. The medical profession is simply too arrogant to see past their noses. No doctor ever suspected cancer because i was only 35-38 years old, and even when i told them i thought it had to be cancer, they poo-pooed my medical "opinion". After all, i'm not a doctor, so how would i know? I think i have more of my doctors listening to me now. I've been right about everything my body tells me, against what the doctors tell me, every single time. Now i told my GI today that i thought i had a recurrence. He was wrong about the stricture, so scheduling me so soon to have another procedure tells me he may finally be listening.

As far as brain function?? Boy, mine just seems to get worse with time. Sometimes i think i have neuropathy of the brain!!

Hope to see you posting lots!!
Hugs,
Krista

I have a very similar story
I have a very similar story dx with stage III c on 4-4-09 had surgery to remove tumor on 4-5-09,no mets, 4 out of 15 lymph nodes with cells but the good news for me was that my post surgery CT/PET scans were clear. I have had my 7th of 12 5FU cycles now with little side effects I feel blessed in that respect.My onc is telling me I was NED after surgery.Hoping I can remain that was.

lisa42

welcome Debbie
Hi Debbie,

Glad you chimed in and introduced yourself! If you've been reading the other posts, then you've probably already read a couple by me, so I won't bore you and everyone else with all my "story" details :~ (I did write it out on a couple of other recent threads by other people new to the board, so you might see it there).
BUT, I will say that this board has been great- a mental/emotional lifesaver for me at times! I do have a great support system of family and friends, but coming here is different because everyone else can relate and they don't get tired talking about "our" issues! I've been on the board definitely more than a few times late at night (early morning actually), when I was unable to sleep. With the time difference across the country, there's usually still someone around who will reply to you, even at that time. I just don't want to burden my friends and family with it all at times and, like I said, here on the board people understand where we're coming from!

Blessings to you and I'll look forward to your "chiming in" more often now!

Lisa

ron50

Hi Debbie,
Welcome to
Hi Debbie,
Welcome to survival. There are no other options here. I wish you well with your journey . It is not easy but as you progress you will find an inner strenghth that will surprise you. You may need to bolster it from time to time but that's what we are here for. We get by with a little help from our friends,Cheers Ron. (st3c 6/13 lymph nodes pos.No sign of cancer for eleven and a half years.)

tootsie1

Hi
Hi, Debbie.

It's good to meet you, although I wish it were somewhere else. It sounds like you're doing well now, which is wonderful.

Please feel free to ask questions or talk about anything on your mind.

*hugs*
Gail

Shayenne

tootsie1 said:

Hi
Hi, Debbie.

It's good to meet you, although I wish it were somewhere else. It sounds like you're doing well now, which is wonderful.

Please feel free to ask questions or talk about anything on your mind.

*hugs*
Gail

Hi Debbie!!!
It's nice to meet you! This is a great board for support, please post at anytime when you need us, we're always here for each other, we're all in this together, and hope you find this board to be helpful.

I am Stage 4 CC with tumors in my liver, so I been battling this since Jan 09, I'm new to this as well, I have 4 children that keep me going, and a wonderful hubby, who is a great lovegiver, they do what they can, and I try not to be much of a burden, but there are days where I just sit and cry, and am so unmotivated, but my family is awesome, they just pick me right up.

Hope to see you post more!
Hugsss!
~Donna

Annabelle41415

Welcome
Welcome to the group and so glad that you introduced yourself. Sometimes we all just drop in to see what is happening and if we get a chance we respond to a post, but you don't always have to. I'm glad that found this board as it can help you at any part in your journey. As you said you have already been reading the posts so you know that we talk about anything and everything so don't even feel hesitant to bring up any subject. God Bless you and hope you continue to do well.

Kim

grammadebbie

Annabelle41415 said:

Welcome
Welcome to the group and so glad that you introduced yourself. Sometimes we all just drop in to see what is happening and if we get a chance we respond to a post, but you don't always have to. I'm glad that found this board as it can help you at any part in your journey. As you said you have already been reading the posts so you know that we talk about anything and everything so don't even feel hesitant to bring up any subject. God Bless you and hope you continue to do well.

Kim

Thank you
Thanks for all your responses. My family is here visiting so havn't had much of an opportunity to reply. I've tried to stay current though. Will post again when things calm down.

Debbie (gramma)

Sundanceh

Howdy Debbie!
Hi Debbie

I must have missed this post earlier. A big welcome to you. We're certainly glad to have you here among us.

I wanted to tell you that I really appreciated your post to me the other night on my update post - very sweet of you and such beautiful thoughts.

I'm glad you like my writing - I try very hard to write good things.

Thank you so much and look forward to talking with you more.

-Craig

pamysue

No matter when you get here
you are always welcomed with a warm embrace. I will lurk for months and then post like crazy for a few days. It's mostly my mood and how much work will allow me to make it here.
Glad you are doing ok, Gramma!
Pam