wife stage 3B Colon cancer

very worried husband

christinecarl said:

Diagnosed IIIB 12/2/08
I am sorry about your wife. I finished my chemo in June of 2009 and I am doing fine, I missed a chemo due to the blood count, but you get back to it and continue on. Please update often to let us know how things are.

Thanks
Thanks christinecarl for your support...its a shock for us as my wife has never been to hospital before, she just turned 26 on the 2nd of March, she never had even fever before...v v healthy...and now suddenly this ............. we got married in the 1st week of December and she is diagnosed on 25th January........... but what can we do?????its our life now....

AnneCan

Welcome VWH!
You have found a very good place to come with questions, answers, to vent, etc. I am sorry your wife was diagnosed with this darned disease! It sounds like your wife's WBC count is back on track; very good! It must be bery difficult for you not being together right now. My thoughts are with you.

belindahill

very worried husband said:

Thanks
Thanks christinecarl for your support...its a shock for us as my wife has never been to hospital before, she just turned 26 on the 2nd of March, she never had even fever before...v v healthy...and now suddenly this ............. we got married in the 1st week of December and she is diagnosed on 25th January........... but what can we do?????its our life now....

Your not alone
Hi, im a very worried wife, my husband Dx stage 3b colon cancer after bowel perforated Aug 2010. He will finish his chemo last cycle march 18th. I understand the worry you are going through, the support from this site is very good, helps you along the way, so many questions to ask and understand. I live in england and I think the treatments may be different. My husband done 8 cycles over 6 mths of Xeloda. I can not believe we have come this far and still smiling. scans due april. I wish you and your wife all the very best in the journey ahead. Keep us informed.

Lori-S

Hi There
and Welcome to the board. I am so sorry that you and your new wife are having to go through this. Just know that you are not alone and that if you come here there will most likely be someone here that has the same or a very similair experience.

While I was on chemo, I had to have my treatments delayed due to blood cells also. I had trouble with my platlets instead of my white cells. Everyone handles chemo a little differently and no one it seems has all the same results. Everyone is just so different. It is very common to delay chemo because of white blood cells or platlet counts being low and don't worry too much about that. My platlets dropped too low after my very first chemo too.

The injections you had to give were probably neupogen because those are the injections given for 3 days to bring up the white cell count. If they were high after 3 injections then the medicine did it's job and it's good to know that she responds well to it and it can be used for her to help keep her chemo on track. That is good news. There can be a lot of twists and turns on this journey so whenever possible always try to look for the possitive in the situation. It will really help you get through the worrisome times.

And again Welcome!

abrub

okthen said:

Just wanted to say hi and I
Just wanted to say hi and I am sorry about your wifes health troubles. My husband did not have WBC issues with his chemo ever, only platelet issues, his treatments were postponed due to that several times.
It is hard when there is a reaction to chemo that doesn't fall in the "usual" time frame, makes me, us, worry even more. My husband is having horrible neuropathy after only 4 oxal (Folfox) treatmens...his Onc just said the other day he doesn't "usually" see that until 8 treatments...
Did her doctor talk with you about WBC boosting medication, like Neulasta?...I hope I am remembering that name right....

I had severe neuropathy oxali from the day 1
I only got through 7 rounds of chemo; stopping oxali after the 6th because of the severity of my neuropathy.

very worried husband

belindahill said:

Your not alone
Hi, im a very worried wife, my husband Dx stage 3b colon cancer after bowel perforated Aug 2010. He will finish his chemo last cycle march 18th. I understand the worry you are going through, the support from this site is very good, helps you along the way, so many questions to ask and understand. I live in england and I think the treatments may be different. My husband done 8 cycles over 6 mths of Xeloda. I can not believe we have come this far and still smiling. scans due april. I wish you and your wife all the very best in the journey ahead. Keep us informed.

Thanks
Thanks belindahill........yes, this forum is amazing, cancer is a scary word and you need these amazing people who can answer your questions in so much details ....best of luck with the scans...I wish and pray that everyone on this forum and this planet is cancer free...

very worried husband

AnneCan said:

Welcome VWH!
You have found a very good place to come with questions, answers, to vent, etc. I am sorry your wife was diagnosed with this darned disease! It sounds like your wife's WBC count is back on track; very good! It must be bery difficult for you not being together right now. My thoughts are with you.

Thanks
Annecan, thanks for your reply. luckily they started the 2nd treatment of chemo today, being away from her is v bad. i m going to apply tomorrow for my visa....hopefully i will get it soon...

very worried husband

Lori-S said:

Hi There
and Welcome to the board. I am so sorry that you and your new wife are having to go through this. Just know that you are not alone and that if you come here there will most likely be someone here that has the same or a very similair experience.

While I was on chemo, I had to have my treatments delayed due to blood cells also. I had trouble with my platlets instead of my white cells. Everyone handles chemo a little differently and no one it seems has all the same results. Everyone is just so different. It is very common to delay chemo because of white blood cells or platlet counts being low and don't worry too much about that. My platlets dropped too low after my very first chemo too.

The injections you had to give were probably neupogen because those are the injections given for 3 days to bring up the white cell count. If they were high after 3 injections then the medicine did it's job and it's good to know that she responds well to it and it can be used for her to help keep her chemo on track. That is good news. There can be a lot of twists and turns on this journey so whenever possible always try to look for the possitive in the situation. It will really help you get through the worrisome times.

And again Welcome!

Thanks
Thank you so much Lori-s. I am lucky that i found amazing people like you on this forum. I was really depressed when i heard her WBC low on the first chemo, but all the replies i got from this forum helped me take a sigh of relief. Thank God, they started the 2nd chemo today as her WBC were about 4000( I am not sure if that's correct but that is what i was told by my wife......she is also a bit naive about all this!!!!)

Thanks once again and best of luck...

pete43lost_at_sea

welcome to the board
hell of a honeymoon, sorry for both you and your wife.
It must be really frustrating dealing with the language issues.
this part of the journey is pretty hectic so if you can chill out and relax and smile at each other, even a few extra hugs will be good for yourselves.

we said for better or worse when we got married, so it took 16 years for my wife to get the worse deal.

all I can say is your wife is young and strong and I pray you both have a long and happy life togther after you deal with her cnacer.

Then you both cash in on the "better" part of the wedding vowels.

your strength and patients and care will make a huge difference to your wifes chances.
comeback here for any questions or just to vent.

I presume you are in china, have you tried any traditional chinese medicine ? I have and so far my folfox 6 chemo has been ok. But I am also trying to cover a few bases with complementary treatments. I was stage 3 as well.

welcome aboard,

Pete

Patteee

very worried husband said:

Thanks
Thanks Cheryl for your reply. I am so grateful to all of you. You are all great.
Re language, I found one guy in a university near the hospital where my wife is getting treatment, and he is kind enough to translate whatever I need.
Re WBC I spoke to my wife today and she said now they are too high, so the doctor recommend to start chemo day after tomorrow. Atleast its a good news for me since I was scare that may be it will be delayed for some period.But again I dont know why are they so high after getting 3 injections over 3 days?
Her first chemo went quite well as she had only one bad day in that, the rest of that was OK..I just wish she finish her chemo ASAP and never have a recurrence, AS WELL ALL OF YOU PEPLE.........AS YOU ARE ALL GREAT.........
I could not imagined people will take their time in answering all these questions ......its overwhelming for me.......

My WBC went wayyyyy high
My WBC went wayyyyy high after the shots- but then settled down to normal after the next couple of cycles of chemo.

Just a few positives for you- my Mayo oncologist assured me that the 5Fu and oxil are world wide standard chemo treatments for stage 3 colon cancer. She would not be getting any different chemo treatment elsewhere! I was pretty sick on this chemo- the toxic levels go up with each treatment. Lots of people handle it just fine- others, like me, struggled with it

I am confused though, you said 12 treatments over 2 weeks and then 3 days in the hospital?

I spent several years in NE China and Beijing teaching- loved my time there. However, I am glad I wasn't going through cancer treatment there- I wasn't impressed with standards of health care. But, nothing new for you to hear I am sure!

What helped me greatly through my year of h*ll- is to break it into chunks- first the surgery, then the chemo, then take down surgery. I didn't allow myself to look ahead, nor would I allow myself to relive the horror of the past. I know it is overwhelming and still so fresh- you both are still in shock and fearful of the outcome. But the battle is ahead of you, not behind you. And the battle is so much a current or day to day thing. Looking ahead and fretting about reoccurances truly does nobody any good. Have hope for a great outcome, remain positive and have faith that she will be just fine.

Fight for my love

Hi there.I understand your
Hi there.I understand your situation and it sounded like ours in 2009.My husband was diagnosed stage2 rectal cancer right after a month I arrived the U.S.and I am Chinese.Although I speak good English,the culture shock,jet lag and medical words overwhelmed me quite a bit.Luckily I found this board,I really got a lot help from here.

My husband is doing well now,he has no evidence of disease after the treatments and surgery.So please be confident,your wife should be fine like many other stage 3 people on this board.

If you need any help with language,please let me know.I hope she is receiving treatments in a good hospital in big city,usually they have good resources.I also hope she has family closed by,and they can also take good care of her.

Anyway, if you need help,please let me know.Take care.

very worried husband

Patteee said:

My WBC went wayyyyy high
My WBC went wayyyyy high after the shots- but then settled down to normal after the next couple of cycles of chemo.

Just a few positives for you- my Mayo oncologist assured me that the 5Fu and oxil are world wide standard chemo treatments for stage 3 colon cancer. She would not be getting any different chemo treatment elsewhere! I was pretty sick on this chemo- the toxic levels go up with each treatment. Lots of people handle it just fine- others, like me, struggled with it

I am confused though, you said 12 treatments over 2 weeks and then 3 days in the hospital?

I spent several years in NE China and Beijing teaching- loved my time there. However, I am glad I wasn't going through cancer treatment there- I wasn't impressed with standards of health care. But, nothing new for you to hear I am sure!

What helped me greatly through my year of h*ll- is to break it into chunks- first the surgery, then the chemo, then take down surgery. I didn't allow myself to look ahead, nor would I allow myself to relive the horror of the past. I know it is overwhelming and still so fresh- you both are still in shock and fearful of the outcome. But the battle is ahead of you, not behind you. And the battle is so much a current or day to day thing. Looking ahead and fretting about reoccurances truly does nobody any good. Have hope for a great outcome, remain positive and have faith that she will be just fine.

Thanks
Thank you so much Patteee. Yes, she is on 5FU+ Oxi, she is gonna get 12 treatment once every fortnight, and she stays in hospital for (atleast ) 3 days. The first day she gets her blood tests, and then they start chemotherapy. The 1st part takes about 7-8 hours and then she is given a 48 hours bottle kinda thing. for all this 48 hours, she remains in hospital. her first chemo was not that bad, but this time she has severe vomiting since yesterday ( soon after the chemo finished), and the worst part is i am not with her in china, I flew to my home country to get my visa to china, and I could just speak to her for a minute and she told me that she is vomiting since yesterday and feeling v bad.

my wife is in Guangzhou and so far i have found the health care ok, except that its so expensive especially when u are paying from your pocket. I could not imagine that it could be that expensive.
Thanks once again for your support, its so difficult and getting difficult day by day......but the support i got here is amazing.......the good old days are gone so hopefully these bad days will also go one day hopefully.....

very worried husband

pete43lost_at_sea said:

welcome to the board
hell of a honeymoon, sorry for both you and your wife.
It must be really frustrating dealing with the language issues.
this part of the journey is pretty hectic so if you can chill out and relax and smile at each other, even a few extra hugs will be good for yourselves.

we said for better or worse when we got married, so it took 16 years for my wife to get the worse deal.

all I can say is your wife is young and strong and I pray you both have a long and happy life togther after you deal with her cnacer.

Then you both cash in on the "better" part of the wedding vowels.

your strength and patients and care will make a huge difference to your wifes chances.
comeback here for any questions or just to vent.

I presume you are in china, have you tried any traditional chinese medicine ? I have and so far my folfox 6 chemo has been ok. But I am also trying to cover a few bases with complementary treatments. I was stage 3 as well.

welcome aboard,

Pete

Thanks
Thanks Pete, I appreciate your kindness. after the first chemo, she could not sleep, so her mom gave her ginsing water( I am not sure if i am spelling it right!!), and it really helped. she could sleep really well and also she had better energy levels, except that we have not tried anything. we are thinking to try those things after the chemotherapy is over .This time the chemotherapy has hit her v v hard, I only spoke to her for a minute since she was feeling v bad.
I will definitely let you know about any traditional thing we use...

Thanks

very worried husband

Fight for my love said:

Hi there.I understand your
Hi there.I understand your situation and it sounded like ours in 2009.My husband was diagnosed stage2 rectal cancer right after a month I arrived the U.S.and I am Chinese.Although I speak good English,the culture shock,jet lag and medical words overwhelmed me quite a bit.Luckily I found this board,I really got a lot help from here.

My husband is doing well now,he has no evidence of disease after the treatments and surgery.So please be confident,your wife should be fine like many other stage 3 people on this board.

If you need any help with language,please let me know.I hope she is receiving treatments in a good hospital in big city,usually they have good resources.I also hope she has family closed by,and they can also take good care of her.

Anyway, if you need help,please let me know.Take care.

Thanks
Thank you so much fight for my love....it seems we are both fighting for our loved ones.so glad to see that your husband is doing well.
she is getting her treatment in guangzhou, and her sister is close to her, infact she is living in her sister's home since i flew back two weeks ago. her family is amazingly helpful. they did not tell her parents about her cancer since they are old.
I will definitely need your help and thank you so much for offering to help me. I am going back to china in the 1st week of april.

Thanks

Unknown

very worried husband said:

Thanks
Thank you so much fight for my love....it seems we are both fighting for our loved ones.so glad to see that your husband is doing well.
she is getting her treatment in guangzhou, and her sister is close to her, infact she is living in her sister's home since i flew back two weeks ago. her family is amazingly helpful. they did not tell her parents about her cancer since they are old.
I will definitely need your help and thank you so much for offering to help me. I am going back to china in the 1st week of april.

Thanks

This comment has been removed by the Moderator

khl8

unknown said:

This comment has been removed by the Moderator

You have come to the right
You have come to the right place for support and caring! I am a stage 3 survivor and was very lucky that I 'sailed" through the chemo. I managed to work full time while undergoing treatment. Hang in there! and remember that all the information you read on the internet is old the minute it gets posted. there are so mnay survivors out there!

Kathy

Fight for my love

very worried husband said:

Thanks
Thank you so much fight for my love....it seems we are both fighting for our loved ones.so glad to see that your husband is doing well.
she is getting her treatment in guangzhou, and her sister is close to her, infact she is living in her sister's home since i flew back two weeks ago. her family is amazingly helpful. they did not tell her parents about her cancer since they are old.
I will definitely need your help and thank you so much for offering to help me. I am going back to china in the 1st week of april.

Thanks

No problem,very worried
No problem,very worried husband.If you need my help,just send me a private message.Wish you and your wife the best.Take care.Have a safe trip back to China.

buckwirth friend

here4lfe said:

Talk To Your Oncologist
My wife is stage 4, dx in July 09. She had platelet issues, but not WBC with the FOLFOX. She never had a treatment postponed, they would adjust the side effect meds according to her reactions (mostly Benadryl)

Hang in there.

Best

here4lfe...
... Looks like Sarah found a wonderful supportive husband. Good thoughts and prayers to you both.