New member; mother diagnosed with stage IIIB

live.love.laugh

Hi all,

What a rough past couple of weeks it has been for me. My single mother of 2 was recently diagnosed with colon cancer. CEA levels were normal, CT and MRI were negative, and there was no evidence of distant metastases. She had a colectomy on her ascending colon about 10 days ago and is currently recovering from the surgery. Path lab results revealed that it is stage IIIB with 2 out of 15 lymph node involvement. I've been getting tremendous support my friends and family and I find it very comforting. I also find it comforting to share my story and express the current distress I am dealing with.

My mom will began her chemo treatment in a few weeks and I can't help but feel very anxious and nervous. She's 5 feet and weighs only 80 pounds and I'm very afraid to how she will react to the chemo. I'm trying to get her to eat more and drink lots of water so she can remain healthy and ready to go. I'm also trying to remain strong and be optimistic about the situation for my mom but it's so hard to keep my true feelings of worry bottled up inside. I'm a current 4th year pharmacy student so I understand the risks and benefits of chemotherapy but it's so different when it's my own mother that will be going through the treatment. There's just so much going on for me right now and I feel so depressed and unfocused. What makes this more difficult is that I plan to apply for residencies this month but it's so hard to focus on my applications when all I can think about is my mom. I'm also the class president and I find it so difficult to plan my commencement ceremony when I have this to worry about. I love my mom so much...she's been through a lot and I feel like it's so unfair for her to experience this.

I hope to hear some words of encouragement from any stage III survivors out there and would love to hear about your stories and your throughs about her prognosis. Hope to hear from you all soon. I apologize for the venting. Thank you

ron50

G'day lll

   I was dxed stage3c into six nodes. Had surgery and a year of chemo. I have been cancer free for around two months short of 16 years. There are no guarantees in life with cancer but yes some of us do survive and not for just a short time . My best wishes to you and your mom ,I hope things go as well as they can. Ron.

Geeisme

Anxiety

I can so relate to your situtation.  My husband has been battling stage 3C in 2010, now stage 4.  Just when I think I have my anxiety in check it rears it's ugly head again.  Four and a half years into this I wish I could share some magical tidbit on how to overcome the anxiety but I haven't found it.  We are all wired differently.  Don't be too hard on yourself.  It will get better.  My husband had some fall-back weight to help him through chemo.  However my sister 41 was dx with stage 4 colon cancer in May.  She is doing really well with chemo and has very few side effects, hopefully your mom will do the same.  

JanJan63

Geeisme said:

Anxiety

I can so relate to your situtation.  My husband has been battling stage 3C in 2010, now stage 4.  Just when I think I have my anxiety in check it rears it's ugly head again.  Four and a half years into this I wish I could share some magical tidbit on how to overcome the anxiety but I haven't found it.  We are all wired differently.  Don't be too hard on yourself.  It will get better.  My husband had some fall-back weight to help him through chemo.  However my sister 41 was dx with stage 4 colon cancer in May.  She is doing really well with chemo and has very few side effects, hopefully your mom will do the same.  

It's different for everyone.

It's different for everyone. Your mom may do quite well with the chemo or have a rough time, there's no way to know. I was hoping I'd lose some weight with chemos and surgeries and all that fun stuff but I only lost just over twenty pounds. I'd have been glad to lose another ten on top of that. The doctors will try to make sure that she maintains her weight as the dosage is dependant on it. I haven't had nausea badly enough to actually vomit either time. I have gagged while brushing my teeth. Mostly I just have a loss of appetite.

I wanted to add that I'm so sorry you're going through this. I think it's harder on the family than the prson dealing with it. Don't let it suck your life from you. You have to care for your mom but the best thing you can do is continue on and live as if this terrible thing hasn't entered your life. On New Year's Eve 2013 I had to tell my husband and daughter that I had colon cancer. We had no answers as I wasn't told it was stage III until I had the surgery in June. I try very hard not to let this affect us any more than it has to. 

 

Trubrit

welcome

 

Sue - Trubrit

Daffodil324

IIIB also

I'm so sorry to hear about your mom.

I was diagnosed with colon cancer stage IIIB in August 2009 at age 58. Like your mom, I had a colectomy followed by chemo. I had 3 lymph nodes involved. I made it through the full 12 treatments of Folfox, a treatment every 2 weeks, though several times a treatment was postponed for a week when my red blood cell counts were off. So altogether it took a little over 6 months. I had no problems with the first few chemo treatments, but after that I slowly developed the common side effects of cold sensitivity and mild neuropathy in my hands and feet. The cold sensitivity went away almost immediately after chemo was over, and the neuropathy more slowly, but it's almost entirely gone now. I did lose weight (which I could afford to lose) so I can understand your concern about your mom since she is so small. Everyone is different and reacts differently so you'll just have to see how your mother does. The doctors should keep a close eye on how she reacts to chemo, and they can adjust the treatments for her if necessary. I was teaching high school special education at the time I was diagnosed, and I took off the first few months of the school year for surgery, recovery, and the beginning of chemo (doctor wanted to see how I did with chemo before giving me the ok to work). I went back to school and taught during the last several months of chemo, taking off a couple of days every other week while I was having treatment. 

It's been 5 years now and I've been NED since then--my CEA has been normal, scans have all been good, and annual colonoscopies have picked up a few tiny polyps that were removed. I continued teaching up till my retirement this past June, which was my choice--I just decided 41 years of teaching was enough!

I know your mom appreciates and is encouraged by all the support you are giving her. I hope everything goes well for her. Take care of yourself too--it sounds like you really do have a lot going on right now.      

tanstaafl

off label (neo)adjuvants

At this prechemo, perioperative point we found cimetidine and immune enhancing supplements like vitamin D3 and PSK extremely useful.  Cimetidine has been used around surgery and before chemo with some spectacular results.  Read the archives here and at Colon Club.

Easyflip

Welcome!

I was diagnosed 3b too march of 2013. In July of 2014 a met was discovered in my liver so now I'm stage 4. Stay positive, there are lots of late stage survivors out there! Folfox wasn't too bad for me, I would highly recommend emend for nausea. Good luck to your mom. BTW, my brother and his wife are pharmacists, they went to USC.

Easyflip/Richard

Annabelle41415

Welcome

Welcome and glad you found us.  There are a lot of success stories here on the board and just wanted to let you know that your mom sure is lucky to have someone as caring as you to find out all you can about her disease.  Your mom should try to eat well during treatment as that is going to be beneficial for recovery and strength.  Even drinking Boost or Ensure will help a lot.  Please let us know how she is doing.

Kim

live.love.laugh

Annabelle41415 said:

Welcome

Welcome and glad you found us.  There are a lot of success stories here on the board and just wanted to let you know that your mom sure is lucky to have someone as caring as you to find out all you can about her disease.  Your mom should try to eat well during treatment as that is going to be beneficial for recovery and strength.  Even drinking Boost or Ensure will help a lot.  Please let us know how she is doing.

Kim

A Warm Welcome

Thank you everyone for the tremendous support!!!! I really appreciate it

My mom was suppose to start FOLFOX4 today but unfortunately, it's delayed for another week due to scheduling conflicts at the oncology center. I will keep everyone updated on her status and in the meantime, will do what I can to keep her in good spirit and focus on my studies. Do any of you have opinions on FOLFOX-4 vs. FOLFOX-6? I would love to hear your experience with the different FOLFOX regimens.