Hello! My name is Summer and I have colon cancer.

Trubrit

NEDbound said:

Hi Fatherjohn

Nice to meet you! 

Glad to have members here in a similar stage of treatment as I am.  (Also, of course, eternally grateful to everyone who's been there done that for all the advice!).  I am also working through my treatment, a lot.  Honestly, I am very torn.  On one hand, at least so far (one treatment under my belt) I feel fine save a few days during/after treatment, so I feel like I can/should be working.  On the other hand, I have many "friends" who are in cancer treatment or are survivors who quit work or reduce significantly to spend more time with family.  Sometimes I feel like I should act differently. Things are different; my time might be short.  But it's hard to live that way.  I am the breadwinner in my family.   I want to spend time with them but I'm also working for them.  Maybe it's denial, but going to work and behaving as if everything is normal helps.  Maybe I am just putting off dealing with feelings. 

Don't be worried what other people are doing

You deal with your life the way that feels good to you. We are all blessed with God given instincts (or nature given, depending on your thought), and to follow those is a blessing. 

It doesn't matter what others are doing, or even think you should be doing, you have to do what you feel is best for yourself and your family. 

Loading yourself with extra worries at this time in your life, is not going to help. 

Good luck going forward into treatment. I hope it is gently with you and not too rough. 

Sue - Trubrit

Phil64

pluckey said:

Chip - Wahck a mole had been

Chip - Wahck a mole had been my favorite go to phrase to describe this cancer process!  It's a perfect description!

 

One of my old blog posts

One of my old blog posts described the whack-a-mole game:

http://pscamihorn.me/2014/02/13/whacked-02132014-update/

KEEP ON WACKING THOSE MOLES!

Ten months NED now (and counting) after seven surgeries and all kinds of chemo.

 

Phil64

Summer,
So sorry you were

Summer,

So sorry you were added to this club. I was diagnosed with stage 4 crc in April 2012. I will say that i have seen where all scans have proven helpful in my case. For me CT Scan has done the best job at revealing metastasis in lungs. MRI Scan was the only scan to teveal liver mets. And PET Scan showed uptake in the colon where other scsns didn't. Ultrasound revealed a metastasis at the spot where the uptake wax detected.

As far as radiation goes...  My thinking is that the crc is the more immediate threat and I HOPE to beat that threat first. 

I also beleave hat the best doctors use all the technology available to search out and destroy the cancer, especially if there is some evidence (eg. rising CEA levels) of potential metastasis.

Also, in my case (KRAS mutation) Erbitux has proven to be the most effective at killing my cancer. More so than any of the other chemo (FOLFOX, FOLFIRI, AVastin, etc.) however I believe cancers are almost as unique/different as people. And what works with person A may not be as effective on Person B. And vice versa. So what does that mean? At least for now it means that treatment needs to be minitored and adjusted as time passes.

I also believe a GOOD surgeon is strongly desired. Someone who takes the time to search out and cut out any cancer. 

Good luck and God Speed to you. 

And a few suggestions that were given to me from others on this forum...

This battle facing you is more of a marathon than a sprint...  Prepare yourself to endure.

Ane always remember - we FIGHT because they is what we do.

 

Sending you prayers, Love, Light, and positive energy to you...

Phil

 

 

John23

NEDbound said:

Hi Fatherjohn

Nice to meet you! 

Glad to have members here in a similar stage of treatment as I am.  (Also, of course, eternally grateful to everyone who's been there done that for all the advice!).  I am also working through my treatment, a lot.  Honestly, I am very torn.  On one hand, at least so far (one treatment under my belt) I feel fine save a few days during/after treatment, so I feel like I can/should be working.  On the other hand, I have many "friends" who are in cancer treatment or are survivors who quit work or reduce significantly to spend more time with family.  Sometimes I feel like I should act differently. Things are different; my time might be short.  But it's hard to live that way.  I am the breadwinner in my family.   I want to spend time with them but I'm also working for them.  Maybe it's denial, but going to work and behaving as if everything is normal helps.  Maybe I am just putting off dealing with feelings. 

Oh my…

Welcome to the board! You’ll find all sorts of opinions and advice here, just as you will on any open forum. Some may be great advice, and others that you may decide to gently disregard. “Gently” is not always an easy thing, since each of us (including yourself) may consider what is being done the best route….

Opinions as:
 Supplements - be careful, they could block the job of chemo.  chemo is rough, it goes against our logic.  but we have to go through the bad to get to a good outcome.  That's the way it is. You must accept that.

 If for some reason, you start to react to chemo by getting that cancer skinny skeleton thing  - no amount of green tea and chia seeds will help you.  You need to be sturdy to handle the chemo,

There are very, very few of us on this forum that have not gone the “chemo/radiation” route. It is not because there are very few of us around, it is because very few desire to be the subject of comments as those above. One individual asked me “Why bother? They’re not going to believe a thing you say anyway”.

I won’t bother to repeat what’s already in “my blog”; you can read it anytime you decide to. I will tell you very assuredly, that there are indeed other ways to fight cancer. You do not have to get sick to get better. You do not have to destroy your immune system. Chemical and radiation therapy destroys cells, both good and bad. And it destroys your immune system. To intentionally put your entire body into a distressed condition and expect it to fight to keep you alive, borders on absurd. When your physician sees your immune system failing, they stop all therapy until you regain some strength.

As many here have said: trust in yourself. We were all born with the will to live; we all have a survival instinct. Some call it “intuition”…. It’s when we stop listening to ourselves; when we put aside our better judgment and listen instead to other’s opinions, or to opinions based on profit margins, that we fail.

What you said initially:

“My husband is all about diet and supplements, so we've already read many posts here leading us to vit D, tagamet, celebrex, curcumin, fatty acids, and PSK. 

 I am also going to be the craziest green tea fanatic there ever was!  I am collecting my smoothie recipies to increase kale, brocolli, raspberries, blueberries, etc. Thanks already for all your previous research and wealth of knowledge that have helped us feel like there's something, anything we can do”.

Provides reason to believe that you are on the right track to better health. Stick to it. You’re already listening to your inner workings. Trust thyself.

You’ll do fine!!

My best wishes,

John

 

Helen321

Get the PET scan.  One scan

Get the PET scan.  One scan is not going to kill you.  Missing cancer on your organs will.  I've had 3 PET scans.  I feel confident that I'm fine.  I'm more concerned about the chemo and radiation that I had.

NewHere

Helen321 said:

Get the PET scan.  One scan

Get the PET scan.  One scan is not going to kill you.  Missing cancer on your organs will.  I've had 3 PET scans.  I feel confident that I'm fine.  I'm more concerned about the chemo and radiation that I had.

Sort of what I say

What's it going to do, give me cancer?  

Obviously there is a point of extreme where it could present an issue, but the Docs seem to have a plan in terms of timing based on diagnosis, treatment and the rest.  Much like getting colonoscopy and the rest to keep track of things.  And much rather have some information (particularly now close in time and going forward) with the risk of cancer compared to the risk of missing it (like you said.)  I got lucky in that a general scan caught mine and pushed me onto two more scans to "check something out that could be a problem."