It's been 6 years now

Here I am at my 6^th anniversary after being diagnosed with stage iv colon cancer with mets to the peritoneum.  I’m alive and well with most of my body parts intact.  I’ve lost bits and pieces along the way, but nothing vital.  I’ve had three surgeries, one was HIPEC, and 56 rounds of chemo.  I spend a small fortune each month on supplements.  I wish I could say that I’ve been NED for all that time, but no luck there.  I can't manage more than 12 months NED.  Still I beat my first oncologist’s projection of 18 months.  Every time I see him in the hall I want to smack him for his dire prediction, but part of me wants to thank him because it made me fight to live.

My last surgery was October 2012, to remove a small tumor at the bottom of my peritoneum.  That went well and I chose not to have chemo after.  All was well until January 2013 when my onc called and wanted me to come in for blood work.  Turns out I now have chronic myleogenous leukemia (CML).  This leukemia is the result of two genes exchanging parts and results in too many mature white blood cells.  Good thing is it’s easily controlled by a pill.  Only problem is when it is out of whack, it cannot control my colon cancer.

About 6 months ago I started cimitedine and PSK, after reading what many of you have said.  My CEA is slowly, and I mean, slowly rising---0.1 to 0.2 per month and is now at 5.0.  I attribute the slow growth to the cimitedine and PSK, in the past it would have been a lot higher by now.  A CT scan next month may shed some light on what is going on.  As I said, I wish I could say I’m NED but I can’t just yet.  Don’t know if I’ll ever be there with the CML.

Even with all this I can still see that my body is rejecting the colon cancer.  My mets have been limited to the fat in the peritoneum, with the exception of my ovaries which were removed in the first surgery.  So my organs, don’t want it.  Now if I could just convince the fat in the peritoneum of that, I’d be good.

I don’t post frequently, but I check in from time to time.  I still work full time and love what I do.  I stay busy spending time with family and friends.  I appreciate everyone’s comments and suggestions on this board, I think we all have to help each other through this.