Roll Call ****ALL****

Hi,

We're still here.  **** was diagnosed Jan 2009 with 3c, spread to the nodes.  He had a resection and chemo.  Cancer still there after the intitail 6 months of Folfox and they switched chemo.  In May 2010 he had another surgery for a lymph node and they found cancer in a few lymph nodes and took those out.  NED from June 2010 - January 2011 when mets to lungs showed up.  Has been on chemo since then, about 95 rounds all together.  Did Folfori for a year or so and now on Erbitux and Irenotican.  On chemo every two weeks now.  We feel blessed most of the time, **** would say that too.  I have to say that **** has put so much into fighting this cancer and living a full life.  He continues to surf, go to the gym, participate in all areas of our daughters' lives.  He just lives his life the way he needs to live it and in the process inspires the heck out of other people.  I admire him so much.

Thank you to everyone on this board.  You have been here for me (us) every step of the way.  I miss so many people we have lost but know that they would want us to continue to be here for each other.

Aloha,

Kathleen

Fucc said:

I was diagnosed with stage iv
I was diagnosed with stage iv CRC in April 2012 after a precautionary colonoscopy due to a family history of CRC. I was 36 years old at the time. In retrospect I had some symptoms, but nothing that I thought to be unusual. I had my first child a year before and assumed any changes were due to my pregnancy. I had a colon resection, liver resection for one met in section seven of my liver and 12 rounds of folfox. I have been Ned since August of last year. My next scan is in a few days...

I opened this account for my brother who is intellectually disabled. I was reading all these postings and saw so much hope, so I thought it would be good for me to help him do this. I want to give him hope.  I am his advocate, have been helping him get through this. It has been difficult on my brother, as well as our dad and myself.

Well here it goes:

He is currently 49 years old and was diagnosed with Non-hodgkins lymphoma is 2000 and had his spleen removed. He received chemo and from what we understood, he beat the cancer. He developed a slightly enlarged heart from the chemo, but aside from that, all his tests had come back clean. In 2011, he had gone to his onc and his blood levels were slightly elevated. Onc said it was nothing, not to worry. At that time, I was unhappy with the general practioner my dad and brother went to. I felt they weren't thorough. He had never had a rectal exam and never had an EKG, even though my brother is obese. At this point, I put my foot down and made both dad and brother go to a new GP. When the GP did a rectal, he found blood. He sent him for a colonoscopy and they found that he had rectal cancer. Dad wanted to go back to the old onc, I told him that I felt the onc missed this so we need to start with someone new. Doctor did chemo (using an infusion pump) and radiation. He developed a blood clot behind the port and was in and out of the hospital with minor issues that took a toll on him. Then he had surgery to remove the tumor (lower anterior resection). He had a temporary ileostomy and remained in the hospital for weeks while the ileostomy was in place. He had problems with the ileostomy, so he went from the hospital to a rehab center until it was time to remove it. He went back in the hospital, had the ileostomy removed, and went on to do more chemo. This time he had to go into the office and get the chemo through a drip. Once the chemo was over (August 2012) and port was removed, he got a CT scan. It was clear. His CEA levels were good. He's been going every 3 months for his check up and at his last check up, his CEA levels rose. They weren't really high, just a 7, but the doctor thought it was enough to order at CT scan. The CT scna showed 3 tiny nodules, 1 in one lung and 2 in the other. They did a needle biopsy and found it was adenocarcinoma, but since it was such a small piece of tissue, they couldn't tell definitively if it was metastasized rectal cancer or a new lung cancer, but she believe it's the rectal cancer that has metastasized. Now they have to go in and remove the tumor/nodule to make sure. We were supposed to go yesterday for the consult with the thoracic surgeon, but he had an emergency, so we go tomorrow for the consult. I'm not sure if they'll be able to remove all three, but I guess we'll find out tomorrow. Reading your posts have given me and my brother hope. The stats for stage IV look bleak, but your posts have given us a lot of hope. Thank you!!!