Stage 3 rectal, NED now for 4 years...and Laz's question :)

hello Everyone

I read Laz's post about whether NED people say on or leave this Board and for me, it's a little of both: I read often and post rarely.

Thought I'd share some good news as well. I was dx in the spring of 2009 with Stage 3 rectal cancer and had a resection, an ilestomy put in place for a year, an appendictomy, a complete hysterectomy, 30 rounds of radiation, and wore the 5FU pump, as well as receiving straight oxalypatin as part of a clinical trial. (Shown not to have any effect btw, but who knows long term...at least that's what I tell myself to make up for willingly receiving that unpleasant concoction!)

Fast forward four years and I am still NED since the fall of 2009. I share this with you to offer you hope as you go through this terrible disease.....what can happen to one person, can also happen for another.

I have no answers to why I'm NED as I don't follow any particular diet/vitamin/exercise structure. I eat fairly well, and like to be active and that's about it. ...I also take a multi vitamin that is loaded with D3 and I take Coenzyme Q.

Why I got this disease I'll also never know, and it couldn't have come at a worse time---not that there would be a good time---but my identical twin girls were only 4 years old and really needed me, their Mommy, to be well.

I've read studies on cancer, and the ones that intrigue me the most lean toward cancer and inflammation and its role in kickstarting cancer cells. There are also new studies that point at how a heavy salt diet may contribute to cancer's growth. Don't know, but always like to look at new research where the results can be duplicated.

Back to Laz's question about NED people and this Board. For me, going onto CSN was the very first time I had made online friends and had online support. It was a brand new world; the people on the board were from all walks of life, had differing degrees of intelligence, different senses of humor, disparate incomes, different faiths etc.....and we were all bonded by cancer. I became very fond of a couple of the frequent posters and when they both died, I took it hard. It seemed so unfair, unjust, wrong. I cried.

I had to take three steps back to regain my balance.

I love to read everyone's here's stories, and I pray for everyone here nightly. Think you'd be suprised by how many poeple you've never met care about you!!!!

I hope everyone finds some peace and joy today~

Your friend in California,

Tommycat