I'm new here... stage 4 colon cancer Good News!

Hello everyone,

I Have been reading this forum since I was diagnosed with stage 2 colon cancer after having my 1st colonoscopy at age 42, just over a year ago.  I finally decided to join so I could give others hope.  Soon after my stage 2 diagnosis I was called in for more tests... ultrasound, MRI, and a liver biopsy (ouch!)  well my stage 2 turned to 4 overnight.  I was told I had a 6% chance of being alive 5 years from now.  I was stunned of course.  After a couple of days of feeling sorry for myself and about two weeks of thinking I was going to live a short painfull life I had a consult with a surgeon and was told my cancer was operable and I started chemo treatments, xeloda and oxaliplatin.  The fist few cycles were tolerable but I had intense neuropathy and nausea side effects after the third cycle, man did that suck!  I went through a lot of radiation sessions after my chemo both my oncologist and surgeon were very happy with my response to the treatments.  

My surgery was 7 hours long.  I had never even had a broken bone before and here I was getting a section of my colon removed and part of my liver removed.  That was pretty hard to deal with, but for me the worst part was getting an ileostomy.  I just couldn't get use to the idea of having that bag even though it was only temporary.  I had 4 more cycles of chemo and six months after my first surgery I had my ileostomy reversal... Best Day Ever!  So here I am 4 weeks after my reversal and I'm feeling awesome!  I lost a year of my life to cancer but I feel like I have beaten it.  I know I have years of tests and scans ahead of me but I say bring it on.  I went from thinking I was about to waste away and die to being cancer free... and I plan on staying that way!  

Don't give up and keep believing, I know how hard it can be but all the crap I went through has truly made me a stronger and better person.  Thanks for reading this and good luck to everyone here!