Status Check Call

TxKayaker said:

Name : MikeStage: 3CSurgery

Name : Mike

Stage: 3C

Surgery April 2009 , 12 rounds chemo, Still NED ,

Stage IV SOL.  Primary tumor in rectum, mets to liver, lungs, and adrenal gland. Nearing my 2 years alive with cancer milestone.

still alive and kicking though. I have a fantastic immune system, so I'm told, and have (touch wood) never been sick because of this cancer.  Blood tests always great. I still work and lead a fairly active life, but I have less energy (and less hair) and cancer is definitely kicking my butt. The adrenal met has given me lucious nose hair and occasional pain in my right side. 

no surgery ever. no radiation.  FOLFOX in 2012. Great results. Went on Xeloda for maintenance in 2013, and then tried dendritic cell therapy. This didn't work. 2014 went on irinotecan/camptosar and erbitux - this also did not work.

so now I am trying for clinical trials, for the new PD-1 drugs or really anything that might have good results for me. No appointments yet but I am grateful for my very supportive oncology clinic.  5FU doesn't work anymore, and I don't want oxaliplatin again.  Onc could give me sitvarga (sic) but at this point, while I am still physically healthy, I want to offer my body to science and see if I can benefit.

until I'm accepted into a trial, I will be chemo free, which could be good and cleanslng. 

hate this disease! arrgh.

- Karin

Trubrit said:

Sue - Trubirt

Diagnosed Nov 2012 Stage 3B

Seven months post treatment. 

CT scan scheduled March 17th.

Hope for a long and happy life in which I can help others who are nwely diagnosed and going through treatment. 

diagnosed after 6 years of complaining march 2011, resection surgery on April 25 ,2011. Refused chemo and radiation. 

Stage 3b. I changed my life style and eating habits 

CEA test every 6 weeks around 1.0. Ct scans every year Still NED,

hoping for a long life with no recurrences.  I live now one day at the time, looking after a very ill daughter and her family.

Uncle Buddy is my 49 year old (will be 50 in a few months)brother and he's currently stage 4 with 1 (3cm) met to the liver and 5 to the lungs. He was diagnosed in 2011 with stage 2a rectal cancer and had an anterior resection. He had chemo/rad before the surgery and chemo after. I don't remember which chemo drugs he had then. He finished his chemo in 2011 and everything looked good. Less than a year later his CEA increased. They did a PET and CT and saw the mets, so he restarted chemo. In November/December he was hospitalized 3 times. Once for clots to the lungs where he needed emergency surgery, once for fluid around the heart and needed emergency surgery and another for rapid heartbeat/swelling in the leg. He was waivering as to whether to restart chemo, but decided to do it at a lower dose. He's doing the 5fu pump and Leucovorin for now (every other week). He was getting the erbitux and irinotecan, but it made him very sick with no quality of life. He decided that after he gets a few rounds of chemo, he will start adding the other meds back SLOWLY to see how he feels. Right now it's all about quality of life and keeping the tumors manageable.

He just had a nuclear stress test and we found that he had a mild heart attack sometime in the last couple of years. Dr thinks it may have happened when he had the fluid around the heart. So he does have damage to the heart. He has him on meds and is monitoring him closely. 

He is also having issues with fungal infections, but we seem to be getting that under control. We are also having trouble with his INR levels. We have to keep adjusting his coumadin and he is test 2x a week for his levels.

He is going through all of this and is intellectually disabled. He takes everything with a grain of salt. I've tried to get him to eat better and exercise to get him healthy, but he keeps telling me he wants to enjoy whatever time he has left. He lives with our dad who is slowly developing dementia. I go to their apartment several times a week (they live about 30 minutes away) to set up all his pills in his pill sorter and check on the two of them. I'm emotionally drained, but it's nothing compared to being the patient.

I am hoping that he will stick around for a while. He's my little brother and I want him to be able to enjoy life. For now, I'd be happy to see him smile and stay healthy while undergoing treatment. No more hospital visits, PLEASE!!'

Lin

PS He also had Non-hodgkins Lymphoma in 2000 and beat that. He had his spleen removed and did a chemo treatment called CHOPS. 

Gail, diagosed stage 1 colon cancer 11/21/07.

NED since then.

Sometimes severe troubles with constipation and blockages, hospitalized several times for that On daily pain medication.

Recently had a terrible episode that left me screaming in the bathroom for 3 hours. Appt. with gastroenterologist on 3/18 to see what's going on.

Penny 

Diagnosed July 2011, stage III

Chemo/radiation...LAR...6 surgeries...illeostomy..... Reversal....Xeloda...FOLFOX....XELOX....recurrence May 2013...last surgery June 2013.  Currently watching scans. Next PET results 3/13/2014. 

Training for a half marathon and 12K in October 2014.  Hope is I finish in a decent time. Okay maybe just finish.

Ron

dx stage 4 apr 2011

Have been in hospice for past two weeks and it's been the best 2 weeks of pain relief ever. 

Hope to spend the remainder of my life pain free, treatment free, eating good food and visiting with family and friends

peace be with you all

Ron

SharonVegas said:

Not your average status

Ron

dx stage 4 apr 2011

Have been in hospice for past two weeks and it's been the best 2 weeks of pain relief ever. 

Hope to spend the remainder of my life pain free, treatment free, eating good food and visiting with family and friends

peace be with you all

Ron

I'm very sorry to hear this news, but also so glad that you're getting good pain management and enjoying time with your family.  I hope you have many more days ahead of you that are peaceful and full of love.

AA

Stage4 mCRC - dx March 2010 - sigmoid near total obstruction, mets to infiltrated mesentery, coined sized spot on peritoneum and conglomerated para-aortic nodes; unbiopsied shrinkable stuff in liver and lungs.

current staus -  tamping down 7 month surge of CA19-9 and CEA with oral immunochemo, lots of supplements and IV vitamin C. Looks good, feels good.

Plan is to stop metastasis, chew up residual cancer without chewing up too much bone marrow if possible, and cut out anything that becomes visible on CT.  Long before the CEA got above 14 in 2011, we knew it was time for a second surgery to get the para aortic nodes out.  On CEA surges under  5,  over time we've been able to dissolve several persistent lesions out of the CT scan, and back to tight baseline CEA trends, ca 2's. The latest CEA surge peaked almost 6.  Long term challenge: avoiding embolisms while not wearing wife's bone marrow out. Her combined treatments are evolving, getting stronger in effects and her bone marrow is getting weakened by long, large cumulative chemo even at her reduced doses.

Phil64 said:

Phil64

Phil64, Stage IV.

Status: Had a second liver resection done on 2/7.  I'm back to work and waiting for a 3/20 appointment with my onc. My last CEA (on 2/27) was 1.0

Hopes: I hope to continue healing from surgery and hope my CEA remains low and NO MORE RECURRANCES.  If I have to do chemo, I hope it WORKS and I can stay NED for a long time.

 

Melissa, Stage II colon cancer

Status: surgery 07/12 resection to remove tumor

Hopes: to remain NED and for this to not be passed down to my children!

mrscrain said:

status

Melissa, Stage II colon cancer

Status: surgery 07/12 resection to remove tumor

Hopes: to remain NED and for this to not be passed down to my children!

Name:
Matta,

Stage:
Diagnosed after 5 years of complaining in oct 2010, stage 3c - Surgery and then 8 rounds chemo

Current Status:
NED, last CT in Dec 2013

Current Hopes:
Hoping to stay NED for as long as possible!