Hello to all

It's good to see an update from you.  I know how the bleeding can cause anxiety for any of us, but your doctor is most likely right in that it's radiation damage.  As you know, that's one of the ongoing issues many of us deal with, despite our cancer being gone.  I hope that your scan will come back clear and give you peace of mind about this.  I will certainly be thinking of you on Thursday and wishing all the best for you.  Think positive!

Martha

qv62 said:

mp327

Thanks Martha, that was just the reassurance I needed. I've beeen off the boards too long. Sometimes I forget that our normal is not the same as everyone elses. How are you doing ?

As far as cancer goes, I seem to be doing well.  I saw my colorectal doc for my 6-month checkup in early March and all is well there.   Long story short, my medical oncologist had seen me last August and since my last scan was in February 2015, he had wanted me to get another one this February.  However, I now have osteoporosis and stage 2 chronic kidney disease, so I did not want to have another CT scan, due to the damage it can cause to kidneys and bones, and had written him a letter explaining my reservations.  I never got a response from him.  Then, while on vacation at Christmas, my friend, who is a radiologist, called to tell me my med onc dropped dead the day after Christmas.  I was devastated.  I now have a new med onc in the same practice who I had an appt. with in late Feb. and she agreed that no more scans are indicated (unless I have symptoms of recurrence) due to the damage the contrast can do to my kidneys.  I began seeing a nephrologist in October and was initially diagnosed with stage 3 CKD.  However, when I returned for follow-up, I had improved to stage 2.  I go back to see him again in June.  I also now have an osteoporosis specialist who I've seen once in mid-March.  I will return to him after I have a bone density scan tomorrow to go over all labs and the scan results to see where we go from there.  Monday, I had an appointment with a nutritionist regarding my malabsorption issues and CKD.  I feel that appt. was really a waste of time.

Add to all of the above my 91-year old mother, who is 600 miles away and has dementia, who we'll be moving from assisted living to memory care next month, my pre-diabetic husband, and a cat with pancreatitis.  Some days I think I am losing my mind!    Now, aren't you sorry you asked?  lol!

I hope your upcoming scan will go well.  Please try not to worry.  The radiation really does a number on our insides and your bleeding is most likely just an ongoing side effect from treatment.  May you get all good results so you can breathe easy.  When you get your results, please come back and let us know.  Take care.

Martha

Good luck with your scans! Hope all goes well!

Ann

qv62 said:

mp327

Oh geez Martha, no I'm not sorry I asked, I am glad you brought me up to speed. You really have your hands full. I am glad to see you went from stage 3 to stage 2 hope that keeps moving in the right direction, you must be doing something right so keep it up ! How did your bone scan go ? Sorry to hear about your oncologist, I know I had such a strong bond with mine and I have a visit next week with a new doc as mine left the pracitce. If I don't feel a connection with the new one I may try and follow my oncologist. I am sending good vibes your way for you, your husband, your mom and the cat. I know you are a runner and I have never been but I want to share with you that I trained myself and ran my first 5k to support a fundraiser for an organization that holds survivor retreats. Wow what a rush that was. I haven't been to active lately but looking forward to starting up again for the spring.

Congratulations on doing that 5k!  That is awesome!  I'm glad you are doing to give it another go.  I love running races.

On the kidney front, they could do blood work on me every day and the numbers would fluctuate quite a bit, as I understand it.  They always have to look for a trend, usually over a period of 3 months.  I am doing all I can to maintain my current level of functioning and if I am lucky, maybe even see more improvement.  The bone density scan was done and results forwarded to the osteoporosis specialist.  I received a call from them to schedule me for blood work in 4 weeks, then see him again in 6 weeks.  Until then, I probably won't know much.

Thank you for the good vibes on all the other things going on.  Sadly, we had to say goodbye to our kitty, Max, today.  His illness was much more serious than we first thought and he was suffering.  It was a hard thing to do, but he is no longer in pain.  Next I have to focus on getting my husband healthy and my mom moved.  One of these days, I will find time to go for a run.

Thank you for thinking of me.  Hugs!

Martha

qv62 said:

mp327

Oh Martha I am so sorry to hear about your kitty, my condolences. I have two kitty girls and I can't imagine the heartache it must be. Personally I was never a cat lover, I actually did not like cats at all. A few years ago we had a stray hanging around and although I was not pleased on the third day my husband pointed out how thin she was, needless to say we fed her and the rest is history. She is the love of my life, she is so nurturing and stood by me with extra love while in treatment. We aquired the second one from the shelter a few weeks after we took in the stray another love bug. If I had my way I'd take two more in a minute but realistically this is working and we wouldn't want to upset them since they get along just fine. Take care of yourself, your husband and your mom. Blessings

Thank you so much.  This has been a hard day.  Max was such a teddy bear.  He and Molly were such a comfort to me when I was going through treatment.  Now we must work on getting Molly and our new kitty, Chopper, to get along.  Things are better than when we first brought Chopper home, but we still have a ways to go.  Enjoy our kitties!  Hugs!

mp327 said:

qv62

Thank you so much.  This has been a hard day.  Max was such a teddy bear.  He and Molly were such a comfort to me when I was going through treatment.  Now we must work on getting Molly and our new kitty, Chopper, to get along.  Things are better than when we first brought Chopper home, but we still have a ways to go.  Enjoy our kitties!  Hugs!

I'm so sorry to hear about losing your kitty.  We can have such a strong bond with them.  It's heartbreaking to lose them.  I hope it goes well with Molly and Chopper becoming friends.

I adopted my Julius about a year after treatment.  He is such a good companion (except when he isn't).  There are times when I am too tired or too anxious to leave the house and he just snuggles up.

Janet