New to any type of group

lostsolost
lostsolost Member Posts: 21
in Colorectal Cancer #1

honestly just feeling lost.. Had a colonoscopy 7/27/15. 7/29/15 was told the large mass they found is cancerous. 8/19/15 had surgery. 8/27/15 was told they removed 29 lymph nodes and it was in all 29. started chemo 9/21/15 (fluorouracil, oxaliplatin). CEA went to 29 before surgery 17 after surgey, 16 1 months after start of treatment, 4.2 after 4 months, 6.6 right before end of 6 months, waited a month now at 8. My oncologist wants to re-scan and then take it from there. I knew this was going to be tough but i just wished for a bit of a break. I know lots of people that have had it worse and i'm extremely grateful to even still be alive but i just want normal back. My oncologist recommended i join a group but public speaking/sharing i can't do right now.

Comments

  • heisenberg
    heisenberg Member Posts: 14
    #2
    It's emotionally difficult, I

    It's emotionally difficult, I know. The psychological aspects of this is at least half of the struggle. I don't know if you'll ever get normal back again, but you can get a "new normal." I wish I could say more. You will find the strength you need to continue forward with treatment. One treatment at a time, one step at a time. In the meantime, distraction is good if you can figure out how to distract yourself. 

  • lostsolost
    lostsolost Member Posts: 21
    #3
    heisenberg said:

    It's emotionally difficult, I

    It's emotionally difficult, I know. The psychological aspects of this is at least half of the struggle. I don't know if you'll ever get normal back again, but you can get a "new normal." I wish I could say more. You will find the strength you need to continue forward with treatment. One treatment at a time, one step at a time. In the meantime, distraction is good if you can figure out how to distract yourself. 

    Thank you. Yes i've slowly

    Thank you. Yes i've slowly been getting used to this new normal. With each new side effect I've noticed i brush it off easier. I'm still currently working full time and hopefully with whatever the new treatment is I can still continue. I think if I had to be at home in bed that it would definitely lead me into some form of depression.

  • ron50
    ron50 Member Posts: 1,723 Member
    #4
    Hi Lost

       First up I am sorry that you have had to join this group but I am glad you have found us. If you look at my joined date ,nov 2001, you can see I have been here for quite a while. I was dxed with an aggressive stage 3 c colon cancer into 6 nodes in Jan 1998. I had surgery and 48 sessions of 5Fu and a drug called levamisole (banned in 2001 for sometimes fatal side effects). I have been cancer free ever since. From my perspective there is no normal life after cancer but there is life. I was 49 at dx (diagnosis) I had some time off work for the operation but I worked thru chemo and am still at work at 66. There is no' óne rule fits all for cancer survival' Speaking for myself the outdoors and fishing has made life bearable. Unfortunately my marriage did not stand up to the stress and strain of cancer treatment and survival. I have had ten colonoscopies since ca and nearly as many scans and endoscopies. Quite a few polyps have been removed during those procedures. I am one of the fortunate unfortunates . I have survived but suffer from a raft of undiagnosable auto-immune problems(18 at last count) . I won't kid you ,surviving survival for me is not easy. I hope you're path is much smoother and less stressful , my best wishes for a speedy recovery. Ron.

  • lostsolost
    lostsolost Member Posts: 21
    #5
    ron50 said:

    Hi Lost

       First up I am sorry that you have had to join this group but I am glad you have found us. If you look at my joined date ,nov 2001, you can see I have been here for quite a while. I was dxed with an aggressive stage 3 c colon cancer into 6 nodes in Jan 1998. I had surgery and 48 sessions of 5Fu and a drug called levamisole (banned in 2001 for sometimes fatal side effects). I have been cancer free ever since. From my perspective there is no normal life after cancer but there is life. I was 49 at dx (diagnosis) I had some time off work for the operation but I worked thru chemo and am still at work at 66. There is no' óne rule fits all for cancer survival' Speaking for myself the outdoors and fishing has made life bearable. Unfortunately my marriage did not stand up to the stress and strain of cancer treatment and survival. I have had ten colonoscopies since ca and nearly as many scans and endoscopies. Quite a few polyps have been removed during those procedures. I am one of the fortunate unfortunates . I have survived but suffer from a raft of undiagnosable auto-immune problems(18 at last count) . I won't kid you ,surviving survival for me is not easy. I hope you're path is much smoother and less stressful , my best wishes for a speedy recovery. Ron.

    thank you

    i'm glad I've found this group also. Sorry it's been tough for you. My mom was diagnosed at 53 with stage IV colon cancer, passed away four years later. This is what sits at the back of my mind. I've tried to be very positive but its still there. Just hoping for the best Smile

  • fingerprinto
    fingerprinto Member Posts: 11
    #6
    lostsolost said:

    thank you

    i'm glad I've found this group also. Sorry it's been tough for you. My mom was diagnosed at 53 with stage IV colon cancer, passed away four years later. This is what sits at the back of my mind. I've tried to be very positive but its still there. Just hoping for the best Smile

    me too

    I am new to this group and to cancer.  I got diagnoised in December 2015.  I am now stage 4 with met to lymph nodes (in my neck).  I went thru chemo and radiation and just today got word surgery cancelled and chemo starts next week.  I was just beginning to feel like my old self..... now to learn what the new normal is.

    Hoping for the best, preparing for the worst.  Remember, if you look in the ditch while driving, you willl end up there. Keep your eyes on the road!

  • JanJan63
    JanJan63 Member Posts: 2,478 Member
    #7
    How can you not get some kind

    How can you not get some kind of emotional support from Ron's situation? He's amazing and proof that there is always hope. I'm sorry you're dealing with this crap. It is really hard. If someone had told me at the beginning what I'd go through I'd have said I couldn't do it. I had an illeostomy, radiation and chemo, the surgery to remove the cancer, two abcesses at the resection site-one after the other- an infection under the incision site that ate a hole the size of a man's finger, back on chemo which had been delayed because of the infection, and then the best part, the chemo caused a blood clot to go to my lung and almost kill me so I ended up with a bunch of issues from that including a straoke, kedney failure, five cardiac arrests, brain swelling, brain bleed, and then a coma. When I awoke from the coma I was paralyzed and had to relearn everything. Now, just over a year after leaving the hospital I'd been in for almost four months and going home in a wheelchair I am able to do most things I used to, just slower and a bit awkwardly. I ride my horse, I walk my dogs, I've been working for seven months, and I do pretty much everything else. I'm not trying to show how awesome I am, I'm just showing that you can get through some pretty crappy stuff and live to tell about it.

    And, I've told this story before but it's a good one that gives me hope, my grandmother had colon cancer in the 1950's when she was in her fifties. This was pre-chemo, it wsn't used to treat cancer yet. She died at 84 years old and did not die of cancer.

    They've improved how they treat cancers since then. You can do this.

    Jan 

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