How long can chemo continue?

Welcome, Hopefuldreams - keep those dreams coming, and hope alive.

29 is an awfully young age to be dealing with CRC, I am sorry it has become your reality. But, your youth will be on your side, and that is a good thing.

We have members on the forum who can answer your question about the chemo; some who have been on chemo for many years, and continue to amaze me, with how well they are doing, considering.

I just wanted to say hello.

Tru

Hey - don't loose hope! With a bit of luck you could be in for a long haul.

I haven't been active here for some time now, but I used to be a bit more on here a few years ago. I was diagnosed in Dec 2015(two days before Christmas - talk about the worst Christmas present ever...). Surgery and chemo (FOLFOX) in 2016. Lung metastases discovered early 2018 and started chemo off and on in Jan 2019. Since the start I have now done 60(!) chemo treatments. I just finished a round of chemo and looking for a nice break. Done FOLFOX(mostly) and FOLFIRI both with Avastin. I am still working and enjoying life both during and in between treatments. I guess I'm lucky to have well working treatments, but I also decided to be positive and focus on the positive sides of life. Not easy, but if you're able, that will help you in the longer run. I know - easy to say but hard to do, keep trying though.

Best wishes, Bjorn

Hi, welcome to the boards, though sorry to see you here. This is a good place for support, to ask questions or just vent as needed.

I was DX late 2014/early 2015. Since then I had 3 surgeries, including one in 2016 removing part of my lung and last year to remove tumors in my spine that started growing. (They had been there awhile). I had 12 rounds of FOLFOX after my initial surgery, about 25 rounds of FOLFORI with Avastin between 2018 to December 2019, about 25 rounds of Lonsurf in 2020/21. I have also been in 4 drug trials, the components of some included chemotherapy. The fourth trial, started last July, is working. (An immunotherapy trial, which was not even really possible about 6 years ago with my mutations because it was still early on trying to figure it out. A lot of research has been done since then. And Lonsurf was not approved for colon cancer until a year after my DX. It shrunk things a bit and kept things stable for a year.).

Three days ago I rode 2-1/2 hours on a bike trainer and then did about 3 miles of outdoor running. And this is with metal in my back and pending radiation for one tumor in my spine that is misbehaving. My CT scan from two days ago shows everything else is all stable. (I have numerous tumors in my lungs for years. They stopped counting. But it is probably 6 dozen at least when I asked. But no one counts :) ).

I am about to go out and run. (I am not, and never have been, particularly athletic. I started exercising about 6 years ago, 3 years into this all. It has helped a lot.)

My bio has some more information/details.

My wife had surgery for CRC and then went on Folfox and oxilplatin. A few months later a scan showed 7 liver lesions. They were microwaved out during ablative surgery. Now starting irinotecan plus Avastin immunotherapy. It seems like this will go on for a while till next scan. We must stay hopeful. I hope everything works out for you.