Treatment #2

colon2
colon2 Member Posts: 183
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
I go for #2 tomorrow. I had no side effects with the first one,other than my diet coke tasted awful, and I am praying that I can be that blessed again. I am on Folfox, and will be wearing that wonderful little fanny pack that we all love so well. I am like everyone else, I want to get finished with this and get on with my life, Of course we don't know what the future holds, and from reading some of these posts, it seems to have a nasty habit of coming back sometimes. Oh well, all we can do is take 1 day at a time.
Carletta

Comments

  • Buzzard
    Buzzard Member Posts: 3,043 Member
    #2
    Carletta...........
    In this journey you have to believe that its not going to come back and that in the event that it does that you have not waited around for it. You are the only one that determines how your life turns out. You can lanquish in the idea that it will come back and sit and wait on it maybe never to return, or you can enjoy every other week that you feel good while doing the treatments and then enjoy the afterwards of completing the treatments and all the time that you stay free from cancer. The longevity and quality is yours to determine, no one elses, and you should never look back. Take the treatment and hope for the best and know that everyday you are here on earth is a blessing, cancer or not. We will all pass one day but it is the gift you leave behind for others that really matters. Give all your burdens to the Lord and He will carry what you can't handle for yourself. Trust in him and enjoy everyday of this life here on earth and an everlasting life afterwards...It is a win/win situation and it keeps me smiling knowing that I can't lose either way, cancer or not. Have faith, and smile big because you deserve it ....God Bless you.....
  • johnnybegood
    johnnybegood Member Posts: 1,117 Member
    #3
    fight on
    i will go for my #1 on tuesday.so glad to hear you made it thru #1 with no side effects. yes i have been reading the posts on this stuff coming back also.it makes me so depressed to know that here i am willing to go thru all of this and put my loved ones thru it just to say it might come back.i have a lot to think about in the next 6 months for if this stuff [chemo]makes me really sick and the big c does come back i may not be willing to take the chemo again.when i started this journey i thought i was going to do 5 weeks of chemo[pills] and radiation,surgery and i would be cured,but here i go another 6 months of chemo and i am not dealing with it very well. good luck tomarrow and will be thinking of you Godbless.....johnnybegood
  • Annabelle41415
    Annabelle41415 Member Posts: 6,742 Member
    #4
    Buzzard said:

    Carletta...........
    In this journey you have to believe that its not going to come back and that in the event that it does that you have not waited around for it. You are the only one that determines how your life turns out. You can lanquish in the idea that it will come back and sit and wait on it maybe never to return, or you can enjoy every other week that you feel good while doing the treatments and then enjoy the afterwards of completing the treatments and all the time that you stay free from cancer. The longevity and quality is yours to determine, no one elses, and you should never look back. Take the treatment and hope for the best and know that everyday you are here on earth is a blessing, cancer or not. We will all pass one day but it is the gift you leave behind for others that really matters. Give all your burdens to the Lord and He will carry what you can't handle for yourself. Trust in him and enjoy everyday of this life here on earth and an everlasting life afterwards...It is a win/win situation and it keeps me smiling knowing that I can't lose either way, cancer or not. Have faith, and smile big because you deserve it ....God Bless you.....

    Carletta
    Good luck in your journey. I hope that the second treatment isn't bad either. We all have to experience things we don't want to, but God be with you through this journey.

    Kim
  • colon2
    colon2 Member Posts: 183
    #5
    Buzzard said:

    Carletta...........
    In this journey you have to believe that its not going to come back and that in the event that it does that you have not waited around for it. You are the only one that determines how your life turns out. You can lanquish in the idea that it will come back and sit and wait on it maybe never to return, or you can enjoy every other week that you feel good while doing the treatments and then enjoy the afterwards of completing the treatments and all the time that you stay free from cancer. The longevity and quality is yours to determine, no one elses, and you should never look back. Take the treatment and hope for the best and know that everyday you are here on earth is a blessing, cancer or not. We will all pass one day but it is the gift you leave behind for others that really matters. Give all your burdens to the Lord and He will carry what you can't handle for yourself. Trust in him and enjoy everyday of this life here on earth and an everlasting life afterwards...It is a win/win situation and it keeps me smiling knowing that I can't lose either way, cancer or not. Have faith, and smile big because you deserve it ....God Bless you.....

    I'm with you
    Buzzard, I totally agree that when you put your faith in God, it is a win /win situation. There are no loser's on His team. I really am not worried about it coming back. If it does, well then we will deal with it then.I try not to worry about any of it, I can't control it or change it, so why worry? I realized that we all have an appointed time to leave this world and mine has not changed, I am still going home when He calls me, not one day sooner or later. I know you are a man of faith and I enjoy reading your posts. Keep up the good work, and God Bless You
    Carletta
  • CherylHutch
    CherylHutch Member Posts: 1,375 Member
    #6
    johnnybegood said:

    fight on
    i will go for my #1 on tuesday.so glad to hear you made it thru #1 with no side effects. yes i have been reading the posts on this stuff coming back also.it makes me so depressed to know that here i am willing to go thru all of this and put my loved ones thru it just to say it might come back.i have a lot to think about in the next 6 months for if this stuff [chemo]makes me really sick and the big c does come back i may not be willing to take the chemo again.when i started this journey i thought i was going to do 5 weeks of chemo[pills] and radiation,surgery and i would be cured,but here i go another 6 months of chemo and i am not dealing with it very well. good luck tomarrow and will be thinking of you Godbless.....johnnybegood

    Fight On
    Hey JohnnyBG...

    I can read the pain/fear in your posts and just wanted to give you a virtual hug. You might want to talk to your Doctor and let him/her know that the thought of what you've been through and what you may be facing ahead on this journey is really starting to wear you down. Depression seems to go hand in hand with the fear of the unknown... or even fear of the known. I'm really not one to push drugs, because drugs/meds are not necessarily the solution to everything. On the other hand, sometimes they are exactly the answer we need.

    Depression can be caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain and that chemical imbalance can happen anytime we go through trauma or some major life shock. Having a cancer diagnosis is grounds for one shock... then having to face the reality of the umpteen treatments we have to go through can cause more shock to one's system. And the list goes on and on.

    Sometimes, a short spell on anti-depressants/anti-anxiety meds can do you the world of good and give you your bearings back again.

    You are going to be starting chemo again... that's all part of the journey... but if you go into it feeling depressed and thinking the worst of symptoms, there's a good chance you may get them. And we so want to avoid that happening. What you have to do is find a way of looking at this monster in a different light.

    You do not have to DIE of cancer... but you will have to learn to LIVE with cancer. There's a big difference there. Right now, the reality of having Stage IV Colon cancer (and I'm going to assume Rectal cancer is similar) is there is no cure for it. There is no magical pill or procedure that will get rid of it completely so that it will never come back. There are miracles... and it's quite possible that a miracle will happen to any one of us that is diagnosed as Stage IV... but it won't be all of us. So, if you or I do not have a miracle, what then?? Well, that's where we have to teach ourselves and learn from others how to LIVE with cancer... and live a wonderful life. Yes, that may mean treatments on and off... it may meant treatments for the rest of our lives, with the occasional surgery thrown in. But those treatments and our attitude is going to be what keeps us alive and not only alive, but enjoying life because we really have had a wakeup call. Prior to my DX, I never really thought about dying. Oh sure, we all know we are going to go sometime... and some go a lot earlier than others, but I never gave my own death any thought. I just knew it was going to be sometime in the future... when I was old! This DX has not made me think I'm GOING to die anytime soon, but it certainly has made me think about it more than I've ever thought about it before.

    I firmly believe that I'm not going to die anytime soon. I have so much I want to do, even if it's just locally. But I do have this stage IV DX, so I'm going to have to learn to live with it and do the treatments that will keep me alive and feeling like I do now and not make it the focus of my every day. The next time I go to my onc and she says they've found some new cancer, or the spots in my lung have really grown, I can guarantee you that I'm going to panic and I'm sure depression will hit me again... but I also know that when that happens, then I need to treat the panic and depression and not let them ruin my quality of life.

    I don't know if any of this helps... but I really hope you can find a way to help you with the depression because chemo is not the end of the world.. but depression can sure end a good quality of life quickly :/

    Huggggggs,

    Cheryl
  • johnnybegood
    johnnybegood Member Posts: 1,117 Member
    #7
    CherylHutch said:

    Fight On
    Hey JohnnyBG...

    I can read the pain/fear in your posts and just wanted to give you a virtual hug. You might want to talk to your Doctor and let him/her know that the thought of what you've been through and what you may be facing ahead on this journey is really starting to wear you down. Depression seems to go hand in hand with the fear of the unknown... or even fear of the known. I'm really not one to push drugs, because drugs/meds are not necessarily the solution to everything. On the other hand, sometimes they are exactly the answer we need.

    Depression can be caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain and that chemical imbalance can happen anytime we go through trauma or some major life shock. Having a cancer diagnosis is grounds for one shock... then having to face the reality of the umpteen treatments we have to go through can cause more shock to one's system. And the list goes on and on.

    Sometimes, a short spell on anti-depressants/anti-anxiety meds can do you the world of good and give you your bearings back again.

    You are going to be starting chemo again... that's all part of the journey... but if you go into it feeling depressed and thinking the worst of symptoms, there's a good chance you may get them. And we so want to avoid that happening. What you have to do is find a way of looking at this monster in a different light.

    You do not have to DIE of cancer... but you will have to learn to LIVE with cancer. There's a big difference there. Right now, the reality of having Stage IV Colon cancer (and I'm going to assume Rectal cancer is similar) is there is no cure for it. There is no magical pill or procedure that will get rid of it completely so that it will never come back. There are miracles... and it's quite possible that a miracle will happen to any one of us that is diagnosed as Stage IV... but it won't be all of us. So, if you or I do not have a miracle, what then?? Well, that's where we have to teach ourselves and learn from others how to LIVE with cancer... and live a wonderful life. Yes, that may mean treatments on and off... it may meant treatments for the rest of our lives, with the occasional surgery thrown in. But those treatments and our attitude is going to be what keeps us alive and not only alive, but enjoying life because we really have had a wakeup call. Prior to my DX, I never really thought about dying. Oh sure, we all know we are going to go sometime... and some go a lot earlier than others, but I never gave my own death any thought. I just knew it was going to be sometime in the future... when I was old! This DX has not made me think I'm GOING to die anytime soon, but it certainly has made me think about it more than I've ever thought about it before.

    I firmly believe that I'm not going to die anytime soon. I have so much I want to do, even if it's just locally. But I do have this stage IV DX, so I'm going to have to learn to live with it and do the treatments that will keep me alive and feeling like I do now and not make it the focus of my every day. The next time I go to my onc and she says they've found some new cancer, or the spots in my lung have really grown, I can guarantee you that I'm going to panic and I'm sure depression will hit me again... but I also know that when that happens, then I need to treat the panic and depression and not let them ruin my quality of life.

    I don't know if any of this helps... but I really hope you can find a way to help you with the depression because chemo is not the end of the world.. but depression can sure end a good quality of life quickly :/

    Huggggggs,

    Cheryl

    thank you
    so much for your post.when i go to my onc i will talk to her about anti depresiants. im not one to take pills in fact i have had so much sh-- happen in my life i started smoking about 6 years ago, i figured it was either pick up a pack of cigs or go to the doc and get put on pills. so i choose the cigs and that is how i dealt with everyday stress.since my dx in sept 08 i have quit smoking i figured why should i go thru all this and still smoke.i would have just been hurting my self if i didnt quit.i know attitude has a lot to do with helping us get better but sometimes it just gets hard. i admire you and others like you who have such a great look on things.reading your posts and other people like buzzard gives me the strengh to go on and keep fighting this thing,.thanks again and Godbless......johnnybegood
  • colon2
    colon2 Member Posts: 183
    #8
    johnnybegood said:

    fight on
    i will go for my #1 on tuesday.so glad to hear you made it thru #1 with no side effects. yes i have been reading the posts on this stuff coming back also.it makes me so depressed to know that here i am willing to go thru all of this and put my loved ones thru it just to say it might come back.i have a lot to think about in the next 6 months for if this stuff [chemo]makes me really sick and the big c does come back i may not be willing to take the chemo again.when i started this journey i thought i was going to do 5 weeks of chemo[pills] and radiation,surgery and i would be cured,but here i go another 6 months of chemo and i am not dealing with it very well. good luck tomarrow and will be thinking of you Godbless.....johnnybegood

    Try to Be strong
    It is really scary getting ready for the first one, but try and relax, because it really isn't too bad. After the stick for the port it is pretty easy.And that isn't bad, or mine wasn't.The nurse sprayed it to numb it.I am anxious to see if I have any side effects this time. I am sure that sooner or later they will hit. Hopefully you will breeze thru your first one too. We are all in this together and we have to be there for one another. When one of us is feeling low then the rest will have to step in and offer encouragement. I will be praying for you. God Bless You, Carletta
  • johnnybegood
    johnnybegood Member Posts: 1,117 Member
    #9
    colon2 said:

    Try to Be strong
    It is really scary getting ready for the first one, but try and relax, because it really isn't too bad. After the stick for the port it is pretty easy.And that isn't bad, or mine wasn't.The nurse sprayed it to numb it.I am anxious to see if I have any side effects this time. I am sure that sooner or later they will hit. Hopefully you will breeze thru your first one too. We are all in this together and we have to be there for one another. When one of us is feeling low then the rest will have to step in and offer encouragement. I will be praying for you. God Bless You, Carletta

    carletta
    thats why i love this site.my mom found it for me and it has been a Godsend,yes we all do need to stick together,i am trying to just take one day at a time and thats all we can do,some days are just better than others good luck and i will be posting soon Godbless.....johnnybegood
  • pamness
    pamness Member Posts: 524 Member
    #10
    Great news about your first treatment
    I had horrible side effects from day 1, but am currently 19 months ned from Stage IIIA - folfox. I never tried diet coke during treatment, try the real deal - it helps with nausea and energy. I named my fanny pack "George" after the character on Seinfeld - slightly annoying but quite tolerable. May people do not have bad side effects.

    I wish you the best.

    Pam

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