New Here
It was a hard road, but I continued to care for myself, and my granddaughter through the entire treatment (I should add we are raising our granddaughter). I really did not get sick from the Chemo, oh sure the Chemo fog was something in itself. I think the radiation was the worse of it all. Yes, I burned towards the end of my radiation, but it didn't take long for that to heal.
I feel good now, have regained my weight, my hair has grown back, and my energy level is really good. Oh I get tired usually by Friday and use that day as a do nothing day since my husband is home, but over all my life is back to normal. I keep up with the granddaughter now 2 years old, play games, rough house, and still get the housework done daily.
Anyway just wanted to introduce myself and share a little bit about my story. Will have more to post after all the results are in.
Comments
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Welcome, so sorry you had to come to us!
So scary huh! Cancer is cancer, but you are so fortunate that you caught it so early in stage 1. I was hoping for stage 1 myself, but no, skipped all the way to 4. Hopefully my surgeries and chemo take me out of stage 4.... I don't even know if you do go backwards!
I also have my youngest grandaughter here, it's hard at this old age :-) and having to go through chemo, but what can we do, but love them. I am a Nana to 11.
Best of health to you and hope it continues!!0 -
Welcome!nudgie said:Welcome
Welcome aboard the semi-colon train
. I was glad to read that all went well. You have your hands full with a 2-year old, but they make life worth living.
Please keep us posted on your results
So glad you're feeling well, the chemo made me had some nausea issues, but am glad I got good meds for it, I'm going to order a wig soon, since my hair is coming out in clumps, its terrible.
I have Stage 4 colon cancer with a tumor in my liver, that's being taken off, my last scan showed that the chemo was killing most of my cancer, I hope it's still doing it, but so nice to meet you, and good thing you got yours early in diagnosis, I wish you luck with your journey!
Hugsss!
~Donna0 -
Welcome
Sorry you had the need to find us, but glad you are here. I am also glad to hear your good report.
I was DXd in Oct 08 with Stage 3 rectal cancer. Went through the (horrid) radiation and chemo. I had many side effects, mostly from the radiation. Had surgery, tumor was gone! I am now on 'mop up' chemo - my last round starts Monday (6/15). I was recently declared NED (no evidence of disease) and will be scanned again next October. I am looking forward to the day I don't wake up already tired...
Good luck with your granddaughter! I get worn out just babysitting my grandsons!
Many hugs, Vicki0 -
Welcome
Please pull up a chair and join us! You'll find us a friendly group.
When you say stage I, many will jump to conclusions. ANAL canzer is so very different than crc and is staged differently. Crc doesn't do chemo/rads for stage I and there is controversary for stage II. Very, very different diseases.
So, we may not be as much help for treatment options but support we can do! (although I'm also on mitomycin and we can help with the rads crap!)
Nice to meet you,
Kimby0 -
Welcome
Glad that you are doing well. You are fortunate that they were able to find the tumor so early. The early detection is the best detection as you already know.
Caring for kids is a full time job in itself. I now have 9 grandchildren and they are a handful but so much of a blessing. You need a lot of energy to keep up with them Thanks for sharing your story. Let us know how the results came out.
Kim0 -
Stage 1 etc...kimby said:Welcome
Please pull up a chair and join us! You'll find us a friendly group.
When you say stage I, many will jump to conclusions. ANAL canzer is so very different than crc and is staged differently. Crc doesn't do chemo/rads for stage I and there is controversary for stage II. Very, very different diseases.
So, we may not be as much help for treatment options but support we can do! (although I'm also on mitomycin and we can help with the rads crap!)
Nice to meet you,
Kimby
I agree Kimby, many people do jump to conclusions when one says they have been diagnosed with Stage 1 cancer of any type. I know my brothers had a tough time understanding why they just didn't go in and remove the tumor. In fact to this day my brothers think I did not tell them the entire story and feel things were worse then I led on. Sometimes people just don't understand Cancers are all different, and drs have to look at all information they can get in order to make the proper choices. There was alot to take into consideration, the location, mine was pretty close to being in the rectal area, plus family history, my Dad, Mom, and Sister all died from cancer, (my mom having cancer throughout her entire body). Due to the location and being Anal cancer I would have been on a permanent colostomy.
I think also the think that determined the route we went with for treatment is the Drs were litterally stupified when they did discover it at such an early stage. I had to go through a battery of other tests as they could not believe they found it so early and was just sure it came from another part of my body, but where? I had a full hysterectomy years before had never drank nor used drugs, so that counted the liver pretty much out...let's just say it was a pretty scary time not only for me, but for the Drs trying to figure out how this small tumor took me into the Dr. to begin with. If not for the abscess we would not have known it was there at all.
Debbie0 -
RadiationVickiCO said:Welcome
Sorry you had the need to find us, but glad you are here. I am also glad to hear your good report.
I was DXd in Oct 08 with Stage 3 rectal cancer. Went through the (horrid) radiation and chemo. I had many side effects, mostly from the radiation. Had surgery, tumor was gone! I am now on 'mop up' chemo - my last round starts Monday (6/15). I was recently declared NED (no evidence of disease) and will be scanned again next October. I am looking forward to the day I don't wake up already tired...
Good luck with your granddaughter! I get worn out just babysitting my grandsons!
Many hugs, Vicki
Hi Vicki,
I agree the radiation was the hardest part to get through. I did have side effects from the entire treatment, I just did not get super sick. The radiation did drain me, burned me, and in the end gave me a bad bladder infection. Truly the radiation was worse then the chemo by far!
Debbie0 -
Me too...
I had anal cancer also - stage 1. Found the tumor by chance. I had 2 rounds of chemo - 5FU and cisplatin (although 2nd time I could only have the 5FU0 and 6 weeks of radiation. This is pretty standard for anal cancer - it is a squamous cell cancer while colorectal tends to be adenocarcinoma. (That is how the docs explained it to me.) In your stage and your type of cancer, you have a 95% cure rate. I'm 17 months out of treatment and clear scans. I'm now going for scans every 6 months instead of 3 months.
Do beware, the scarring can be an issue. You might want to go to www.thecolonclub.com, register for free and then read some of the posts under anal cancer. And of course, if you have any questions, feel free to ask.0 -
welcomedasspears said:Me too...
I had anal cancer also - stage 1. Found the tumor by chance. I had 2 rounds of chemo - 5FU and cisplatin (although 2nd time I could only have the 5FU0 and 6 weeks of radiation. This is pretty standard for anal cancer - it is a squamous cell cancer while colorectal tends to be adenocarcinoma. (That is how the docs explained it to me.) In your stage and your type of cancer, you have a 95% cure rate. I'm 17 months out of treatment and clear scans. I'm now going for scans every 6 months instead of 3 months.
Do beware, the scarring can be an issue. You might want to go to www.thecolonclub.com, register for free and then read some of the posts under anal cancer. And of course, if you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Glad to hear things are going well...You will find a lot of kind and caring folks here..If they don't know the answer they will try to send you in the right direction...Welcome0 -
Scarringdasspears said:Me too...
I had anal cancer also - stage 1. Found the tumor by chance. I had 2 rounds of chemo - 5FU and cisplatin (although 2nd time I could only have the 5FU0 and 6 weeks of radiation. This is pretty standard for anal cancer - it is a squamous cell cancer while colorectal tends to be adenocarcinoma. (That is how the docs explained it to me.) In your stage and your type of cancer, you have a 95% cure rate. I'm 17 months out of treatment and clear scans. I'm now going for scans every 6 months instead of 3 months.
Do beware, the scarring can be an issue. You might want to go to www.thecolonclub.com, register for free and then read some of the posts under anal cancer. And of course, if you have any questions, feel free to ask.
With anything their are always concerns with long term affects. I worked for three years in Onocology and have seen and heard my share. I will check out the site you referred me to as I get a chance.
I don't spend much time on the computer in fact when I first found out I had cancer I had the internet shut off, as I didn't want to read a bunch of information. You will find out the more I post I am a quiet person, and tend to just live life day by day. I am also very spiritual and feel that God has brought me down this road for reason, I may not always understand it but I do know in all things God does good!
Yes, I do have long term affects, such as chronic diarrhea with some retention problems. I also have noticed skin changes, some new joint pain especially in the hips, and anxieties oh and loss of sex drive, but these things are minor compared to what I could have been facing. So I am not complaining one bit, I will take these side affects any day over not being here for my husband, children, and grandchild. There will probably be more affects as time goes on, but I will face the challenges as they present themselves.
Positivity is the first and foremost tool we have when it comes to battling cancer or any disease. My modo is: When life gets tough look up!
Debbie0 -
HairShayenne said:Welcome!
So glad you're feeling well, the chemo made me had some nausea issues, but am glad I got good meds for it, I'm going to order a wig soon, since my hair is coming out in clumps, its terrible.
I have Stage 4 colon cancer with a tumor in my liver, that's being taken off, my last scan showed that the chemo was killing most of my cancer, I hope it's still doing it, but so nice to meet you, and good thing you got yours early in diagnosis, I wish you luck with your journey!
Hugsss!
~Donna
Oh yes, I remember the hair clumps! As soon as I had my first round of Chemo, my hair started coming out in clumps, I went in and had my hair dresser shave my head. I did have a wig, but never wore it, I was more comfortable in a soft fuzzy cap that I found at the Cancer Clinic, then I had a lighter weight tunic that I at times as well. I just couldn't handle the feel of the wig on my head.
Debbie0 -
Hip Paingrandma2selena said:Scarring
With anything their are always concerns with long term affects. I worked for three years in Onocology and have seen and heard my share. I will check out the site you referred me to as I get a chance.
I don't spend much time on the computer in fact when I first found out I had cancer I had the internet shut off, as I didn't want to read a bunch of information. You will find out the more I post I am a quiet person, and tend to just live life day by day. I am also very spiritual and feel that God has brought me down this road for reason, I may not always understand it but I do know in all things God does good!
Yes, I do have long term affects, such as chronic diarrhea with some retention problems. I also have noticed skin changes, some new joint pain especially in the hips, and anxieties oh and loss of sex drive, but these things are minor compared to what I could have been facing. So I am not complaining one bit, I will take these side affects any day over not being here for my husband, children, and grandchild. There will probably be more affects as time goes on, but I will face the challenges as they present themselves.
Positivity is the first and foremost tool we have when it comes to battling cancer or any disease. My modo is: When life gets tough look up!
Debbie
Debbie,
I, too, have that horrid hip pain. i asked if it was caused by radiation, but my oncologist thinks it's the 5FU accumulating in larger joints. he said it would clear up...a few months after chemo ends! I have tried steroids, etc and nothing seems to touch the pain. I am allergic to aspirin and all n-saids, and anti-inflammatory drugs, so no help for me. But yes, a positive attitude gets me through!
Many hugs, Vicki0 -
Hip PainVickiCO said:Hip Pain
Debbie,
I, too, have that horrid hip pain. i asked if it was caused by radiation, but my oncologist thinks it's the 5FU accumulating in larger joints. he said it would clear up...a few months after chemo ends! I have tried steroids, etc and nothing seems to touch the pain. I am allergic to aspirin and all n-saids, and anti-inflammatory drugs, so no help for me. But yes, a positive attitude gets me through!
Many hugs, Vicki
I know I asked about mine, and they didn't feel it was from the radiation, but they also said it was possible. I never thought about the chemo causing it. Though I have heard from alot of cancer survivors who have had radiation and they have all complained about joint pain. Mine is pretty much subsided now, every so often it will bother me, but not bad enough to take anything for it. I am like you I am not able to take aspirin or anti-inflammatory drugs, a couple of tylenol will help now when it starts to bug me.
Debbie0 -
Also have hip paingrandma2selena said:Hip Pain
I know I asked about mine, and they didn't feel it was from the radiation, but they also said it was possible. I never thought about the chemo causing it. Though I have heard from alot of cancer survivors who have had radiation and they have all complained about joint pain. Mine is pretty much subsided now, every so often it will bother me, but not bad enough to take anything for it. I am like you I am not able to take aspirin or anti-inflammatory drugs, a couple of tylenol will help now when it starts to bug me.
Debbie
I meet with my oncologist Thursday to ask her whether it could be radiation or chemo (have heard both can cause it). Showed up after my last treatment. Acupuncture has been very helpful for relief of pain (my insurance also pays for it).
Leslie0 -
Hip Painlesvanb said:Also have hip pain
I meet with my oncologist Thursday to ask her whether it could be radiation or chemo (have heard both can cause it). Showed up after my last treatment. Acupuncture has been very helpful for relief of pain (my insurance also pays for it).
Leslie
Mine started mid-stream treatment (radiation). Both hips hurt at first, but the right hip relieved as soon as radiation stopped. They had me positioned with the left hip a little higher off the table, so I still feel it was the radiation that caused mine. It is so much better now, took a couple of months for it to relieve itself, oh every so often that hip bothers me, but not as bad as it was and nothing like the arthritis I have in my knees.
It will get better!
Debbie0 -
Latest Colonoscopy
Hi,
I know I haven't logged on very much. But I do get a lot out of reading everyone's messages. My excuse is that I am so computer illiterate. I was first diagnosed with satge 2 colon cancer in Feb. 2009, had surgery on March 5. But, of course, that wasn'tthe end of it.
Because my original tumor was so large that the doctor couldn't finish the first colonoscopy, I had to have one after the operation and he found another growth further on. He couldn't remove all of that until what he could remove until it was biopsied. They sent the tissue to Mayo Brothers and it was about a three week wait for that info. I am not brave or calm and I was a nervous wreck waiting. It was worth the wait, tho. The tissue was precancerous and my oncologist called beniegn. Sooooo back I went for my third colonoscopy so that my gastro-ent. could remove the rest of the growth--also pronounced precancerpus. Next colonoscopy--December.
There is no just getting over having cancer so far as I can see. I still have a CT of my kidneys in August and am praying for the best for that test. It would appear that only those of us in the "fellowship" can understand that the fear never really goes away. I am so fortunate that I have not needed chemo or radiation. My heart goes out to all who have had such a long rough road. Maybe I will be joining you in the future.
I admire you taking care of yourself and grandchildren all at the same time. Not sure I could handle that. Everyone on the message board is a hero to me.
Take care, God speed and good luck.
Krystle singer0
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