aaahhh!! Im scared :-(

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  • ron50
    ron50 Member Posts: 1,723 Member
    #22
    G'day send26,

    G'day send26,
    Sorry about the dx. First item to try and get over is the fear. You have a disease,a nasty one to be sure but just a disease. It can be treated and it can be eliminated and cured. It is no longer a death sentence. I was dx at age 48 with a stage 3c tumor. It was very aggressive and was into six lymph nodes. My prognosis was lousy because of the aggressiveness. My doc was confident that he had removed all the ca but he expected secondries to crop up everywhere. I started chemo three weeks after surgery and had it every tuesday for fotry eight weeks. Wasn't pleasant but it is bearable. I stopped nothing. Once I was over the op I started working and playing(I fish)just like I did before. I made some concessions. I never drank much alcohol now I don't drink at all.
    At five years ca free I was given the all clear,at seven years I was declared cured of that cancer but given a warning to remain ever vigilant and have regular checkups and scopes to ensure new primaries don't start up. I have done that and I am at this time eleven years and ten months ca free. Wishing you a similar path through a very trying time.Cheers Ron.
  • hollydancer
    hollydancer Member Posts: 7
    #23
    PhillieG said:

    Well at least you know that you are normal!
    First, I'm sorry to hear of your diagnosis. Second, you can become one of us strong amazing individuals too. It's all very overwhelming as you have found out. My first suggestion to you is to NOT go online and research everything on colon cancer. It's old data and it's NOT accurate. You will only worry yourself for no reason at all. My second one is to make sure that when you go to meet with your oncologist or any other appointments that you bring someone along for support and to take notes. I usually also bring an mp3 player that has a built in voice recorder so I don't miss a word of things. I am stage IV colon cancer, still in treatment, I've worked throughout this whole thing. It's not the end of the world by any means. You have a lot to digest so I would suggest taking small bites. Also, make sure you have a good team of doctors working with/for you. Modern medicine practiced by Good and Great doctors goes a long way, if you don't like what one doctor says, get another opinion. I think most of us have gotten second opinions here.
    Stay in touch.
    -phil

    whatelse
    positive is huge. And you are right lots to digest. Yes, trust modern medicine. Stay strong and help others to not feel afraid. If you need some help, email me. I will be there,
    Hollyd
  • fringetree
    fringetree Member Posts: 65
    #24
    I'm so sorry to hear of your
    I'm so sorry to hear of your diagnosis, but you have taken an important first step in your fight by joining this kind and informed group. I am also a young-ish woman (I'm 34) just out of grad school. I am a caretaker, not a survivor, so I will not presume to understand what you are going through. But, if I may make a suggestion, I think one of the most important things we have done is keep a daily log (or journal if that seems less clinical!) about EVERYTHING that goes on each day. Meeting notes, medicines taken, medicines administered by health care providers (this is especially important, because doctors do make mistakes and we have had to catch some of them), what you have eaten, how you are feeling. If possible, have a friend or family member do it for you if you are going through treatments that make it difficult to do it for yourself. It can be really hard to focus and remember everything that is happening because, frankly, you will be in shock for a while and that can make it hard to figure out how to tie your shoes, much less keep track of what can be really complicated information being thrown at you. It will also let you look back and figure out what foods upset your stomach, when symptoms started or resolved, what medications have helped with different issues, etc. For me personally, it has given me a sense of control in times when I feel helpless and has allowed us to better manage my dad's care.

    I know you can fight this!
    (((hugs)))
  • lesvanb
    lesvanb Member Posts: 905
    #25
    As you can see, you're not alone
    First I'm very sorry that you had to come to us and Welcome! to our group. As you can see, there's lots of support here so you'll have someone at any hour of the day to get you through whatever's going on at the time. For organizing, you can go to the Lance Armstrong foundation and request the notebook which has lots of info plus pages to keep things organized. You can personalize it. I also had someone ALWAYS with me at doctor's appts 'cause I just couldn't hear things and needed someone to watch my back. A small tape recorder works well too. Caring Bridge and Lotsa Helping Hands through the Lance Armstrong foundation are two sites to keep friends and family informed. I recommend, if you're not up to it, a good friend or family member whose job it is to post updates. That was very helpful for me 'cause I found I was very private during my year of treatments but of course needed all the help from housecleaning to meals to kind thoughts to rides to appts. And for cancer survivors in their 20s, 30s, 40+s, I also recommend the Colon club site plus Everything changes book and blogsite by Kairol Rosenthal and Crazy, Sexy cancer tips book by Kris Carr. For some, writing is a creative outlet, like painting, and engages your right brain in the fight. (Check out one of our resident artists who just discovered his hidden talents Just4Brooks. You will get through this, and as many have said, using your intelligence plus practicing patience -and gratitude for all those good things that will come your way that you can't see right now- will ease the path.

    all the best, Leslie
  • khl8
    khl8 Member Posts: 807
    #26
    you are not alone, ever!
    Everyone reacts differntly to the treatments. I woked full time the entire time I was getting radiation and chemo. I was out of the office for 6 weeks when I had major surgery, byt after 8 days I was working remotly from home, I would work a few hours, take a nap and repeat. When I received the folfox chemo, I worked from home for 2 days every other week when i was hooked uo to the pump.. I had my chemo on Thursdays so I could have the disconnect on Saturday. I know I may be unusual, but I love my job!!!!!And I did waht I could so I could keep up, plus my boss and co-workers were amazing. You are in for a year long battle, but you can do it, we all eithere hav done it or are still doing it. Be strong,l yell and scream at us here if you need to, we kmow the feelings~~~~~~
    Kathy

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