5 Years NED

Hi all,

It's been quite awhile since I've posted so the newbies won't know me. Here's a brief history: diagnosed Dec '04 with stage 2a colon cancer and had laprascopic right hemicolectomy.

Like many stage 2 colon ca patients I struggled with the decision regarding chemo or not, and decided not since the data were not convincing for stage 2. To be clear, if I had been diagnosed with stage 3 or 4 I would have done the chemo. And I'm not suggesting that anyone else follow my path since everyone is different and this is a very personal decision.

Over the past 5 years I had regular follow-ups with the oncologist every 4 months for the first 2 years, then every six months. Each new ache and pain brought new fears of cancer, but my oncologist was good about following-up with CT scans (about 1/yr)and I had a repeat colonoscopy 1 yr after surgery, and two years later (2 years ago). I have an appointment with the GI doc in early January to discuss my next colonoscopy.

Over the years I have celebrated the successes written on these pages, and have been saddened by the opposite of those I only knew through their words written here.

While no one knows what the future will bring for any of us, at least for now I can say I lived 5 years after being diagnosed with colon cancer. So far so good...

Happy Holidays to all!

Howard