recurrence??

MelanieT
MelanieT Member Posts: 186
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
I no with sad regret many of you have had recurrences of your colon cancer. I am just wondering what the symtoms are?? As I last told you chris had blood in his stool so we went to the dr on Thurs.. This is not his only symtom. He is SO fatigued its a chore to get out of bed for a week now. He never had nausea through this whole process, not even chemo but now does on a daily basis and alot of back pain. The Dr ran about 100 blood tests and called friday and wants to meet with us. I guess his CEA level went from 1.9 to 30 he said his liver test was off too. I just dont get what they tell me... Its only been since March 3rd that he had is last chemo... can it really come back this quick??

Loves,
Mel

Comments

  • WinneyPooh
    WinneyPooh Member Posts: 318
    #2
    anything is possible
    mel,
    I have come to the conclusion that anything is possible with this cancer, I have had cancer before 13 years ago and beat it and here i am bacck with an even worse monster cancer, i look good and feel fine most of the time, but still my cancer progresses,

    So can it be back this fast sure, so what ever the out come is i know you all will fight it tooth and nail,
    say to hell with cancer and live today and tomarrow as best as you all can. You all together will get threw this what ever the outcome.

    I pray its not what you fear, but if it is you will find the strengh to do what is necessary.

    live, love, laugh
    Winney
  • Nana b
    Nana b Member Posts: 3,030 Member
    #3
    WinneyPooh said:

    anything is possible
    mel,
    I have come to the conclusion that anything is possible with this cancer, I have had cancer before 13 years ago and beat it and here i am bacck with an even worse monster cancer, i look good and feel fine most of the time, but still my cancer progresses,

    So can it be back this fast sure, so what ever the out come is i know you all will fight it tooth and nail,
    say to hell with cancer and live today and tomarrow as best as you all can. You all together will get threw this what ever the outcome.

    I pray its not what you fear, but if it is you will find the strengh to do what is necessary.

    live, love, laugh
    Winney

    Good Morning from Cali
    The CEA level shows activity, that is why my ONC always checks mine, to nip it in the butt! But not everyone's CEA level shows a true sign of activity, mine does.
  • shmurciakova
    shmurciakova Member Posts: 906 Member
    #4
    not a true recurrence....
    Unfortunately, probably what is going on is that your husband had a liver met all along that was not detectable by CT scan because it was too small..This is what happened to me when I was initially diagnosed and had my first round of chemo. At my very first checkup post-chemo my CEA was up to 40 and the CT scan showed a walnut sized met on my liver! I was floored! The docs at that time explained to me that the chemo had probably kept that tumor at bay, but then it had the chance to go nuts and showed up on the next CT.
    If this is what's going on w/ your husband try not to jump to any conclusions. Many liver mets can be removed surgically and many folks never have any more problems after that.
    I did not have any symptoms whatsoever other than the fact that my CEA rose..I would have never even known that thing was there. I don't know what to say about his blood in the stool, that could well just be hemmerhoids at this point. The fatigue, etc. are I believe signs of something in the liver, also the back pain maybe? maybe not.
    Best of luck and let us know what the doctors tell you guys!
    -Susan
  • dorookie
    dorookie Member Posts: 1,731 Member
    #5
    No symptoms
    Mine was caught in a check-up scan, just a few months after getting an all clear scan, so I would say it can come back pretty fast, mine might have been there and just not shown up, but it was pretty good sized, so I am not sure, either way I pray its not back and that chris gets better soon. Keep us posted.

    *HUGS*
    Beth
  • tootsie1
    tootsie1 Member Posts: 5,044 Member
    #6
    Praying
    As Winney has already stated, cancer pretty much does what it wants, when it wants. I do hope that is not the case here, but it's good that Chris has a doctor who's going to check things out thorougly.

    I'll be praying for y'all, and we'll all be anxious to hear further reports.

    *hugs*
    Gail
  • greybeard64
    greybeard64 Member Posts: 254
    #7
    WinneyPooh said:

    anything is possible
    mel,
    I have come to the conclusion that anything is possible with this cancer, I have had cancer before 13 years ago and beat it and here i am bacck with an even worse monster cancer, i look good and feel fine most of the time, but still my cancer progresses,

    So can it be back this fast sure, so what ever the out come is i know you all will fight it tooth and nail,
    say to hell with cancer and live today and tomarrow as best as you all can. You all together will get threw this what ever the outcome.

    I pray its not what you fear, but if it is you will find the strengh to do what is necessary.

    live, love, laugh
    Winney

    Live love laugh

    hey Winney
    I dont know if you follow football or sports in general but there is a tradition in alot of colleges at least that as the players pass by a certain sign, message, or symbol of some sort they all touch it before taking the field.

    We have a sign that says exactly that "LIVE,LOVE,LAUGH" which hangs above the bottom step on the stairs leading to the second floor of our house. Since our bedroom is on the second floor, I see this on the way down to the coffee maker every morning. I never fail to touch that sign as I pass, it makes me think about how this day is a blessing and helps me focus on what matters in life each and every morning. Seeing it at the end of your post made me smile. Just thought you should know, and I hope this finds you smilin, as you LIVE, LOVE, & LAUGH.
    Chris
  • greybeard64
    greybeard64 Member Posts: 254
    #8
    For me
    seems, like so much of this, it varies widely for each of us. For me it was pain in the area of the first tumor, not bad just a little "stitch", then a change in BM which became less frequent, a bloated feeling after meals....gee can you say blockage. I always knew, after the first diagnosis that is, when it was back (which has happened twice after initial DX) even before they got to doing the blood work and subsequent scans.
    Here is hoping it is nothing. Blood in the stool at this point could mean lots of different things.
    From one Chris to another

    Chris
    Greybeard
  • lisa42
    lisa42 Member Posts: 3,625 Member
    #9
    blood in stool
    Hi Melanie,

    I am of course hoping Chris has not had a recurrence, as blood in the stool can mean more than just that. I've had it both ways. About a year and a half ago, I had bleeding and thought it was a recurrence. A follow up colonoscopy showed there was no recurrence, but there were blood vessels close to the surface in my original tumor site in the rectum that were bleeding. It was called radiation damage, and I was told that radiation can cause issues with bleeding easily. More recently- this past Feb- I started having rectal bleeding again and this time it actually was a recurrence in the rectum.
    Remember that certain medications can also cause rectal bleeding- too much aspirin, ibuprofen, tumeric, coumadin, basically any kind of blood thinner- including Avastin can cause blood to be present in the stools- and of course there's always the hemmorhoids and anal fissures that cause bleeding too.

    Keep us posted- hoping for the best-
    Lisa
  • MelanieT
    MelanieT Member Posts: 186
    #10
    lisa42 said:

    blood in stool
    Hi Melanie,

    I am of course hoping Chris has not had a recurrence, as blood in the stool can mean more than just that. I've had it both ways. About a year and a half ago, I had bleeding and thought it was a recurrence. A follow up colonoscopy showed there was no recurrence, but there were blood vessels close to the surface in my original tumor site in the rectum that were bleeding. It was called radiation damage, and I was told that radiation can cause issues with bleeding easily. More recently- this past Feb- I started having rectal bleeding again and this time it actually was a recurrence in the rectum.
    Remember that certain medications can also cause rectal bleeding- too much aspirin, ibuprofen, tumeric, coumadin, basically any kind of blood thinner- including Avastin can cause blood to be present in the stools- and of course there's always the hemmorhoids and anal fissures that cause bleeding too.

    Keep us posted- hoping for the best-
    Lisa

    Thanks for all your comments
    Thanks for all your comments and support.. His blood tests came back and the nurse called and said everything looked OK.. But wants to see him next wk to see how he is feeling. I just dont get it. Blood tests look ok but he is pretty sick.. i guess i just have to put faith in everything and know that they no what they are doing.. Love ya all

    Loves,
    Mel
  • AnneCan
    AnneCan Member Posts: 3,673 Member
    #11
    MelanieT said:

    Thanks for all your comments
    Thanks for all your comments and support.. His blood tests came back and the nurse called and said everything looked OK.. But wants to see him next wk to see how he is feeling. I just dont get it. Blood tests look ok but he is pretty sick.. i guess i just have to put faith in everything and know that they no what they are doing.. Love ya all

    Loves,
    Mel

    Hi Mel,
    That is good news!
    Hi Mel,

    That is good news! I hope he is feeling better soon + I am glad the doctor is keeping an eye on him.

Discussion Boards