New and Scared

pattyspals
pattyspals Member Posts: 12
in Colorectal Cancer #1
My name is Patty and I am 40 years old currently battling stage 4 colon cancer. I was told by some of the nurses at my oncologist office that this is a good place for support. So here I am trying to gain some support from folks who have been through the same thing. My cancer spread from my colon to my liver but has been removed after my surgery. Now I am on chemo trying to get what was left behind. I hope everyone has a nice day and I hope that I will gain the information that I am looking for.

Comments

  • jararno
    jararno Member Posts: 186
    #2
    Welcome
    Welcome to the club! Sorry you are going through this lovely crap! I hope that you get the support and info that you need!

    Feel free to rant, rave, brag, cry....whatever you need to do!

    I am Stage 3C and recently finished 12 rounds of the evil FOLFOX! Still getting scans, colonoscopies and fighting with my Docs! ( Have appointments the next three days...fun! )

    There are many Stage 4s with the liver involvement around here. They are sure to be a great help.

    There are all sorts of wonderful people and a few crabby ones too!

    As in any family there are fights, arguments and people make up! ( in most cases )

    Hope you are having a great day!

    Take Care,

    Barb
  • pete43lost_at_sea
    pete43lost_at_sea Member Posts: 3,900 Member
    #3
    welcome patty
    its a shame you had to find us, but welcome and read and post.

    there are heaps of good articles in the archive. you could have a look at vitamin d3 and colorectal.

    goodluck with your treatment.

    pete
  • lizzydavis
    lizzydavis Member Posts: 893
    #4
    pete43lost_at_sea said:

    welcome patty
    its a shame you had to find us, but welcome and read and post.

    there are heaps of good articles in the archive. you could have a look at vitamin d3 and colorectal.

    goodluck with your treatment.

    pete

    Hi Patty,
    Hi Patty,

    Welcome to the Cancer Survivor's Network. I was so glad I found this site. You can ask any question you want and someone is bound to know the answer or give suggestions. I am glad to hear the nurses recommended this site. By the way, which State do you live?

    Lizzy
  • Lovekitties
    Lovekitties Member Posts: 3,364 Member
    #5
    Hi Patty
    First of all please tell the nurses who referred you here, thank you, from us and from you.
    The folks who post here are a font of information, support and caring. You won't find better.

    All you need to do is ask a question and I am sure there will be folks to help with answers based on their experience.

    Tell us more about your treatment and anything which is concerning you. If you are just feeling low or whatever, feel free to post that too. We all need a place to vent or seek comfort and those who are walking in your shoes are the best to understand that.

    Marie who loves kitties
  • pattyspals
    pattyspals Member Posts: 12
    #6
    Lovekitties said:

    Hi Patty
    First of all please tell the nurses who referred you here, thank you, from us and from you.
    The folks who post here are a font of information, support and caring. You won't find better.

    All you need to do is ask a question and I am sure there will be folks to help with answers based on their experience.

    Tell us more about your treatment and anything which is concerning you. If you are just feeling low or whatever, feel free to post that too. We all need a place to vent or seek comfort and those who are walking in your shoes are the best to understand that.

    Marie who loves kitties

    More about me
    Well I am just finishing up my last round of chemo I have done a total of 12 and from what I have heard that is just the standard number to start with. I did a combination of 5fu,Oxaliplatin boy that's a word I never thought I'd have to say and also I did Erbitux which I was not very happy with. All in all I have done pretty good with the treatments but I am looking forward to getting through with them I could use a break.

    Patty
  • AnneCan
    AnneCan Member Posts: 3,673 Member
    #7
    Welcome Patty
    You obviously have smart nurses; this is a great spot to come for support, answers, sometimes laughter etc.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #8
    AnneCan said:

    Welcome Patty
    You obviously have smart nurses; this is a great spot to come for support, answers, sometimes laughter etc.

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator
  • pattyspals
    pattyspals Member Posts: 12
    #9
    unknown said:

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator

    treatments
    Sorry let me try and explain this correct. When I was first diagnosed I was told I would have twelve rounds of chemo plus the two surgeries and then we would see what things looked like. So I just finished the last round last week and I will be having a CT scan in a few more weeks to see where I stand. All this is so confusing and sometimes I feel so overwhelmed. I can only hope that we got it all and that I am done with chemo at least for a long time. Does anyone know how quickly it tends to come back if it is going to come back at all? Are there any long term survivors on this board? What is the longest anyone has heard of someone living with stage 4 colon cancer? Sorry for all these questions I am sure you have heard them all a hundred times. I am just trying to get information to help myself get my mind right.

    Patty
  • herdizziness
    herdizziness Member Posts: 3,624 Member
    #10
    chemo
    What was your Chemo regime?
  • AnneCan
    AnneCan Member Posts: 3,673 Member
    #11
    pattyspals said:

    treatments
    Sorry let me try and explain this correct. When I was first diagnosed I was told I would have twelve rounds of chemo plus the two surgeries and then we would see what things looked like. So I just finished the last round last week and I will be having a CT scan in a few more weeks to see where I stand. All this is so confusing and sometimes I feel so overwhelmed. I can only hope that we got it all and that I am done with chemo at least for a long time. Does anyone know how quickly it tends to come back if it is going to come back at all? Are there any long term survivors on this board? What is the longest anyone has heard of someone living with stage 4 colon cancer? Sorry for all these questions I am sure you have heard them all a hundred times. I am just trying to get information to help myself get my mind right.

    Patty

    Patty
    My cancer buddy has survived ~ 23 years so far after having stage 4 colon cancer. I also met someone else who has survived ~ 15 years. There are some long term survivors on this board; they tend not to post as often as someone who is in active treatment or has recently finished treatment. There is a long term survivors board on this forum; it might be worth a visit for inspiration.
  • tootsie1
    tootsie1 Member Posts: 5,044 Member
    #12
    Hi
    Hi, Patty.

    I'm sorry you have to be here, but you have come to a wonderful place for support and information. There are several Stage 4's here who have been around quite awhile,and I'm sure they're reveal themselves to you.

    Nice to meet you!

    *hugs*
    Gail
  • Buzzard
    Buzzard Member Posts: 3,043 Member
    #13
    tootsie1 said:

    Hi
    Hi, Patty.

    I'm sorry you have to be here, but you have come to a wonderful place for support and information. There are several Stage 4's here who have been around quite awhile,and I'm sure they're reveal themselves to you.

    Nice to meet you!

    *hugs*
    Gail

    Hi Patty, Im one of the cranky ones.....
    only because making up is so much fun..........I just turned Stage 4 after a met to the lung..(rectal cancer Primary Dx 3/25/08)....its gone now, surgery, and back to square one...No additional chemo because there were no nodes involved and clear margins, nothing found in any blood tests... Really nothing to center on.....`Stage 4 isn't as bad as I thought once you get the ole noggin wrapped around it...Its the Stage 5 that may just suck a little...but, What me Worry.absolutely not, no time. Got kids that need raising, fish that need catching, don't have time to let something I hate have any of my spare time, sorry, got it all spoken for....I still plan for next year and the year after...I eat the same, poop a little differently than most (bagger), laugh just as hard as before, I just have a little different look when I get out of the shower and flex.......Yep, its gotta be the ostomy bag that makes me so sexy.....or maybe its all the medication that makes me so goofy......Nawwwwwwwwwww !!!!!...Just teasing with ya....kind of a part of the welcoming committee here....ask anything you like anytime you like.....we even had a thread on tatas and ducK tape in here........see we don't cull anything....enjoy yourself and be comfy...your in good hands.........Love to ya, Buzz
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #14
    Buzzard said:

    Hi Patty, Im one of the cranky ones.....
    only because making up is so much fun..........I just turned Stage 4 after a met to the lung..(rectal cancer Primary Dx 3/25/08)....its gone now, surgery, and back to square one...No additional chemo because there were no nodes involved and clear margins, nothing found in any blood tests... Really nothing to center on.....`Stage 4 isn't as bad as I thought once you get the ole noggin wrapped around it...Its the Stage 5 that may just suck a little...but, What me Worry.absolutely not, no time. Got kids that need raising, fish that need catching, don't have time to let something I hate have any of my spare time, sorry, got it all spoken for....I still plan for next year and the year after...I eat the same, poop a little differently than most (bagger), laugh just as hard as before, I just have a little different look when I get out of the shower and flex.......Yep, its gotta be the ostomy bag that makes me so sexy.....or maybe its all the medication that makes me so goofy......Nawwwwwwwwwww !!!!!...Just teasing with ya....kind of a part of the welcoming committee here....ask anything you like anytime you like.....we even had a thread on tatas and ducK tape in here........see we don't cull anything....enjoy yourself and be comfy...your in good hands.........Love to ya, Buzz

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator
  • JoyceSteele
    JoyceSteele Member Posts: 145
    #15
    A warm welcome from Florida
    Hi Patty, as some have said, sorry you have to join us, but you will be glad you did. No better place for comfort, experience, advice, you name it. I am also Stage IV, mets to liver, just went to Mayo Clinic this week and will know Mon. if I am now "operable".. was told a year ago I was not, too many tumors, too large. Thanks to the Folfox w/Avastin, then Avasin only for the past 8 mos. the tumors are much smaller, some are gone and the cancer has not spread outside the liver. I feel wonderful except for a very bad hip. (arthritis). As so many are, I was left with neuropathy, but it's a small price to pay to be alive.

    Mayo told me that if the surgeon decides he can do the surgery, they are going for a cure. It was about the best thing anyone ever said to me. Take one day at a time (not always easy to do), pray and as my nurses at the cancer center say "believe". Hugs from Orlando. Joyce

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