Just a Few questions

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dorookie
dorookie Member Posts: 1,731 Member
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hi All, FYI, Iam 39, dx colon cancer Stage 3 6 out of 15 lymp nodes affected nothing else that was detected outside of the colon, may/07, surgery june/07, (IV)chemo started july/07 for 3 months then 5 1/2 weeks of radation and oral Chemo, then another 3 months of (IV)chemo.

Finally got the side effects mostly under control, so that is great news. Had severe side pain a few days ago, had to go to ER, to get a cat scan and they found a large ovairn cyst. Which at this point they told me they cant do anything, surgery is out unless I stopped Chemo, not doing that will put up with the pain till the dang thing pops, cant control it with high doeses of Birthcontrol pills because that introduces harmones into my body which at this point in the chemo could cause blod clots. So I guess I will get to the questions:

Has anyone had to deal with ovarian cyst during Chemo?

I have been reading alot about treatments being cut back to 9 unstead of 12, what are your thoughts on that? I have been doing well on chemo as far as lab work. My WBC is only at 6.7 after 5 treaments and they finally did a CEA and it was 1.5 which the onc said was good, normal is what he actually said, any thoughts on that?

My onc is requesting I have a Pet scan here soon, my insurance rejected it last time, I think it was because it was requested only two day before my scheduled surgery, I am keeping my fingers crossed it will go through. But that also brings fear, what if all this is wrong and they find other stuff. I know I just got through posting to another not to worry until there is something to worry about but again like I said its the hardest thing in the world to do right now.

Any thoughts are geatly apprciated. Hope all is well and like always you all are in my prayers.

Thank you

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  • poppy05
    poppy05 Member Posts: 2
    #2
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    Hi,
    I also am a stage III colon cancer survivor with lymph node 9/31. I was diagnosed 2 1/2 years ago at age 47. I just turned 50. I developed a large ovarian cyst about 3 or 4 months into my chemo treatments, the doctor waited until my chemo treatments were done, and about a month later I had a total hysterectomy. The cyst was benign. Apart from weight gain I have had no bad effects and am glad I had the full surgery. Good luck to you.
  • paula44
    paula44 Member Posts: 23
    #3
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    I wish I could help. I'm 44 and my cancer was contained to the polyp - no spread, no lymph nodes involved. But I'm only three weeks out from surgery and now this big "mass" which we hope is only a benign cyst on my ovary.

    I hope you do ok. I've had cysts before and had surgery for them before. The cyst doesn't scare me, as long as that's all it is. You should do just fine with the waiting on the cyst.
  • spongebob
    spongebob Member Posts: 2,565 Member
    #4
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    Ahoy, do!

    I can honestly tell you that I have never had an ovarian cyst so I can only empathize with you - not sympathize. I will give you an "UGH" for your situation...

    So... if I read correctly, you have been on chemo (IV type) since July. Since it is for three months, when do you finish the cycle? Looking at the chemo regime they have you on, it seems really aggressive - especially with 5-1/2 weeks of radiation sandwiched between IV chemo. If you had surgery, why would they do radiation? Sorry... just thinking out loud...

    Anyway, about the only thing I can tell you is that your CEA does appear to be normal, but CEA is not a good unilateral indicator. The best way to use CEA is to look for upward or downward trends in the number by doing several tests over many months. The good news is that you finally have a baseline to which the docs can compare future CEA numbers. CEA isn't always a viable indicator at all for some people (my CEA was normal when I had active disease and hasn't really fluctuated up or down in the past 5 years).

    Hang tough and hopefully they will get you on the right track to get that cyst addressed.

    - SpongeBob

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