Hope...

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BusterBrown
BusterBrown Member Posts: 221 Member
in Colorectal Cancer #1
Greetings all, every once in awhile I'll visit this board and share a little. I was dx in Dec. 2004 with stage iv crc and liver mets. Since then I've gone through 3 abdominal surgeries( colon and liver resection, and a liver cryo procedure), 5wks of radiation, 46 doses, and counting, of folfox and folfiri & avastin, I've been told NED twice, I've been through countless scans (ct & pet), and waited for results for each scan. As Tom Petty so eloquently put it, "the waiting is the hardest part." I hate waiting for test results! Anyways, I've got my PetScan results back yesterday and there's no news, and we all know no news is good news. I have cancer and have had it for the last two years, I have a small spot on my plural(lung lining) and one on a node in my gut and they have not changed in 2 years. Chances are I'll do another surgery to remove spot on my gut, they're not sure about plural tumor, it may have calcified.
Anyways, here's some advice from seasoned vet. Compartmentalize your illness, don't let it rule your life, visit it when you have to, the rest of the time, head down and full speed ahead...

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  • Brenda Bricco
    Brenda Bricco Member Posts: 579 Member
    #2
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    Awesome!
    Full speed ahead! :)
  • Kathleen808
    Kathleen808 Member Posts: 2,342 Member
    #3
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    BB
    BB,
    Thanks for sharing. It helps to read stories of long time survivors. You mentioned that you have had active cancer for the past few years. Are you in treatment? If so what are you on? Thanks. We need some help in learning how to live with cancer.

    Aloha,
    Kathleen
  • pete43lost_at_sea
    pete43lost_at_sea Member Posts: 3,900 Member
    #4
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    turn up the volume and fight fire with fire
    this approach has given me a huge feeling of control, see my ian gawler post.

    meditation would likely give you heaps of control of the stress response.
    the diet , juicing and exercise has helped give me emotional and physical relief as well as
    i beleive keeping my crc away so far. and i have the healthiest lifestyle i have ever enjoyed.

    i also use just in time random appointments for scans. it works as i don't work. so far i call the scan places receptionist and say i need the chest/abdo ct with contrast. i am nervous and need the very next spot available as a cancellation. call me and i will be there. so i don't have the scan in the diary. it only enters my awareness when i get called in. obviously i drop everything and do the scan when i get the call. i then take the results to the oncologist directly and good friend the oncs receptionist open the results to see how urgent the next onc appoint looks. we have a language that tells me the scan results immediately if good news or bad news not the details but at least the uncertainty is removed.

    good luck with your healing journey, i hope yours is filled with peace of mind.

    hugs,
    pete
  • BusterBrown
    BusterBrown Member Posts: 221 Member
    #5
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    Kathleen808 said:

    BB
    BB,
    Thanks for sharing. It helps to read stories of long time survivors. You mentioned that you have had active cancer for the past few years. Are you in treatment? If so what are you on? Thanks. We need some help in learning how to live with cancer.

    Aloha,
    Kathleen

    Katleen...
    Katleen,
    Yes, there I two spots I've been living with for the last 2 years. One is on a lymph node near my liver and the other is in the plural of my right lung. Like my posted stated, I got my PetScan results back last Wednesday and the node near my liver has not grown and they believe the tumor/mass in my plural my have calcified. My case is going in front or the hospital review board to see if I'm a candidate for surgery. Even though it'll be my forth major surgery, I'm up for it,I would love to be NED once again. I'm truly fortunate that the biology of my disease is seemingly very slow. I'm currently on Folfiri w/ Avastin and I take it every 4-5 weeks, it's definitely manageable. Next week will be my 47th dose (12 folfox, the rest folfiri w/avastin), ugh! There have been periods in the last 2 years where I've took 6-8 weeks off from chemo. It all depends on my work and vacation schedule.

    Stay busy in life and love and the next thing you know 7 years will pass you by too. Hope this helps...

    Stay well.
    Buster

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