It's been a while since I've posted to this thread, but: Had my bloodwork yesterday morning, CEA is holding steady at 1.8 and everything else looked fine. I'll have bloodwork and my 6-month CT scan in January. If that looks good she'll be pushing me back to an annual CT scan. Over the summer I contr...

Congrats Mob!!! I'm so happy for you!!

I decided to get the bloodwork drawn the afternoon before the infusion to decrease the elapsed time that I was at the infusion. So I'd go there the afternoon before, get blood drawn on the way home from work, and just go home so it saved the hour waiting for the bloodwork results. This is brilliant...

I completed 6 rounds of FOLFOX treatment in December 2018; I didn't get any Oxaliplatin at my last 2 chemo appointments. I still have some neuropathy but it has improved significantly since January, and does not affect my quality of life. I also get some slight swelling in my feet at the end of the ...

I never smelled anything weird, fortunately. I got cold sensitivity with every infusion, so I could not have done the ice chips thing. I had to ask the nurses not to put ice in my water and even then it was sometimes too cold. So I eventually started to microwave water to heat it up a bit, and take ...

Pyro, enjoy your trip and your relaxation time. I'm so sorry to hear that you're going into hospice, but it sounds like it is the right decision at this time.

I admire your attitude and I hope you enjoy the respite from treatment. I wish you all my best. You are in my thoughts.

Congrats!!!! That is awesome!!

Congrats Phuong! Thank you so much for all you do for the Colon Club.

I had some odd side effects with FOLFOX, but with me it was mostly muscle twitches and muscle cramps in my hands and legs. I also had weird hair stuff (my hair quit falling out and stopped getting dirty, and has only recently started falling out at a normal rate, 9 months after finishing chemo). I d...

I was on FOLFOX for 6 months so not quite the same thing, but a few comments: My white blood cells tanked after the first infusion, and as a result I ended up waiting a solid month between my first and 2nd doses of chemo. I found out later that getting neutropenia early is a sign that the chemo is p...

Thanks for all the recommendations, and Mike, thanks for the photos of your kit. I got a 3-pack of peri irrigation bottles and I'll put together a small travel kit, just in case. The good news is that it has now been over 3 weeks since my last c diff flare-up, which is the longest I've gone without ...

I despised my port at first. I am thin and it's just not possible to pretend that it's not there. A nurse had told me I would hardly notice it, so my expectations were way off. I got a buckwheat pillow to prop up my shoulder on that side so I could sleep on my stomach; otherwise it would have been t...

Congrats, Zack! Glad you're not dealing with a lot of pain. I used my IV pain meds lightly for maybe 12 hours after surgery for CC, then didn't even need tylenol after that. I had 5 staples in my biggest laparoscopic incision, plus 3 others sealed with glue. I hope your pathology looks great!

Yeah, actually our bidet at home is one of the BioBidet ones, added onto our regular toilet. It plugs into the wall (so need an outlet handy) so it warms up the water. My husband installed it so I can't say anything about that process. It did seem fairly quick though. I tend to travel really light; ...

So I've now had c. diff. three times. Every single time, it has happened when I was at a conference and/or out of state. I'm starting to think I need to track the number of states where I've had to visit Urgent Care and talk about my butt. :evil: I love my bidet at home, it helped my skin not get ir...