I think the way you are feeling isn’t unusual - at least, I can relate. I have a “cancer buddy” who got diagnosed months and months after I did. We went through chemo and surgeries together - and then suddenly she was done! And I was still waiting to start another 4-6 months of chemo. I was happy fo...

Gina I worry about the mop up time frame with my hubby he hasn't been back on systemic since before surgery just the hai I can totally appreciate that. As the calendar slipped away while we were waiting on chemo for my drains to be out, I started to get more and more stressed about not starting my ...

Good scan, no adjuvant chemo, and maybe - just maybe - the freaking drain will be coming out too! That's a triple hitter! The drain is out! And, like yours, my body just sort of pushed it right out when they went to remove it. I wore a tight dress to the office today for the first time in three mon...

Good scan, no adjuvant chemo, and maybe - just maybe - the freaking drain will be coming out too! That's a triple hitter! Even if they don't pull it tomorrow, he said it'll be out soon so hang it there. Things are looking up - way up!!! :D :D :D Juliej Thank you - you kept me sane through this jour...

I do think there is a large mental component to this - it’s a terrifying disease and we feel like we should be doing “something”. Sometimes acceptance and doing ‘nothing’ is the hardest part (actually though are you doing something - active surveillance, plus healing and living your life!). That's ...

Just wrapped up my day at MSK, and suffice to say it was not the day I expected! Scanxiety hit in a big way after yesterday's scan - I got so worried I think I freaked my husband out, because I don't usually get that worked up. Going into the day's appointment, we were hoping for 1) a clean scan, 2)...

I had major scanxiety going into yesterday's scan - to the point where I was in tears waiting for my consults with Drs Kingham and Kemeny today. Instead, Dr Kingham told me my scan was clear - yay! And my CEA is holding constant at 1.2. And, even more exciting - Dr Kemeny said that since it has been...

Checking back in with an update: Istanbul was very cool! We only had three nights and two days there, but the historical sites are concentrated in one area. We hired a guide for half a day and that was the highlight of the trip. The guides in Turkey are required to go to college to get their certifi...

I would ask for D test too. CRC patients are notoriously low in Vitamin D. I started out so low it was below the detectable range! Now Dr. K has me on a supplement and I get tested with my labs every 3 months. Let me know what your labs today looked like. I'm curious... Juliej No labs today! Northw...

No chemo right now, no. Tomorrow I’m going in for labs and an iron infusion. I’ll ask them to pull B12 - that’s one I haven’t been checking. And I know someone mentioned one other thing, was it D3 maybe? I know last labs, my magnesium and iron were below normal range. Potassium was super low side of...

Dr Kemeny cut me off Oxi after 8 rounds, and that was when I was just starting to feel like the neuropathy took almost the whole cycle to resolve - in other words, I didn’t think it was that bad and nothing seemed like it was permanent. She could not be convinced to restart it again, even when my sc...

My medical team seems to be stumped on this one, so figured I would check with other patients to see if anyone is experiencing this! I had surgery - my second liver resection - in mid-October. My recovery really kicked me in the behind, and I had a particularly rough go of it because my red blood co...

Last chemo and NED - could not think of a better Christmas gift (or holiday, depending on what you’re celebrating)! Congratulations and I hope to be following in your footsteps in another 8-12 rounds...

Gina, I completely empathize with you!!! I had a bile duct leak that just wouldn't stop. Weirdly (loooong story) it was after one of my lung surgeries. They placed a drain and waited for it to "resolve." It was putting out a significant amount of yellow bile (really sticky stuff!) and I m...

Thank you so much for weighing in with so much expertise! Totally appreciate it! some talking points for the docs, maybe … the discharge would seem low volume to me, have they checked it for composition ( exudate versus transudate kind of thing ?) They did initially but have not for a while. Instead...