Your comment about pregnancy made me smile. If I had tried to say “we’re pregnant”—even once, in a low voice, in private—when my wife was pregnant with our kids, I wouldn’t have to worry about cancer killing me. I’d be dead already :wink: On a more serious note, I do think it’s important to define a...

I assume you’re describing tinnitus. There’s no question that Oxaliplatin does a number on nerves—I can vouch for that every time I get up in the morning and walk across the bedroom floor (and my neuropathy is quite minor from what I have read/understand!). However, tinnitus is also a very common co...

Here’s the study on “switching.” I believe these folks were chemo naive, which you aren’t. Also, I in essence “switched” when I bailed out from FOLFOX into CRT/Capecitabine, and had no ill-effects. I think a took a few weeks to get the CRT together, though, in case that matters. https://fightcolorec...

In my view, this is a very complicated topic and decision. I would certainly ask your oncologists (both medical and radiation) why they are using infusional 5FU instead of Xeloda/Capecitabine. I do not think it’s simply because you have a port—I did 4 rounds of neoadjuvant FOLFOX thru a port, then C...

I am not on active chemo, but I have read extensively on this subject, and oncologists are nearly uniform in recommending the COVID-19 vaccines for cancer patients (including those on active chemo). And when I was on active chemo, my team told me to get a flu shot (I did). Efficacy of the COVID vacc...

This must be frustrating. Unfortunately I don’t have any bright ideas, but I will offer one observation. The decreases in ANC certainly *appear* to suggest a trend, but they are relatively small changes overall, and there are few data points (I think you mention two downward moves). You’re also rela...

I received my second Pfizer shot yesterday, thought I’d follow Weissoccermom’s lead and give a report. After the first shot I had moderate arm soreness, somewhere between a flu shot and a tetanus shot. It was mostly resolved the next day, but I felt little twinges for a total of 3 days. Maybe a tiny...

IwF: I had used this study as a reference for my comments. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24866542/ It is, as I recall, at least fairly representative of the general literature on this topic (though of course there are lots of variations). The link you included appears to be a seminar deck, but I s...

I agree with Stu, and would stress that your doctors’ perspective is crucial here. As you likely are aware, a very low percentage of TSTC liver lesions are mets, and even lesions classed as “suspicious” TSTC lesions are only mets around a quarter of the time (according to one large study I’ve seen)....

I think it is very unlikely that you would be having shortness of breath due to COVID and have normal blood tests and a normal chest x-ray, as well. I hope you get this sorted soon!

I agree with others that you should get this checked out. But I would not worry about it at all. Hemorrhoids are very common in general, and even more so in your specific situation (postpartum). Colorectal cancer at your age is very, very rare. Also, you may get some resistance to a request for a co...

Sonofafighter: This may or may not matter to you, but I just saw a news report in US media that Sinopharm results showed only 50% effectiveness in Brazil, much lower than reported initially. Again, I don’t know how credible this is, or whether it even matters to you, but just thought I’d pass it alo...

Immunocompromised people were excluded from the trials. That said, there is a very long history of vaccine use in immunocompromised individuals. Live, attenuated vaccines have in some cases caused problems for immunocompromised recipients, but not “killed” or inactivated vaccines, like the adenoviru...

Stu: Saw an interesting report this morning that intersects with our discussion above. The US FDA disagrees with the UK approach on the grounds that it is not supported by the trial data—not that it won’t work, just that there was not sufficient evidence that it would—and noted that most of the Mode...

I usually post what I see as useful information, not expressions of emotion or empathy (quintessential male, my wife would say!), but I really feel for you right now, and since I have nothing useful to add, I just want to wish you the best for understanding what’s going on and getting better! Good l...