This is super-helpful, CRGuy - thank you! They wouldn't allow her to start the treatment protocol until 3 weeks after her last steroids, and she hasn't been allowed on aspirin or anything for the last 2 weeks - that must be why. The symptoms you describe are useful to know about, so we can be prepar...

Thank you!

Someone said that Interferon causes flu-like symptoms. What does that mean??

Dear tif2112,

Thank you for sharing your experience. I hadn't realized that it's harder to hold it in. Is that because the sphincter can get damaged during the operation, or is there another reason?

Jaycey

Hi All, L just found out she was randomized to the treatment arm in the Chemokine Modulatory Regimen Phase II study. She starts pre-treatment on July 20th Whooeee (I think). I don't think anybody here was in it - but maybe some of you have had some of the ingredients? It's a mixture of IFN, celecoxi...

I'm glad you posted, BrownBagger. What the surgeon told L is that she won't have any kind of ostomy - not even temporary - that he'll remove the tumor from her rectum, and then just sew the rectum back together and she'll have to use it right away. That seems uncommon on this forum - and I'd love to...

Hi Lori, Yes, you fit the criteria: resection without temporary ostomy. So how long between surgery and radiation / chemo? And what was it like to try to use a newly sewn rectum after surgery - were you initially constipated? Lots of diarrhea? how long before things were normal (if ever)? What was y...

I believe that "2 possible mesenteric lymph nodes" means that there is a chance that cancer exists in 2 of the lymph nodes in the mesentery, which links the organs to the body wall - in this case probably the bowel mesentery, which attaches the intestines to the abdominal wall. In our case...

Yes, please let me add my thanks to Ritz75's. Whatever the reasons that keep you here, I'm so grateful for your presence. No matter how scary your experiences, how dark some of your posts, they are REAL and it is such a boon for us newbies to find a place where people tell it like it is.

Hi All, I've searched through the old posts to try to find out more about (a) the timeline, and (b) quality of life (AKA bowel movement issues) with an anterior resection without temporary ostomy, but I can't seem to find that - most people seem to have had a temp ostomy of some kind. O Stoma Mia ga...

Is anybody else in this trial (NCT01545141)? If L ends up in the treatment arm it's 5 days of interferon + Celebrex + antigen, as an immune stimulant, followed by resection of her rectal tumor and removal of all lymph nodes (malignant or not) in the peri-rectal region, pelvis and abdomen. Non-treatm...

Thanks so much for your reply, which was very reassuring. I'll post more separately, but it turns out it will be surgery first, very good doc, and a trial (tho I don't know if we'll end up in the treatment arm). In any case, thank you again!

So sorry you're suffering! And I know it made us apprehensive about the second time, which makes things worse. Our second round was much easier tho, so take hope! They also suggested an anti-anxiety drug - Klonopin- which seems to help (in addition to Emend, Dexamethasone, and Atavin in the pre-med ...

My partner started on FOLFOX but went into heart failure after the first 24 hours on the pump so they switched her to FLOX. Only difference between the two is one single "push" of 5FU rather than 36 hours of pump of 5FU (so much less 5FU in total). But she still had a port and received bot...

Reposting this as got no replies - hope I didn't offend you kind people or something! We're at the point where FLOX has decreased size of main rectal tumor (mid-rectum) and of most of the lymph node tumors (no mets in other organs). Our onc told us the surgeon and radiologist are arguing over whethe...