Thank you @Eleda and @hawkowl

Today is the three year anniversary of my post-chemoradiation rectal exam, and determination of the effectiveness of the treatment. All the Drs I saw before treatment had told me I was going to lose my sphincter, so I was just hoping that by some miracle the tumor had shrunk far enough away, and I w...

I am curious as to how other complete responders like prs, mozart13 and Rikimaroo are doing. Please post if time permits. You are the ones who gave me hope. Peace! Hi skb, thanks for posting that info. I'm so happy W&W is working out for you. It's three years since I started my chemoradiation t...

I am having neoadjuvant chemo/radiation for 30 sessions over 6 weeks, starting this Wednesday. I will be taking 1500mg of Xeloda twice a day only on the days I am having radiation. Then I will be having systemic chemo and will be having a port put in at the end of this first 6 weeks of treatment, a...

You guys are crazy. Playing Russian Roulette with your lives. I understand if you are Stage 1 and Maybe Stage 2 to see and wait but now we are getting people with Stage 3 and some with lymph node involvement really? Whats next stage 4 watch and wait? rikker, of course everyone is entitled to their ...

afaust, does your oncologist have any data to support his opinion that your tumor could start to grow again during chemo? I believe MSK are on the leading edge of colorectal cancer treatment, and I doubt they would have offered you this option if there was significant risk. Why not ask MSK to commen...

Just had MRI and colonoscopy this week. All negative. It’s been year since I finished chemo/rad. Not sure if that made much difference, but when they did radiation year ago, they focused on lymph nodes, and nailed it! Mozart, congrats on your continued NED, and thanks for posting all the interestin...

Big Jay, so sorry to hear about your recurrence. I agree the absence of a standard protocol for W&W is a big problem. I don't know if there is any data showing the recurrence rate with and without mop-up chemotherapy, but both posters with recurrence in this thread were not offered chemo. I know...

Tumor size was originally 5.2 x 4.5 x 4.3 cm, and 2.7 x 2.2 x 1.6 cm after chemo and radiation. So 100.62 cm^3 to 9.50 cm^3 or a 90% decrease in volume. Lymph Nodes: 1) 6 x 4 mm to 3 x 3 mm (-62.5%) 2) 8 x 6 mm to 4 x 3 mm (-75%) 3) 5 x 5 mm to 5 x 3 mm (-40%) No new nodes found, No metastases seen...

How do the doctors know for sure that the cancer is totally gone? After chemoradiation, my surgeon did a sigmoidoscopy and said all that was left was scar tissue and I may not need chemo after surgery. I then had a pet scan and there was no sign of cancer especially in the distal rectal area. I was...

Mike, sounds like you are feeling good. I'm not quite sure how to phrase this on a mixed gender forum, but don't even think about engaging in anything sexual for the next month or so. Your anal canal was not the only internal passage burnt by the radiation!!!!

Just to update, beceause of neuropathy my oncologist switched me to xeloda pills twice a day, 2 weeks on , 1 week off, 2 rounds, my picc line is out, that part feels good. MRI and CT both came back negative, gonna see my surgeon next week. mozart, I hope this works for you as well as it did for me....

Sreekanth, in my case it was the oxaliplatin infusions that caused all my blood counts to fall. Are you sure it's the 5FU causing your problem? I took Xeloda pills instead of 5FU and for my weight and height the official Xeloda dose should have been 2,300 mg twice per day. In fact my oncologist star...

Thx prs for asking, I will try to push myself to complete chemo, this time I ask for 3 weeks between, my oncologist agreed, should make life a bit easier. I did 18 weeks of Xelox and then was put on hold because of low blood counts. After three weeks delay the blood counts were still too low so my ...

mozart13, hope all is well. How are you holding up to the chemo?