roadrunner, if I remember correctly there is discussion of these procedures in this thread. You'll likely have to read thru the entire thread to find them.

If those posts don't give you enough, you could try private messaging those contributors for more info.

Thank you prs. You were inspirational, and I followed your story not expecting to ever make it to W&W. I told him about your side effects and how you mentioned later how you felt after recovery. How important it is to stay the course. It seems like he’s one of very few, stage 4, to be given the...

@jsbsf, congratulations on your husband's complete clinical response. It looks like you've had quite a journey to get here, but to this point it all seems to have worked out extraordinarily well. Welcome to the W&W club, and always remember the emphasis is on the "Watch" part! Those qu...

Prs we finished CRT 28th March 2020, so it's been 11 weeks after treatment, and now we are thinking of doing the mop up chemo. Yes stray cancer cells are the worry for us as well, especially since it looked like 1 Node was involved in the workup investigations after the first DX. Is mop up or Adjuv...

In a dilemma myself after onc surgeon says get surgery on the safer side. As biopsy during flex sig following a neoadjuvant or preop chemoradiotherapy(1500mg cap per day plus 50.4 gy in 28 days) said negative for disease, even an mri and pet ct done four months apart agree. However I am a bit unsur...

Hi Peter, thanks so much for your prompt reply .. roll on June then as that’s my 2 years .. is that for local and distant? Xxx Annie, looking back at my treatment history, I had whole body CT and PET scans periodically during the first two years. After that it's been six monthly rectal MRIs and ann...

Hey guys quick question: I just got MRI (a little over 12 weeks since CRT) results today that showed a “near cCR.” It sounded like the radiologist wasn’t exactly sure whether there was any remaining cancer or not. My surgeon, who is fantastic, wants to wait about 5 weeks then do a flex sig to decid...

Hey guys quick question: I just got MRI (a little over 12 weeks since CRT) results today that showed a “near cCR.” It sounded like the radiologist wasn’t exactly sure whether there was any remaining cancer or not. My surgeon, who is fantastic, wants to wait about 5 weeks then do a flex sig to decid...

Hi lakeswim,glad to hear you are doing well. All my blood counts are at, or slightly below the low end of the normal range. They stabilized at those levels a little over a year after my radiation treatment, and have remained like that ever since (4 more years). I think that's just the way it is for ...

I'm pretty sure I similarly saw bits of my tumor that had flaked off during chemoradiation. Given your husband's tumor is very low, and there might be a chance of it completely disappearing during the current phase of treatment, it might be worthwhile for you to have a look at this thread. http://co...

Congratulations Jogey, and welcome to the W&W crew! I agree there is some tension on every follow up visit, but it does get easier as time passes. I understand the chances of a recurrence decrease considerably at the two year mark, so you might find yourself more relaxed as you approach that mil...

Hi Jay, My staging was by the Dr that performed a rectal ultrasound. I'm not sure how he determined the lymph nodes were suspicious. This Dr did note the size of my tumor but did not write anything about the size of the nodes. I did ask my radiation oncologist about this and she said the main thing ...

Hi mozart13, hope the rest of your follow up tests turned out great.

Wishing you, Jolene, lakeswim, and all our fellow W&Wers a very happy and healthy New Year!!!

lakeswim, I don't believe I ever had radiation proctitis. However my rectum was extraordinarily sensitive for at least a year after radiation finished. I was told the treatment causes the nerves to be much closer to the surface, presumably because whatever is normally at the surface got burned off b...

Just wanted to report I had another six monthly follow up last week. The results of both the MRI and the flex sig were fine. That's now 4 1/2 years NED since the end of my radiation treatment. Apparently I get one more six monthly follow up and then go annually after that. My Doctor told me at their...