I am getting scans this afternoon and my thoughts are with all you others who have scans this week or coming up soon. So Kenny, Beth, soworried, Michelle, and all the others I don't know about, I am with ya! This is my first scan in about 10 months since I started treatments. Preparing for my takedo...

I know that feeling too well. I was really lucky in that somehow I had those few days where I wasn't good..but then I was lucky to have some good days where I went crzay inbetween working to create special moments. It was tough for me because it was in the summer and the kids were always around. Th...

Thanks for sharing your frustrations. I hate that we have to deal with this. Our kids who are dealing with it well have lowered their expectations for our involvement in their lives, which I don't like. Then the ones who are not dealing with it well are struggling and these formative years are affec...

I am eager to hear how your scans and tests go. My tumor was 5 cm, but they also measured it to spread to 50% of the colon wall, which perhaps indicates how much it was obstructing (it didn't obstruct 50%, though, because it wasn't bulging that far). In my case it had spread to 3 lymph nodes. I had ...

I was so glad to hear your good news on the scans! Good luck on the surgery, it is clear that you have weighed your options carefully and that this will make a huge difference in your quality of life.

Great post! Looking forward to my five year mark! Congratulations.

Thanks, Jaynee! This birthday is different for me-- I am more grateful and have fewer expectations of others. I don't mind getting older, in fact it is kind of what I am hoping to continue doing. Cancer changes things like that, doesn't it? Had my fourth Folfox infusion yesterday, so I am just chill...

So it sounds like your surgeon has some amazing credentials, no doubt. The general surgeon my oncologist confidently sent me to was fabulous, but she was the first to tell me that I shouldn't have a general surgeon do the job. Now I imagine your surgeon does more of these surgeries than other genera...

Tanlor, You have already gotten so much good advice from Jaynee and others, I don't know that mine will add much more, but for what it is worth, I started this whole process six months ago with a colonoscopy because of blood/mucous in my stool as well. My youngest daughter (I have three) was 2 1/2 a...

That is great news! I am so happy for you. Hope your recovery goes well.

I had the peeling lingering even a few weeks after my 5 weeks of 5FU. I am on my fifth week of Folfox but haven't had the reaction yet. It makes it hard to do detailed work with your fingers for sure, which wouldn't be great alongside cold sensitivity and numbness, I imagine.

I read through that whole list of replies! I think it was a very good discussion that brought out a lot of people who haven't commented a whole lot. I am too new to all of this to contribute much, but I have appreciated the support and cheers for when I have had good news. I feel yucky today after T...

Looked at your blog and looks like you are getting great care at Mayo. I am ignorant in regards to care in other regions, but I guess I expect lot from the Mayo brand.

I add my welcome and support to those who posted before. As you can see in my signature, I started all of this less than six months ago. My rectal tumor was in the upper third, so not the same situation here, but if I were you, I would get on the phone and talk to your oncologist first thing tomorro...

I have been curious about this as well, though I don't think I will fly before my ileostomy reversal. I do, however, have permanent staples in my rectum following the LAR. I have envisioned an amusing encounter with security over the metal detector wands beeping as they go over my backside. I am wor...