You state that you had a sigmoidoscopy in 2011—that only goes up to the sigmoid so a large chunk of your colon went unchecked for several years until your endoscopy was performed and found the tumor. Generally an endoscopy is for the upper GI tract, I believe, so if that caught the tumor then that w...

Wow, that does indeed sound like GREAT news! No pain, no gain as they say! Now that it’s behind you, you can appreciate what all you endured to get those results. Time to prepare for surgery, right? Good luck and keep us posted with how you’re coming along.

How do you know it worked? Did you do any followup PET scan, MRI? Oncologist said just come back in 6 months. S First and foremost, CONGRATS on completing your tour of duty! Yay! It probably feels surreal right about now when you look back on what all you have been through this past year. I complet...

It’s been a terrible ride and I want to get off. Isn’t that the truth?! :lol: Definitely enjoy the good news, it was hard earned! I feel your concern with the lymph nodes, but many on here have had LN involvement and are NED many years out, so why can’t we be as well, right?! From one teacher to an...

And as from my 'autograph' I pray a lot. Currently with questions galore..!? Just a thought, but when I was first diagnosed in August of 2015 I stumbled across a book by Michele Cushatt—she was writing about her recent experience with cancer (tongue) in her memoir “Undone”. Michele is very steadfas...

Woo hoo—party time! Totally reminds me of doing the Limbo: how low can you go?!

Seriously, Shana, soooooo happy for you and the hope this brings your way.

What has hit is the real bad miseries!????? Totally illogical BUT WOW pretty rough. There is nothing illogical about it—your brain and emotions have just caught up to you now that you are back home and taking a respite from active treatment. It is easy to see how people can suffer from PTSD after d...

Tomorrow is the appointment with the surgeon. We are both a nervous wreck! Yes, that appointment will be mentally exhausting, but also very important for the framework of your husband’s near future. I would recommend using your cell phone to record the visit (I definitely did for the early key meet...

Ugh, so sorry you are not only dealing with the shock of learning he has cancer, but also his wanting to just not deal with it. Obviously we can’t know him the way you do, but perhaps it is just a short-term coping mechanism and he will indeed go for the colonoscopy after he has a few days to take i...

Hi Daniellabella—welcome to the best club nobody ever wants to have to join! I see that you have posted on the tail end of a few threads as well as starting your own—always good to start your own thread like this when you want a lot of traffic to see your questions, etc. I am by no means an expert, ...

Aww, what an awesome post—thanks so much for sharing! Here’s to many more clean scans in her future!

I agree that painkillers are a necessity at times, just be mindful that they also can bring on constipation and with your radiation causing you so much pain, that is likely to exasperate it. Ask if there is something you can take for pain that will not affect your bowel movements too much. You have ...

You are cracking me up, SteveNZ, with your descriptions of dealing with bowel movements during radiation! Sadly I know all too well of your pain. Two tips to help ease the pain a bit: ask for a sitz bath, those were my “treat” several times a day during the last two weeks or so of radiation. Also, i...

Good luck with your upcoming scan, Heiders! You are absolutely right, nothing at work is worth any excess stress—we have been through a lifetime’s worth of stress dealing with our cancer diagnosis, definitely puts the “little stuff” in perspective. I am two years out from finishing my treatments and...

Starting to feel 'really rotten' so finding ways to laugh and smile. SMILE EVENT 1: :D My dad and step mum are in a nice old folks home, nearby to where we are staying. *I live in another city so do get to see them much. So I get to see dad which is great. He is getting older quickly and both dad a...