I'm almost as superstitious as a Hockey Goalie when it comes to these things, but I'm willing to say it out loud now. It appears that I will be adding one to the all mighty 5-year survival stats a month and a half from now. And regardless of how it is man-made and symbolic, Nov 13th 2014 will be one...

I just use HOT compresses for all my styes and I get them a lot when I'm woodworking, even when wearing safety glasses. They don't prevent dust that well. Anyways, two HOT (like just barely able to tolerate it hot) compresses in an evening and it's usually much better by morning. Same thing a second...

I'm in the unfortunately no camp on this one when it comes to solid tumors. They are too genetically complex to find a treatment that will work across all patients. I personally guess it will be around 10 years before we see a "chronic but manageable" state happen for solid tumors, but cur...

First off, this is a time to call your dr and find out what they want you to do. For me, I remember with my original resection it took around 3-5 days before I had a real bowel movement following surgery. With my HIPEC, it took about a week.

Well Lou, the next steps in the process are to meet with the surgeon and get a CT scan to rule out metastatic cancer. The surgeon can order it, so could the GI doc, so if you're planning to see them, ask there. An oncologist can be brought on board now, after the CT scan, or even after surgery when ...

Yes Lou, you definitely have time. The rough standard for time from scope to first treatment choice is 4-6 weeks. Don't go rushing into anything. Remember this first off. If found at an earlier stage, CRC is one of the most treatable cancers out there, do don't go all doom and gloom on us yet. DId y...

My onc followed a similar course for scans. 3 Months for year 1. 4 months for year 2. 6 months for year 3 and 4. 12 months thereafter.

Phenomenal news!

Welcome passionfruit. Glad you've found us and hope we can offer you some support. At the very least, know you're not alone. There are plenty of folks whom will feel the same way you are. I hope you can find some assistance here from other members in a similar situation. And if not, don't be ashamed...

Mike, look at it this way. Hopefully you will live long enough that survivors guilt will become a daily part of your life. That may sound twisted, but it's the truth. When you're around for a long enough time, you'll see MANY people in your life, and here on this forum come and go and wonder why you...

Sigmoid resections are often smaller in total length than ascending or transverse resections. It has to do with the nature of the blood supply to the colon and sections involved.

Oooh, 2mg ativan? That's a hefty dose, no wonder you went straight for nap time

Yup, this is what my doc told me. Similar family history, negative for Lynch and FAP. My docs all say that I probably have some kind of mutation that is not yet discovered so they will continue with aggressive colonoscopies for the rest of my life. My onc who knows my history fights yearly with my G...

The confusion is the difference in the two stats most often quoted. 5 year OVERALL SURVIVAL is the most often quoted survival metric. Yet there are plenty of folks still alive with recurrent cancer at 5 years. They're not CURED, but they're still on the right side of the ground. This is the basic st...

Not sure why you're meeting with a Gastro without a scope...? Makes no sense. Typically scope time is ~1 year post surgery. Is there some insurance funny business that's being negotiated here?