Never thought I would congratulate someone with that diagnosis, but congrats!

If you are stage iii, chemo significantly decreases tour chance of a recurrence. I’d do it 100 out of 100 times.

I would echo the above and get a second opinion at a major cancer treatment center. That’s rare and you’ll want the best expertise in figuring out a “patch work” chemo protocol. The major centers have the expertise.

Scan intervals depend on your chances of recurrence. It’s a good thing to have them spread out. It means your docs don’t think you’ll have a recurrence. If you were more at risk they would see you more often. Take solace in that.

KathyLynn, Just my own experience, but I had six rounds of FOLFOX instead of radiation, with the plan being six more rounds of chemo after surgery. I had a path complete response after surgery and my surgeon cancelled the last six rounds of chemo. My case was presented to “conference” after surgery ...

Congrats. I finished active treatment in late 2017 (NED) but my onc wants to keep the port for a year. All my appointments, cancellations and reappointments were monitored through an MDANDERSON phone app. I’m used to seeing a string of them waiting before me but the only one I have now is “Port remo...

Adele, after being diagnosed with colorectal cancer, that M0 is the absolute best news you could get. If you were thinking about avoiding surgery because the tumor is low, so it now before you commit to a plan of treatment.

... I’d be interested in knowing if anyone has any thoughts on removing 42 nodes during surgery. That number seems a lot higher than other cases. I’ll ask my onc about it at my next appointment but it’s been something I’ve been wondering about. Basil - There is a 2015 published article that may add...

How many nodes did they resect from you? I would think it would be a comparable number, given the nature of the surgery, unless folks vary widely in number of nodes.

I was rectal, stage iii, with the tumor 7 cm from the verge. My surgeon is the colorectal surgical chief at MDA Houston and his knowledge of my case and treatment recommendations supports his resume. I have no second guesses on what he did, I’ve just been wondering about the high node number. My rec...

Recovery can be shitty or not a big deal. I fell into the latter category. My plumbing is different but highly manageable. I face no issues on a day-to-day basis. Hope the same for your mom.

The best thing you can do is find the best surgeon possible. What he/she does is going to have the greatest impact on your recovery. I realize it’s late for that now. On the lymph node issue, I didn’t know how many would be removed during my TME and was surprised when it was 42 - especially because ...

Merry Christmas to all, especially everyone fighting. I was dx’d this year but all is well so far. Still, Christmas is a bit different. Great, but a little different. I guess I’m a little more grateful with the kids running around and all. I don’t know but I hope everyone has a joyous and peaceful h...

You don’t have cancer.

Overall, the result looks good to me. I'll give you my impression, but my view is the view of a layman, not a specialist. The pathology report gives information on two main areas: (1) how well the previous chemo/radiation sessions went, and (2) how well the surgery itself went. The report shows tha...