Well, the good news I see is your CEA is good number. When you will you find out what the pathology says? I would imagine it's hard to wait to get the answers you need. Rest as you need to, hydrate because it's super easy to get dehydrated with a ileostomy. Find something that will engage your mind ...

I'm sure that all of this has an unreal quality to it. Doesn't seem real. Doesn't seem possible. Believe it or not, that's a good thing. It will help y'all get through the coming days. I'm praying for Katie's peace of mind, endurance to make it to September 15th and the stamina to enjoy Tom Petty an...

As you know, Ray, I had to make that decision about four months ago and I don't regret the decision. I regret having to make that decision but I truly don't think I could have done a Irinotecan and Oxaliplatin. I really feel my body couldn't take it. It's been difficult enough now just dealing with ...

Thank goodness they got him into a nice place. He's definitely earned the right to be in as comfortable as possible. Thank you, Friend of Alan. Be sure and let him know he's in our thoughts and prayers.

God bless ~
Guinevere

Asterix, I have a "phantom pain" as well but my onc isn't worried about me being on strong meds if I need. Like you, she's seen me when it really ramped up so she's assured that it's not "drug seeking" behavior. I do take Ibuprofen to help with the inflammation in my liver. At le...

I say celebrate! Like everyone's said, "It's his specialty." Congrats!

Elise is right - if you're NED, you don't take anything. If you have tumors that inoperable but stable, then you're on chemo for life or maintenance chemo and that can be whatever is working to keep the tumors stable. Hope this helps.

Guinevere

What a great way to keep your mind busy as well as having fun! I hope it does the trick and you feel good enough to enjoy every minute.

God bless ~
Guinevere

I'm so very sorry for your loss and will pray for you to have comfort, mercy and grace in the coming days weeks and months ahead.

God bless ~
Guinevere

Good post and one I'll try to keep in mind when I try to "shield" my husband from what I'm doing or going through. Like Leighann, I feel deep, deep guilt over my disease and everything it's taken from him. Thank you, Belle, for recruiting her to be one of the blog contributors. I look forw...

I concur with Andre and will add that if it is colon cancer, it's not automatically a death sentence. Take some time and read some of threads here that are celebrating 5 years with No Evidence of Disease or as we term it - NED. Those of us who are over 2, 3, 4+ years that are still battling the beas...

What a blessing to know that Alan has folks working to make sure he gets the very best care. Thank you, Friend of Alan, for letting us know how he's doing. Hopefully, he'll be in a nice facility this week. Tell him we're praying for him!

God bless ~
Guinevere

The liver has no pain receptors. However, if the tumors grow to where the liver is pressing up against the right rib cage, you get what's called "referred pain" and that manifest itself as pain in the right ribcage or the right shoulder blade. Right now, I'm dealing with rib pain. No fun a...

I, too, have noticed we've added a bunch of new folks here. Rob' s right about trying to respond to all the newbies. I try to post if there's something I can say that I think would helpful. While we hate that you qualify to be here, we love that you've found us!

God bless ~
Guinevere

Marco,
I'm glad the tumors are growing slower than they first thought. What a blessing to get extra days! Extra days for you and your fiance. Extra days for your mom. God extra days to inspire your friends and your fellow warriors. We love extra days, don't we??!

God bless ~
Gwen