I don't have rectal cancer, but I have noted, here and elsewhere, that those with experience emphasize that for rectal cancer it is very important in terms of results to have a ***board-certified*** CRC surgeon.

lakeswim, I'm one round behind you on FOLFOX--#8 next week, assuming my platelets hold up--and the hair thinning thing is what I find hardest to deal with. I am TOLD that it stops falling out after #8. I sure hope so. Let us know what happens for you.

I think that genetic testing can only benefit you and your children/sibs. More information always helps battle the disease and manage risks. You don't indicate what the initial results were: as stewsbetty pointed out, initial pathology may have tested for KRAS, BRAF, and mutation in the genes associ...

I'm G12D, but currently have no detectable masses.

It seems that they want people with solid tumors so that they can evaluate the effectiveness. Or am I reading it wrong?

I made a mistake, above. My 2 week gap was between rounds 3 and 4, not 2 and 3.

My NP advised me to eat a rare steak in the second week to bring up my RBC. It works.

Well, that makes sense. And yeah, they can't accurately stage it until the pathology is done. Sometimes there's a pre-op estimate, but an estimate is what it is. :) I, personally, didn't have one because it was a matter of hours between the cat scan and surgery. I have to say that there is something...

I've never had radiation, since there is nothing to irradiate now, but given all of the side effects I've seen my husband suffer from targeted radiation after prostate cancer surgery, and all I've read about other people's post-radiation suffering, I would personally reject radiation with such a vag...

It's my understanding that the MRI is the best scan for the liver. I gather you've already had that? What led them to order that additional test? Was there some liver anomaly on a CAT scan? When I had emergency surgery because of blockage, my surgeon found and removed a similarly-sized met on my liv...

Great news! Your surgeon's advice sounds good...but what, exactly, will the operation consist of? Just removing lymph nodes?

I briefly discussed the idea of doing without the dexamethasone pre-med with my oncologist earlier, since I have not had any nausea worth mentioning, but he said that the main reason for me to take it is to ward off any allergic reaction to Oxy. I agreed at the time that that was important enough to...

I'm sure we all totally understand your anxiety. The waiting is the worst. On the other hand, it is probably unlikely that these few weeks would make a difference in your condition. I don't know how it would work out with the prep, but could you get on the cancellation list? If it is possible, perha...

Great news! I can't recall: did your H have his primary tumor removed, so that it was just the liver mets that were considered inoperable?

I have T2 diabetes (diagnosed 2010) which has been well controlled with a low carb diet and metformin. I'm finding that the steroid premed is sending my BG levels through the roof. On infusion day, at 7pm after eating a tuna sandwich at 2pm, and walking around most of the intervening time, my blood ...

Like you, after my first two cycles of FOLFOX I had to take two weeks off waiting for first my platelets then my WBC/neutrophils to rebound to treatable levels. Since then I've been getting a shot of Neulasta when my pump is disconnected, and expect to do so from now on. It has worked beautifully in...

On the advice of my Dr's NP I started taking L-glutamine pretty early on in FOLFOX to ward off neuropathy. Maybe after Cycle #1? She said to take 10 grams of powder per day in water. She also suggest a B-complex 100 cap per day. I admit that occasionally I forget to take the glutamine. :) I also upp...