Thanks, Magnolia. I am working on forgiving myself. I know I gave that dog 7 years of good life he wouldn't have otherwise had. Just missing him so much - a life loving dogs etc is a good life, but one that unfortunately involves more heartache than would be the case if we weren't so in love with ou...

Eve - you know I am thinking of you. It's data (easy for me to say, as you know). I'll have you in my thoughts on Tuesday and am looking forward to your good results.

Betsy

Missjv -

Thanks - I thought I replied yesterday, but I am kind of in shock right now and I guess I just thought of replying, Thanks for you kind thoughts and take care of your dog. This is so tough but hopefully other dogs can be spared this fate,

Betsy

Thanks, Angie. Sorry about your dogs. We have these guys for such a short time - you know the story - they are so good that they don't need to stay long on this earth before they are ready to be angels. And sometimes the most endearing aspects of their personalities are very detrimental to their con...

Hi - I am not sure what your chemo is, but 5-FU/Xeloda is known to cause episodic diarrhea. I always knew where my Immodium was when I was on chemo. Also for 8+ weeks after surgery I had occasional "urgency" even before chemo started. Try the Immodium - usually took two doses to be effecti...

Colon surgery (laparoscopic sigmoid surgery) on Tuesday - home Saturday. No liver surgery. Went back to work at 4 weeks, could have done 3 weeks if necessary, but I was still tired and since my work was ok I asked for and got another week from my doc.

Thanks all - the tragic loss of this dog is still horrifying to us. We miss him greatly, have a hard time not thinking on his last moments, and also have trouble with guilt, even though we know we loved this dog and actually gave him way more life than he ever would have had in his previous life. Th...

A truly terrible thing happened today to Byron (my Lab). I know you will share in my mourning and I also want to warn you about something if you are dog owners. We left the house this AM to take Shelly (Shepherd) to the vet to have staples removed fsurgery 2 weeks ago, and when we returned, Byron, m...

I had 6 cycles of Xeloda plus oxaliplatin and Avastin. My onc told me about going to an oncology meeting where some doc stood up and ranted against Xeloda because "you lose the ability to bill for the drug and also lose the infusion time". She (my onc) was horrifed - in her opinion most Xe...

5FU (or Xeloda - oral drug that metabolizes into 5FU) plus oxaliplatin is the standard of care for CRC. You don't want to do oxaliplatin alone. Some people have fewer side effects from Xeloda, as compared to 5FU - you might want to ask about that. I tolerated Xeloda very well.

Betsy

Great discussion. I am fortunate in that my oncologist is very open, blunt and honest and also apparently very widely respected by the local internal med / radiology / surgery community. She and I have a great relationship, but I will never let her be the sole decision maker in my treatment decision...

Hi Eve - I completely get your anxiety, but you will drive yourself crazy with little positive result if you start worrying about the technology. I really trust my radiologist - my oncologist says she would kill for him, he is so good. But I can't help occasionally thinking "What if the technol...

Why do you have to drink the contrast drink? We get I.V."s inplace of the drink. Do you get an I.V. too? Eve - I get oral contrast in addition to IV contrast with my CT's. As I understand it, oral contrast is particularly useful for the basic Gi tract while IV contrast adds insight to lungs, l...

So then PETs are better, aren't they? If it "lights up" all the new cancer cells it should show the stable tumors too shouldn't it? Personally, I like PET better because the PET scan place is only a few blocks from my house -- and I hate to drink that contrast stuff (sad reasons I know). ...

Hi Eve - it is an "interesting topic". I often wonder if we should have stopped chemo and gone for surgery, but no one would have thought that 3 cycles would result in undetectable disease - so while I think about this from time to time, I try not to obsess, cuz it is what it is. Not much ...