For Stage III's: NED for how long now?

[Jen]

3yrs 8mo - and I had 4 nodes positive large tumor- extracapsular nodal invasion which apparently means went all the way through and beyond the nodes sheath into my perirectal fat so none of that was good.

Doc said see ya in 6 months- I was going to ask about my CEA being done, but for now I'll just take the clean scan and go with it. I'll call the office in a couple months.

[Jimswife]

That's great , I don't know all the technical details from my husbands path report , we were just told stage 3 with 2 positive nodes and apparently his outlook is very good at 70/75 percent roughly for a full recovery , of course only time will tell . I'm not sure i want to know all the jargon from the path report , and he certainly dosent , would just make me worry more cos I'd be forever looking it all up on the net worrying myself even more . It's all beyond our control anyway what does or dosent happen in the future but I like to think my husband will
Be one of the lucky ones like so many others on this thread .

[Surroundedbylove]

I'm not sure i want to know all the jargon from the path report , and he certainly dosent , would just make me worry more cos I'd be forever looking it all up on the net worrying myself even more . It's all beyond our control anyway what does or dosent happen in the future but I like to think my husband will
Be one of the lucky ones like so many others on this thread .

I actually found that knowing the jargon helped me find encouraging news in parts of the pathology report. It helped me worry less. Just another thought. I personally think knowledge is power. Good information helps you feel positive. Less good information helps you know that when the going gets tough in treatment you slog through it because it gives you a better chance. Just some food for thought.

Three years NED now - a few little scares along the way but NED nevertheless and my onc says my cancer was "aggressive and advanced" - very glad for the treatment protocols he worked out to maximize the chemo dosage despite side effect problems - all based on pathology and other testing.

[Jimswife]

Yea suppose you could look at it that way , my husband was misdiagnosed for a long time despite many many visits to the doctors , he is pursuing this to a medical negligence claim and this has been potentially accepted by the lawyers so I guess we will have / get acsess to medical reports etc at some point so will take a good look at the pathology report .

[Gill Aust]

This is the first time I have posted. I am from Australia and am 3yrs 4months NED from Stage 111 Colon Cancer with 7 nodes affected. I had six months on chemo Fluorouracil(5FU), Leucovorin & Oxaliplain (Folfox4 Modified). I have some Nuropathy to the feet but am otherwise very well.

[Jimswife]

Brilliant , thanks for sharing !!!

[Toby57]

To Jen & Jimswife:

Jen:

Reading your signature and it shows you are staged as 3C. Under the new guidelines, I think you are 3B. Check out this web site and it explains the latest colorectal staging. I could be wrong, but if you read my signature, we are similar but my staging is 3b under the revised edition. http://www.cancer.org/cancer/colonandre ... cer-staged

Jimswife :

Check out the above website, it really explains and relates to the path results. Goodluck.

[Jimswife]

They never said a b or c ?? Just dukes c with 2 nodes ?? They said it makes no difference anyway to the treatment he receives

[Toby57]

They never said a b or c ?? Just dukes c with 2 nodes ?? They said it makes no difference anyway to the treatment he receives

Agree, the same treatment, but the odds are different for 111A,B or C. I believe in one of your previous posts your doctor mentioned to you 75% five year survival , so your husband should be in 111A I think, but your oncologist should have giving you which stage 111. His odds are better than mine. I was told with chemo, my 5 year survival in mid sixties or slightly higher. These are just statistics , for me and your husband, our belief is a 100% we will get through it.

[Jimswife]

Well he said if we just do nothing his chance of 5 yr survival was 50 percent , if he did chemo it added 20-25 percent to that so 70-75 percent overall although no guarantees of course

[Jimswife]

I read somewhere that the Tumor size sometimes affects stage ? His was t2/t3 . They said that as there was a slight breach of the subserosa but the Tumor was not through it . So maybe 3a/3b ?? Not sure , 2 nodes .

[jennyjojjr]

This thread has gone off topic. I read it hoping to see more NED stories, and it is disappointing when I click on it and its O/T.

[dianetavegia]

I agree Jenny. It was meant to be uplifting not filled with stats.

[horizon]

I agree Jenny. It was meant to be uplifting not filled with stats.

And some of us going through treatment right now are doing are best to avoid stats. They still seriously mess with my head.

[Elisa12]

Just had my one year CT scan - NED! CEA has dropped to .6. Neuropathy is almost gone in my hands and is continuing to improve in my feet as well.