The Colon Club

I was diagnosed stage 3C in March/April 2013. I am still NED. I had a lot of lymph nodes involved (9 out of 22). I read this thread a lot when I was diagnosed to hear stories of hope, so here's mine.

Three years!

I was diagnosed 4/12 and am still NED

bumping up for newbies

Today ends my 21st year of survival post stage 3c colon cancer, start year 22. Good health to all, Ron.

I just wanted to post on here as this forum was invaluable to me when my Mam was diagnosed in April 2017. As most people probably do here, I read everything. Here are her stats:

Dx: 4th May 17
Age diagnosed: 69 (71 now)
Stage: T4/N2/M0 (Stage IIIc) 5/12 nodes positive. Right hemicolectomy surgery 26th May 2017. Lap/Robotic surgery.
Chemo Started 5th July 2017: FOLFOX & Oxaliplatin, 12 rounds (reduced by 20% at round 5)

We just got another clear scan last month and her blood test results are all good. CEA is now 2.4. We never got it before surgery, but it was 7.3 during treatment and then 3.2 just after she finished and then 3.0 and now 2.4. Her liver enzymes went array for a while during treatment but all are normal again except GGT which is now only slightly elevated. C reactive protein is 1.0 (range <5.0). We were also keeping an eye on CA19-9. It was 45 (range 0-37) just after she completed chemo and went down to 26.5 a couple of months after. We've not tracked it since however, I'll ask for it to be tested in her next set of blood taken.

Her vitamin D levels were dreadful at diagnosis so we invested in the Sperti Vitamin D lamp and she also took Thorne Vitamin D and K2 supplement drops each day (around 8-10 drops, we reduced this when we added the lamp in). We got her levels up from a paltry 13ng/ml to 52 ng/ml during treatment. If you have not researched the effects of low vitamin D and cancer, then look at this video: https://youtu.be/v3pK0dccQ38

She was considered NED after the surgery in May 2017 and then chemo was obviously done as a precaution. I'm not sure when most people start the clock as NED. However, our surgeon said it was from surgery. If we take it from the surgery point of view she is 20 months NED. If from point of completing chemo, she is 13 months NED.

Some things we did post-treatment.

CBD / THC blend taken daily. She still takes this.
Infrared Sauna 3/4 times a week at 45c to 50c for 30-40 mins. Sauna is less frequent now.
Quinton Isotonic Mineral supplement daily. She takes this daily and she reckons it made her bounce back much more quickly.

My Mam was extremely healthy otherwise. Ironically she was rarely sick. When we would all be hit by viruses etc, she'd usually be the one who was ok. Her health is fully back to normal now which is great and her energy levels are better than a lot of people half her age!!

3 years NED today! This time 3 years ago I was on my way to the ward after my ULAR. In a few days I will have been told that I had a complete pathological response.

Posting to let new peeps know that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

AAC

Omg this gives me hope!!! I was diagnosed stage IIIC rectal cancer on December 20, 2018. I did chemo and begin my radiation today at MD Anderson in Houston. Thank you for bumping this and for encouragement!!!

Cmarie03 wrote:Omg this gives me hope!!! I was diagnosed stage IIIC rectal cancer on December 20, 2018. I did chemo and begin my radiation today at MD Anderson in Houston. Thank you for bumping this and for encouragement!!!

Know that this cancer is treatable/cureable, I am coming up on 15 yrs survivorship. I will be bumping this thread up in about another 4-6 weeks.

Lee

Three years, two months!
Margie

Lee wrote:

Cmarie03 wrote:Omg this gives me hope!!! I was diagnosed stage IIIC rectal cancer on December 20, 2018. I did chemo and begin my radiation today at MD Anderson in Houston. Thank you for bumping this and for encouragement!!!

Know that this cancer is treatable/cureable, I am coming up on 15 yrs survivorship. I will be bumping this thread up in about another 4-6 weeks.

Lee

As Lee said - this is more than treatable. You’ve got this!!!

AAC

Thank you all for sharing your stories!! It gives so much hope. My husband is done with Chemoradiation tomorrow after 6 long weeks. Surgery will be in about 10 weeks. It warms my heart to read you all

I wanted to pop on here and encourage those of you fighting this current battle with colon and rectal cancer that there is hope. I know that not everyone receives their healing from this horrible disease, but I am living proof that it can and does happen. 10 years ago I was given a 50/50 chance of survival. I was 33 with a 2 year old and a 4 year old and trying to conceive a third child. Everything in that moment after diagnosis stopped and beating cancer was the only goal. I had no idea what my future would hold. In December 2018 I celebrated 10 years cancer free with no recurrence. I was very fortunate that chemotherapy did not cause menopause and I was even able to conceive and give birth to a (surprise!) beautiful baby girl 6 years after my chemotherapy.

I know what you are experiencing and dealing with right now is horribly difficult and sometimes hope is hard to hold on to, but healing and restoration is possible. God gets all the glory in my outcome, but He definitely placed me in the hands of an amazing surgeon and a fantastic Oncologist. I want to encourage you that healing is possible and remind you that it can and does happen. This is a fight worth fighting. Keep fighting. Praying for you all and praying for a cure.

ibcaree wrote:I wanted to pop on here and encourage those of you fighting this current battle with colon and rectal cancer that there is hope. I know that not everyone receives their healing from this horrible disease, but I am living proof that it can and does happen. 10 years ago I was given a 50/50 chance of survival. I was 33 with a 2 year old and a 4 year old and trying to conceive a third child. Everything in that moment after diagnosis stopped and beating cancer was the only goal. I had no idea what my future would hold. In December 2018 I celebrated 10 years cancer free with no recurrence. I was very fortunate that chemotherapy did not cause menopause and I was even able to conceive and give birth to a (surprise!) beautiful baby girl 6 years after my chemotherapy.

I know what you are experiencing and dealing with right now is horribly difficult and sometimes hope is hard to hold on to, but healing and restoration is possible. God gets all the glory in my outcome, but He definitely placed me in the hands of an amazing surgeon and a fantastic Oncologist. I want to encourage you that healing is possible and remind you that it can and does happen. This is a fight worth fighting. Keep fighting. Praying for you all and praying for a cure.

Did you do radiation as well? I am 34yo and I’m afraid radiation is going to push me into early menopause. Not happy about it

Cmarie03 wrote:

ibcaree wrote:I wanted to pop on here and encourage those of you fighting this current battle with colon and rectal cancer that there is hope. I know that not everyone receives their healing from this horrible disease, but I am living proof that it can and does happen. 10 years ago I was given a 50/50 chance of survival. I was 33 with a 2 year old and a 4 year old and trying to conceive a third child. Everything in that moment after diagnosis stopped and beating cancer was the only goal. I had no idea what my future would hold. In December 2018 I celebrated 10 years cancer free with no recurrence. I was very fortunate that chemotherapy did not cause menopause and I was even able to conceive and give birth to a (surprise!) beautiful baby girl 6 years after my chemotherapy.

I know what you are experiencing and dealing with right now is horribly difficult and sometimes hope is hard to hold on to, but healing and restoration is possible. God gets all the glory in my outcome, but He definitely placed me in the hands of an amazing surgeon and a fantastic Oncologist. I want to encourage you that healing is possible and remind you that it can and does happen. This is a fight worth fighting. Keep fighting. Praying for you all and praying for a cure.

Did you do radiation as well? I am 34yo and I’m afraid radiation is going to push me into early menopause. Not happy about it

My surgeon was adamant that I not receive radiation. He felt the tumor was far up enough in my colon that it wasn't necessary. Even still, I did speak with my Reproendocronologist about possibly freezing my eggs just in case, but we decided to not go through with it. It is an option though and something for you to think about. I don't blame you for feeling the way you do about possible early menopause. Praying it is not the case for you, but just remember, survival is the main goal and if you choose to freeze your eggs, your options are still open in the future after you beat this crap! Praying for a full recovery for you.