Hello Everyone! I am new to the Colon Club, I have been reading some of the posts over the past few months. Each and every one of you amaze me!! I will keep and continue to keep all of you in my thoughts and prayers..
Here is my story..
My name is Lynsay, I am 24 years old.
It all started when I was having horrible stomach problems back in 2005. I was into my doctor at least once a week. I was misdiagnosed many times (lactose intolerant, allergic to grains, bad diet, acid reflex.. just to name a few). Finally during a bowl prep I was taken to the ER. I ended up having ER Colon Resection done in February 2006 (at 23 years old). They removed 3/4 of my colon, a softball sized tumor, and 21 nodes. It came back being cancerous (Stage III - Colon Cancer). Many questions were asked by the doctors (because of my age and my otherwise being a very healthy young women). My oncologist recomended chemotherapy. I went through six months of the FOLFOX regiment, with what seems to have been ALL of the possible side effects.
After six months of chemotherapy, I was ready to get on with my life. So, I had my PET/CT scan done. Something was showing up. My oncologist told me to wait a few more months (maybe the chemo was still in my stomach). So I waited and did another PET/CT scan, this still showed something. I was in prep to have another surgery, but they wanted me to get a colonoscopy first. During the colonoscopy they took a biopsy (which came back benign). So they canceled surgery. I was so excited.. I could finally have my life back. I went back to work, I started working out again, I made lots and lots of plans for the future.
Everything was going great. I had a clean PET/CT scan done the day after Thanksgiving (I should have been shopping). Then I started having horrible stomach pains again, except these were different. I thought, oh, I am just making things up.. I just had a clean scan. One night it got so bad that I had to go into the ER. They took my history and they got worried. They did am xray and found a large mass in my pelvic area, so they did a CT scan. After that they new there was something there. So, I got admitted into the hospital. The next morning I met with my surgeon and he suggested that I go to a different hospital. I live in MN, so they sent me up to The University of Minnesota, Fairview. I was admitted for a week, had pretty much every scan and test imaginable done and then checked over by almost everyone in the whole hospital. I was then released but had a scheduled surgery. The next week I went in for surgery. I had surgery the beginning of February 2007 (only two months after my clean scan). They found a cantaloupe sized mass on my ovary. The removed the mass and one of my ovaries. The mass came back cancerous. They are calling it a recurrence of Colon Cancer. So now I am 24 years old with Stage IV Colon Cancer.
One week later I went in for a type of chemotherapy called "shake and bake". This is where they laporscopically insert chemotherapy into your stomach, heat it up, and then shake your for about an hour. They believed I was the perfect candidate for this procedure.
It has been one month since my chemotherapy treatment. I have been to many different world known doctors (including the Mayo Clinic and the U of M) to try to come up with a game plan. All of the doctors say that I have an 85% chance of this coming back. They recommend me not doing chemotherapy at this time. But they would like me to continue getting CT scans every month.
I had a CT Scan that came back normal today!! YIPPIE!!! My oncologist was very excited (as was I)! So, as of now, I am not going to be getting any further chemotherapy, and I will just have to wait for the next scan.
I am having a very hard time dealing with everything this time around. It was so easy last time because they had a plan for me.. they don't now, so I don't know what to do or even think!
Thank you for taking time to read my story. Please feel free to contact me. I would really appreciate anyone's thoughts, advise, and stories.
With lots of thoughts and prayers,
Lynsay