New to Cancer

Please feel free to read, share your thoughts, your stories and connect with others!
Fire Gurl
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2015 10:19 am

New to Cancer

Postby Fire Gurl » Sun Apr 26, 2015 10:39 am

Just a little bit about my situation.

I have been on a health kick for the past year. My husband and I have been working out on average about 5 days a week since June of 2014. This workout class saved my life! Thank you Fuel Fitness! Anyway, I felt like I was at the definitely in the best shape of my life. I had lost 18lbs, learned to eat clean, mostly Paleo and made some amazing friends along the way. Then it happened......Christmas Eve 2014, wasn't feeling so great. I was cramping on my right side for about a day and a half with it progressively getting worse. Long story short I had an appendicitis and interspersion in my colon. Emergency surgery removed 1 foot of my colon and my appendix. Couple of days later the pathology report comes back and it showed colon cancer, stage 1C. 22 limp nodes were tested which came back negative (the good news in the midst of chaos). I was alone in my hospital room when the doctor gave me the news. It felt like a ton of bricks just landed on my chest. What the heck was happening to me??? The next few days were tough, having to tell my family, friends, and work. Made it through all those tearful conversations, now to get on with recovery.

How do you put the pieces of your life back together? And figure out how to heal, emotionally, physically and mentally? How do you figure out how to prevent this from happening in the future?

My honey and I researched the best books to read after my diagnosis. Anti-cancer by David Servan-Schreiber, MD, PhD and Radical Remission by Kelly A. Turner PhD. were both excellent resources for me. I am learning about what to eat, maintaining my exercise, and learning to manage my thoughts. I am really interested in incorporating essential oils into my recovery and balancing my pH.

Does anyone know much about balancing their pH or using essential oils in recovery?

I am here to learn and support, so I would be so happy to share ideas and encouragement with others. :D

User avatar
nitebreez
Posts: 79
Joined: Sun Mar 24, 2013 3:37 pm
Location: West Central Florida
Contact:

Re: New to Cancer

Postby nitebreez » Sun Apr 26, 2015 1:50 pm

Hey,..
welcome to the forum. I was intitially misdiagnosed (emergency surgery for diverticulitus, they thought). Lab came back positive for cancer. Yes,...the first time you hear that word, it's totally SCARY, and you can't quite wrap your mind around it.

I don't know about using essential oils for cancer treatment (or relief),...but my daughter and I use them for a whole bunch of stuff. From making the air smell nice,..to home made cleaning supplies. I think they help so much with mood and general feeling good. As far as PH balance,....I use a lot of Apple Cider Vinegar (which I read actually helps in that). Only I use ACV just because I happen to like it. :D
T4a-Nx-M0 cc (perforated colon) Septic shock
2/19/13 emergency surgery/colostomy
4/13/13 colostomy reversed (reconnected!)
1/22/14 folfox completed
3/3/14 CT Scan NED
4/15/16 CEAs still low

peanut_8
Posts: 2340
Joined: Sun May 25, 2014 1:31 pm

Re: New to Cancer

Postby peanut_8 » Sun Apr 26, 2015 3:50 pm

Hi Fire Gurl. Welcome to the Colon Club. Sorry about your diagnosis.

As to your questions, I don't recall any threads where balancing PH levels were the main topic of discussion. I certainly could have missed one, and there is a search feature here on the site that can be helpful researching previous topics. There was one thread where Kagen Water was the main topic, butt it sort of went in a negative direction.

As for essential oils, I recall one where marijuana oil was discussed. It seems quite a few members use it. Again, you will most likely find the search feature handy.

As for further treatment, do you know if you are going to be receiving any? At stage 1C, I'm not sure what the recommended treatment is.

Good Luck, peanut
female, diagnosed Jan 14, RC stage 2a, age 56
MSS
April 14, 28 chemo/rad with Xeloda
June 14 adjuvant Xeloda 6 rounds
currently NED

User avatar
Bev G
Posts: 5856
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2010 11:19 pm
Facebook Username: Bev Golde
Location: Quechee, VT

Re: New to Cancer

Postby Bev G » Sun Apr 26, 2015 4:02 pm

Hello, and welcome to the Colon Club. First, many congratulations on your stage 1 disease. It is almost always cured with surgery. I doubt very much you will be needing any chemo and your chance of a cure is as good as it gets, although...

I've been around here for a long, long time and I don't remember ever hearing "1c" so I hope you'll enlighten us.

I think you'll find that your best bet is maintaining your exercise and keeping your BMI normal. Obesity contributes to cancer risk, and obesity also increases the risk for type 2 diabetes (which also increases cancer risk). however, contrary to what some same, diet in general terms does NOT appear to cause cancer.

Anyway, welcome again. Don't stress about trying to alter your body pH... no matter what you read, all testimonials you may find, it can't be done. The body was made to maintain a normal pH. the many ways it does that is an entire college course, butt, the built-in mechanisms can't be defeated. Recommend you not even try.

Best wishes to you,

Bev
58 yo Type1 DM 48 years
12/09 Stage IV 2/22 nodes + liver met, colon resec
3 tx FOLFIRI, liver resec 4/10
9/10 6 mos off chemo, Neg PET&CTC CEA nl
2/11 finished total 10 rounds chemo

9/13 ^17th clean PET/CT NED for now

justin case
Posts: 4269
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2011 8:26 am
Location: Katy, Texas

Re: New to Cancer

Postby justin case » Sun Apr 26, 2015 6:16 pm

Back in the day, I was known to wear some Patchouli oil. I don't think I would ingest it :shock:
Justin
7/11 diagnosed Stage 2 colon and rectal cancer
chemo/rad
lar/temp ilio
Reversal & port removal
21 round of chemo Folfox 9tx, 5fu 12 tx
Last treatment July 2012

Fire Gurl
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2015 10:19 am

Re: New to Cancer

Postby Fire Gurl » Sun Apr 26, 2015 8:48 pm

Thanks everyone for responding. I have never posted on a message board before for anything so I was nervous and not sure what to write.

Bev G: I really don't understand the "1C" either but that is what my surgeon said. I didn't get to pick the surgeon since I was at the hospital and I was just assigned a doctor. He was very nice and did a great job I think. He said it was a large tumor at 4.5cm but was slow growing so it had not penetrated the colon wall. I know I was lucky that it grew where it did since it affected the appendix or I might not even know it was there still. My BMI is better then it has ever been. I had already lost some weight from working out and eating healthy. I lost about 10 lbs after being in the hospital for a week. I had a few complications after surgery so they had to do blood infusions which kept me in the hospital for a full 7 days.

I know getting a Stage one diagnosis was extremely lucky. I don't have to have chemo right now and I had a PET scan a few weeks ago. I guess I can say I'm NED from that point? I do have to keep getting iron infusions. Ever since the surgery my iron has been low which makes me feel weak, tired, and kind of foggy sometimes.

I had mentioned the pH because it is talked about in the Anti-Cancer book. The book discusses how disease lives in an acidic environment. My pH was testing from a 5.5 - 6.2, so I was thinking I needed to help my body out a little bit. I have been reading the pH miracle but no matter how many fruits and vegetables I eat my pH doesn't change. I didn't realize my body regulates itself.

Peanut: For treatment, I go back every three months for scans but I got a good oncologist that I really like.

Justin: I love patchouli oil and use it all the time. Probably my favorite!

nitebreez: I use essential oils for a lot of stuff too. I guess I meant to say that I was looking at them from a prevention standpoint…not really for treatment. From reading the books it says to try to keep stress down which essential oils helps me relax.

I guess I wanted to post because ever since the diagnosis and surgery I have felt weird. I have felt very disconnected and I wasn't sure if that was part of the whole "c" thing.

Thanks again for making me feel welcome! I really appreciate the information! :D :D

JDinNC
Posts: 771
Joined: Fri Jul 05, 2013 9:49 pm
Location: Murphy, N.C.

Re: New to Cancer

Postby JDinNC » Sun Apr 26, 2015 10:30 pm

It's funny that you mentioned essential oils....my friend talked me into going to a class this past Thursday.

And though I really didn't see anything that would help with cancer. I did talk to the instructor telling her I had colon cancer.

She suggested...peppermint , cinnamon and frankincense oils. I've yet looked further into this since a tiny bottle of these oils are very expensive due to their strict qualities of their product. The company name was doTERRA
61 y/o female @ DX...........
T3N0M1
6/13 DX- stage 4
Sigmoid colon cancer.
One met to lung
7/13 colon resection
8/13 lung resection
7/17 four years....NED
8/18 five years....NED
MELANOMA
63 y/o @ DX
6/15 stage 2a
7/15 surgery on arm
7/15 NED
4/16 recurrance
5/16 remove metastasis from back
5/16. Started immunotherapy
8/16 discontinue treatment
7/18...PET scan...NED

PainInTheAss
Posts: 673
Joined: Tue Jul 02, 2013 3:08 am

Re: New to Cancer

Postby PainInTheAss » Mon Apr 27, 2015 1:07 am

Fire Gurl wrote:
How do you put the pieces of your life back together? And figure out how to heal, emotionally, physically and mentally? How do you figure out how to prevent this from happening in the future?


Once you've been diagnosed with colon cancer, they will be keeping an eye on your colon a lot closer for the rest of your life, so they will likely catch precancerous polyps before they have time to progress. There have been plenty of patients who were vegans, athletes, and so forth to dispel the idea that this is a disease that you gave yourself. If anything, I've been eating a lot less healthy because all that healthy eating (for decades, not just a few years) and exercise didn't seem to make any difference. I guess I'm just mad that I went without steak for nothing. I've eaten more steak the last year and a half than I have the last 20 years. Eventually, I will get back on track because there is still heart disease and other things to worry about. Treatment was a nightmare. I think I earned some steak (and pie!).

I don't think I'll ever be the same emotionally and mentally. Meaningless things seem even more, and obviously, meaningless. Creating memories and valuing human interactions has become so much more important. This hasn't changed the way I spend my time, but how I view what I'm doing when I'm doing it. Small things, like driving with one of my kids to go somewhere, mean so much more to me. I couldn't do that if I wasn't around.

Even though you were diagnosed as stage 1, you still had something inside you that could have killed you. That knowledge really changes how you see each moment. You are living on "borrowed time" because it was something you might not have had. It's not something non cancer patients can really ever understand. You'll get back to "normal" life eventually, but you won't be the same.

Nature's plan was to kill you. Conventional medicine saved you. I wouldn't put a whole lot of trust in nature at this point. That's the way I see it.
47yo single mom of 4 (24, 21, 18, 16) at Dx
6/13 - RC T4b IIIc 5LNs on PET CEA 5.4
8/13 - Finish chemorad
10/13 - APR/hyst+ovaries/perm colostomy 2/12 nodes+
6/14 - Finish Xelox 6 rds
1/15 - CT clear CEA 0.2
10/15 - CT/MRI clear CEA 0.7
4/16 - CT clear
10/16 - CT/MRI clear CEA 0.6
5/17 - PET clear? Follow up MRI to verify inflammation


Return to “Colon Talk - Colon cancer (colorectal cancer) support forum”



Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 119 guests