Jolene wrote:Rikimaroo wrote:My opinion do the chemo. I had CCR and didn't do the chemo and it came back six months later in the same spot. I wish I did the Chemo, but honestly don't know if it would of done anything, but based on some others on this thread they did the chemo and it didn't come back.
Thanks Rikimaroo for the advise ! I will be proceeding with the chemo. I'm sorry to hear that it returned for you !
I assumed you were placed under a tight surveillance by the docs and how often were you required to return for the checks ? Was it discovered during those in between checks ?
Rikimaroo wrote:Jolene wrote:Rikimaroo wrote:My opinion do the chemo. I had CCR and didn't do the chemo and it came back six months later in the same spot. I wish I did the Chemo, but honestly don't know if it would of done anything, but based on some others on this thread they did the chemo and it didn't come back.
Thanks Rikimaroo for the advise ! I will be proceeding with the chemo. I'm sorry to hear that it returned for you !
I assumed you were placed under a tight surveillance by the docs and how often were you required to return for the checks ? Was it discovered during those in between checks ?
Yeah to say its a bummer is an understatement. I just can't believe it came back, but I have to roll with the cards I am dealt. It was found during routine surveillance. Every 3 months I go in for a pet/mri/cea blood tests. All was looking good and then boo....I am still fighting and hoping that they can go back in and get it out of there for good. I would be happy with a permanent ileostomy, give it to me....because ileostomy reversal kind of sucks, it gets better, but still sucks.
1. My doctor didn't recommend oxi for me as a stage II patient. The studies don't necessarily show that oxi for the stage II patient (with no negative prognostic factors) shows a significant increase over just the 5FU (or Xeloda) by itself. In addition, oxi carries risk of long term or permanent neuropathy. I didn't want to listen to the onc (wish I had) and tried the oxi. I had a HORRIBLE reaction the first time and it was stopped and I just proceeded with Xeloda. His initial recommendation was just Xeloda.
2. Terry's cancer recurrence was caught relatively early and they thought they got it. It showed up in her lungs but remember that even one met can easily mean that there are more. I honestly don't remember Terry's surveillance schedule but I don't recall that it was much different from mine. Once cancer has a chance to spread....its more difficult (not impossible) to kill it all off.
There are NO guarantees with cancer, with the surgery or even with chemo. We had another member on the board who was initially staged as a stage II and he may/may not have always had lung mets that perhaps were too small to detect for some time. He had the LAR surgery, did chemo, exercised, ate well.....and still the cancer returned. There is NEVER any guarantee that you won't have a recurrence even if you do all the radical surgery, chemo, etc. Even patients who have an APR can and do get a recurrence. Cancer is based on statistics and NOTHING is 100% guaranteed.
IMO, why not do chemotherapy? In your case, you had at least one local node that was suspicious for cancer. If that were me, I'd be DEMANDING more chemo just to make sure that IF those cancer cells in that/those node(s) did by chance spread...you will be doing everything in your power to kill it off. Even though we like to believe that chemoradiation kills everything...malignant tumor cells and cancerous nodes, again, there's no guarantee that it does.
Don't worry if your surgeon isn't pushing for the chemo particularly if he is doing a 'study' about the W & W. It just may be that he doesn't want one patient doing chemo and another not. Who knows but this is up to YOU.
Best of luck with whatever decision you come to.
Not to change course, but I am interested in the W&W-ers on here.
* Do certain (spicy?) foods affect how your rectum feels?
* Do you have more "awareness" of your rectum since radiation?
Phillypatient wrote:Congrats Jolene!! You really did just win the lottery!! That said, you should absolutely do the chemo part to address any potential micrometastases. The xeloda dose is slightly higher than the one you took during radiation, so if you tolerated that okay, then that should not be such an issue. It's the Oxalipltin that seems to cause the majority of the issues in the chemo regimen. That said, you can dial back on the OXY if it starts causing intolerable side effects. My understanding is that the Xeloda does the real "heavy-lifting" in the regimen. You should definitely check with your oncologist about this.
Again, hearty congrats!!
Jolene wrote:... I didn't have too much reaction from an earlier dosage of Xeloda although towards the end of the month I started to experience some itch and tingly on my finger tips which felt irritating. With Xelox, I'm guessing I will be experiencing a lot more as it's gonna be spanned across 4 months instead of just 1 month ! ...
ticktock10 wrote:Congrats Jolene. As per the others, I would recommend the mop up chemo. It’s not much fun but it’s a small price to pay for peace of mind - not that you really have peace of mind when you’re on W&W, but it’s important to feel that you have given yourself the best chance of success.
O Stoma Mia wrote:Jolene wrote:... I didn't have too much reaction from an earlier dosage of Xeloda although towards the end of the month I started to experience some itch and tingly on my finger tips which felt irritating. With Xelox, I'm guessing I will be experiencing a lot more as it's gonna be spanned across 4 months instead of just 1 month ! ...
If you want to prepare yourself for the 4-month Xeloda experience, you can familiarize yourself, in advance, with some of the issues that may come up. It is far better to prepare yourself in advance rather than wait until problems occur.
Here is a link with some suggestions:
Tips on minimizing XELOX (CAPEOX) side effects
https://coloncancersupport.colonclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=59287&p=469490#p469490
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