Well here I am 7 weeks out from being put back together and butt for a stronger than usual dose of 'man-flu' with a side of conjunctivitis, life is pretty good.
Wound wise, I'm back to lifting my 3yo daughter up and generally being able to be a pest of a husband/dad again. I went for my first swim the other week and it was glorious. I had a bodysurf for a solid 40 minutes catching some fun little shorebreaks and the only twinge was when I went over the falls on one of the larger ones. That'll teach me I guess.
The wound itself is nothing more than a moist scab about the size of an Australian 5c piece (a Dime sized coin for my American friends). I still have a dressing on it simply to protect my shirts but each day it gets smaller and there is no pain or pulling sensation at the wound site like there was from my original resection scar.
Once I shake this cold I'm planning on getting back into running with an aim to be fit and ready to go through with a fundraising effort I've been thinking of during the month of June (more on that later).
Poop-wise, and I know that this is what some of you are interested in more than ever, particularly given the recent posts of late (been casually lurking but not posting). In short, I'd have to say that things are pretty much normal. Some wonderful people on this group told me to measure improvement by weeks, rather than days, and it's sage advice.
I am eating anything I want, when I want. The only things that have caused any 'issues' have been some buffalo wings and a really rich sauce. The former I think was more because I had been so busy I'd skipped breakfast and then was stuck in court all lunch so I missed it too. The wings, although delicious, were essentially the first thing in my stomach, other than multiple coffees, and it's fair to say that there's perhaps a reason buffalo wings aren't on the breakfast menu. The rich sauce was very buttery and delicious and it had the same effect on my wife so perhaps I shouldn't claim that one at all.
I generally have cereal for breakfast, followed by a coffee when I get to work. For lunch I normally have a sub with meat and salad or a sandwich. For dinner it's either meat and veggies, thai takeaway, a salad, or stir fry.
I am only having an Imodium after a loose movement and that seems to keep everything on the straight and narrow.
Most importantly, I have noticed a decrease in clustering. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, rather that it is not as frequent, and most importantly, nowhere near as painful as it used to be. On a good day, I use the can a couple of times to drop off some average sized turds. Certainly not as big as they used to be but much larger than when I first started. Those visits are generally of a night time and so don't interrupt me at work. On a bad day, I'll probably go 5 or so times for some smaller, much thinner stools.
I have been consciously trying to hold on for as long as possible in the hope that the smaller poos merge together, sort of like the Power Rangers to form one formidable colon loaf. It seems to be working.
I am yet to soil myself, and to be honest, have never really felt like I was close to. The only times I feel at risk of same is after a few beers, or soft drink and the gas builds up. That said, the other night I let out a hefty fart, only to be admonished by my wife. My little girl on the other hand thought it was hilarious and gave me a gigly high-five. I put that down to kogel-like exercises which I performed almost religiously in the months leading up to my reversal, and intermittently for the duration of having my ileostomy.
Anyways, I hope this gives some hope to those that have recently had their reversals, or are having theirs soon. I know that no two situations are alike and that I had a lot of factors in my favour for a good result: Young, otherwise healthy, nil adverse reactions to radiation etc. That said, I also have some of the factors against me: ULAR as opposed to LAR, ileostomy for almost a year etc.
If anyone has any questions, please feel free to send me a direct message, or email me:
geoffakidd@gmail.com.
Other than that, have my bloods on Wednesday and see Oncologist on Thursday so have the usual anxiety re same. During my last consult I saw that my CEA was c3 (it was 8 at diagnosis) and when I raised with my oncologist that it seemed towards the high end of 'normal' he wasn't remotely concerned about it and said that the most important thing was that it has remained the same. Maybe I'm one of those people who have a naturally higher CEA, notwithstanding that I don't smoke. Anyways, I confirmed that the pathology lab the hospital uses considers 0-5 normal (without any regard for smokers) so I suppose as long as I continue at the same level, all will be well.
Anyways, that was a bit longer than I expected.
Be kind to each other, and your colons
Dx Oct '15 w/ Stage 3c RC/ CEA 8
Nov '15 - Jan '16: 3x FOLFOX and 5wks Chemoradiation w/ Xeloda
March '16: ULAR w/ temp ileostomy
Complete pathological response incl 0/12 nodes
May - Aug '16: 9x FOLFOX (dropped Oxaliplatin for final Rd due to neuropathy)
Clear CT scans in April ‘16 (NED), Dec ‘16, Aug ‘17, Feb ‘18, March ‘19, Feb ‘20
Feb '17: Ileostomy reversed
CEA Post Surgery: ALWAYS 2
Blog: kickingrectalcancerintheassblog
https://kickingrectalcancerintheassblog.wordpress.com/