Almost 1 year after Diagnosis

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Laughingthroughitall
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2017 2:40 pm

Almost 1 year after Diagnosis

Postby Laughingthroughitall » Fri Mar 17, 2017 3:39 pm

It will be 1 year next month. I have been "creeping" on all of these posts for almost the entire time.

I'd like to thank all of the "posters" that got me through it all. I read all about what to expect with surgery, what to bring to the hospital, how to get ready for chemo and all sorts of posts about going through chemo.

I never registered and certainly never posted anything. Now it seems like enough time has passed that I am ready to talk about it without being too cheery about the outcome or negative about how I was feeling during the chemo. In retrospect, it sounds like I was all over the place with my emotions... I was worried that I would sound like I couldn't make up my mind! LOL And- that is all true. I changed my mind almost hourly... I was very optimistic most of the time and also felt absolutely awful during the 6 months of chemo.

Without getting too long winded (too late- I know!!) I am finally posting because I now feel that I have the knowledge to help others. I am feeling great physically and emotionally and would like to help those that are in the position that I was a year ago. This is scary... give yourself a break for being sad and scared. But, this is also beatable!

For me- the surgery was so easy. I had surgery the week that my Daughter was graduating from High School (I was not going to miss that graduation ceremony for anything). As it turned out, I was out of the hospital the day after surgery and I had no problem with the Graduation 3 days later.

The Port was not so much fun. I had the port put in a couple of days before we left for a beach vacation and that was a bad idea. I was sore and uncomfortable for days....but, it may have also been thinking about the chemo appointment the day after we returned from the beach. I'm a headcase!

I read all of the posts on here about Chemo... and my experience was different. Others talked about being a little tired, but still being able to carry on daily activities and even travel. ummm.... not so much here! All I wanted to do was sleep. I slept during treatments and then continued for the next 3 days. I was able to peel myself out of bed and go to work--- but I got absolutely nothing done (let's just keep that between us). I think I had every side effect and even made up some new ones... But they were temporary. Aside from the weight that I put on (I blame my husband for feeding me too much when I was doing nothing but sitting on the couch!), I feel great. My last dose of poison was on November 30, 2016.

The bottom line (yes- I will actually stop writing at some point!).... I told myself that I can handle anything for 6 months. And- there were times that I didn't think I could go back to the hospital...I just kept going. And- the 6 months ended. I got through it and others do too.

I am lucky to have the worlds best husband...and 2 kids that battled through it all with me. There are plenty of things to say about how different friends and family react and how many people amaze and disappoint... but that is another post. For now- Take care of yourself. And know that you can do it! In the end, there may be some blessings that came out of this whole mess. I can't believe how lucky I am in so many ways!

Thanks for reading to the end.
Laughing through it all....
Diagnosed May 2016- age 47 female
T3N2
Surgery 05/2016
Folfox 7/2016-11/2016
and I'm done... scans again in a couple of months...

User avatar
HopeForJesse
Posts: 249
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 9:39 am
Location: Philadelphia

Re: Almost 1 year after Diagnosis

Postby HopeForJesse » Fri Mar 17, 2017 7:49 pm

Hello and great post! Glad you made it through the 6 months and feel comfortable posting now.
I don't post often for some of the same reasons- don't feel qualified - especially because I am the spouse and not the patient but I do read here almost daily and try to post when appropriate just to pass along the hope and help that we found here last year.
:D
DH DX 01/16 49 YO inop RC stage IV liver mets
MSS TP53 APC,BRCA2
12/15 CEA 241, FOLFOX to 11/16
LAR/ileo 5/16 Clear margins 1/29 nodes
HAI, reversal, liver resections7/16
FUDR 8/16 -NED 3 mos
Rising CEA 3/17 Xeloda, 5/17 -12/17 Erbitux & Iri stable but lung/lymph mets CEA 2.7
5/18 5 days SBRT radiation to sternum 10/22/18 surgery to remove zyphoid process met
6/11/19 5FU added to cetuximab and irinotecan CEA 16
Ephesians 3:20 Our God is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine!

JudiB
Posts: 71
Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2017 5:30 am

Re: Almost 1 year after Diagnosis

Postby JudiB » Sat Mar 18, 2017 2:28 am

As someone just starting the chemo journey, it's great to read your positive post. I'm at the "all over the pkace" stage at the moment but mostly Trying to stay positive.
Hope life just gets better and better fir you niw the chemo is done!
Xxx
May 2004 Breast cancer lumpectomy followed by radiotherapy, Tamoxifen 5 years, then Femara 2 years.

Jan 2017 resection around colo-rectal junction
T2bN1 M0
March 2017 Chemo Folfox started. Oxaliplatin for 4 treatments, then just 5 FU and Leucovorin for remaining 8 treatments.
June 2017 clear scan
Last chemo August 2017
August 2017 clear scan
February 2018 clear scan

teri3
Posts: 405
Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2015 11:03 am

Re: Almost 1 year after Diagnosis

Postby teri3 » Sat Mar 18, 2017 8:25 am

You made it through! Now you know you can do anything. It is a club none of us wants to belong to but it's great to see your optimism. Hoping all your scans are good :)

Teri
58 yrs old female
MSS KRAS mutation G12V
adenocarcinoma sigmoid colon dx 11-14
sigmoidectomy 11-14
Stage 3A
3 out of 20 lymph nodes involved
started FolFox 1-27-15
11 rounds FOLFOX last one 6-30-2015
7-29-2015 PET clear
5-14-2016 CT 2 nodules one in each lung
Confirmed pulmonary metastasis stage 4
FOLFIRi + Avistin started 8-16 11 rounds complete 12-16
CT 12-16 nodules shrunk chemo break wait and see :?
CT growth
VATS l lung 4 10 17
VATS r lung 4 24 17
CT 2 nodules r up and l low :(

Peranadar
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2017 6:46 pm

Re: Almost 1 year after Diagnosis

Postby Peranadar » Mon Mar 20, 2017 12:36 am

Great to read this!
Wondering what your surgery was exactly?
Out of hospital day after is incredible!
Best,
Peranadar

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

Re: Almost 1 year after Diagnosis

Postby PainInTheAss » Mon Mar 20, 2017 5:57 am

Yeah, it's really something when you go from being the "newbie" to having something valuable to contribute. I remember when I first found this forum thinking how people on here were real life heroes, so brave and willing to help others.

You are now someone's hero. Congratulations!
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

DarknessEmbraced
Posts: 3815
Joined: Sat Nov 01, 2014 4:54 pm
Facebook Username: Riann Fletcher
Location: New Brunswick, Canada

Re: Almost 1 year after Diagnosis

Postby DarknessEmbraced » Wed Mar 22, 2017 5:01 pm

Wonderful post! Glad you are done chemo!*hugs*
Diagnosed 10/28/14, age 36
Colon Resection 11/20/14, LAR (no illeo)
Stage 2a colon cancer, T3NOMO
Lymph-vascular invasion undetermined
0/22 lymph nodes
No chemo, no radiation
Clear Colonoscopy 04/29/15
NED 10/20/15
Ischemic Colitis 01/21/16
NED 11/10/16
CT Scan moved up due to high CEA 08/21/17
NED 09/25/17
NED 12/21/18
Clear colonoscopy 09/23/19
Clear 5 year scans 11/21/19- Considered cured! :)


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