Postby NHMike » Thu Sep 07, 2017 5:59 pm
ab123 wrote:Hi Mike,
I don't check the board here much anymore - almost 5 years out from 3C rectal - and NED ever since. I was also treated at BWH and DFCI - and I found the team excellent. I did what sounds like the exact same chemorad schedule as you at BWH (down on the LL2 with the Varian Trubeam - if they still have those machines). The surgical team is extremely good and experienced at this surgery - I had a great result with "sphinter sparing" with a very low tumor. Today I have near normal function (just a little more frequent is all).
Good luck and you're in very good hands!
-Andrew
Thanks for the vote of confidence.
The surgeon's office called back and wants to reschedule the MRI for four weeks after the radiation so there was a misunderstanding back two months ago. I will call them back tomorrow to reschedule the MRI. She wants an appointment a few days after the MRI to discuss the surgery too.
I met with the radiologist today and the nurse offered me stuff for the pain but I declined. It hurts a lot but there's a fair amount of distance to the point where I can't take it any further. We talked about nutrition as well and she suggested that I contact a Dr. Fuschs at DFCI - he does labs and clinical and is an expert at the nutrition stuff. She also suggested that I contact the person that my sister recommended. She has a lot of GI cancer in her family.
I hit tennis balls for 35 minutes and was worn out from that. I have video and will try to edit and post it. So basically cutting down how much I eat cuts down the number of times I need to go to the bathroom and decreases the amount of time that I'm in pain so it's a management technique. I just need to ensure that I'm getting sufficient nutrition. The knowledge that I have four weeks to myself might be somewhat liberating. It might be a time to look into the nutritional stuff and certainly a time to build back my strength and stamina in the gym. That is assuming the GI tract cooperates.
I am planning on working in the office tomorrow, at least for the morning. It would be nice to get back to a bit of normalcy. I plan to go into the office regularly starting next week.
Thanks all for the well-wishes.
6/17: ER rectal bleeding; Colonoscopy
7/17: 3B rectal. T3N1bM0. 5.2 4.5 4.3 cm. Lymphs: 6 x 4 mm, 8 x 6, 5 x 5
7/17-9/17: Xeloda radiation
7/5: CEA 2.7; 8/16: 1.9; 11/30: 0.6; 12/20 1.4; 1/10 1.8; 1/31 2.2; 2/28 2.6; 4/10 2.8; 5/1 2.8; 5/29 3.2; 7/13 4.5; 8/9 2.8, 2/12 1.2
MSS, KRAS G12D
10/17: 2.7 2.2 1.6 cm (-90%). Lymphs: 3 x 3 mm (-62.5%), 4 x 3 (-75%), 5 x 3 (-40%). 5.1 CM from AV
10/17: LAR, Temp Ileostomy, Path Complete Response
CapeOx (8) 12/17-6/18
7/18: Reversal, Port Removal
2/19: Clean CT