The Colon Club

For protein, you might consider plant-based protein. There are protein supplements, typically based on Pea Protein these days. It was based on soy in the past. Rob's Red Mill makes protein powders that you can use for shakes or baking.

I'm using lotion on my hands myself as my fingertips are very dry. The objective evidence that I have of this is that my iPhone doesn't recognize my fingerprint when I go to unlock it.

I'd also suggest core work. This might help with bathroom issues overall and decrease injury risk.

You are actually on the other side of treatment - it's a pretty rough road to get to where you are now.

I will look into the more plant based protein powders. I am still too low on calories since now I can't seem to go to the bathroom so I'm unsure what to eat. I mostly skip breakfast, eat lunch and maybe a snack of fruit later then skip dinner. Yesterday I took milk of magnesia which I wasn't sure was a good idea but nothing else has been working for me. It's so weird to go from one extreme to the other. I've lost 2 more pounds and I know I need to eat more. I just dread going to the bathroom and don't want to eat.

It's raining here today, maybe that will help with the dry weather a little bit. Keep using the lotion and hopefully your hands will recover. And of course drink extra water as that is supposed to help, too. It's hard to drink a lot of water when it's so cold out. It makes me freezing even at room temperature since it's chilly all around.

What kind of core work do you suggest? I know that will help with everything and I need to be doing more than just walking.

Time sure Is flying... I can hardly focus on holidays !
Better get my act together.

My shedding skin and cracking feet have improved with liberal use of Udderly Smooth cream.

Went for a peripheral neuropathy massage yesterday, which was actually pretty helpful for
pain and tingling in my feet. Highly recommend ~
It hurt a little in some spots, but mostly felt great and really got the circulation going.
Was given instructions on how to continue at home and a container of lotion to use.

Exercise is on my mind. Will prob start with therapeutic yoga and indoor walking before mall opens.
I have done water aerobics and treadmill at the gym for years, but feel weird about the chlorinated
water now.

Don’t have any advice on constipation issues, as I had a time with that during chemo.

Feeling pretty good compared to a couple weeks ago.
So appreciate sitting down without the wince.

I'm with you on the holidays. I need to get started on gifts but I did get some casseroles in the freezer to bake on Thanksgiving day. I learned a long time ago that I could do them a week or so early and freeze them to have more time on the actual day to visit with family instead of standing in the kitchen.

That massage sounds amazing. Are the exercises at home easy to keep up with? I don't have the neuropathy symptoms as I haven't had the big chemo yet, just the pills along with radiation. I'll have a lot of questions when I get to that part, I'm sure.

Does the Udderly Smooth cream leave a residue when you use it? I used the O'Keeffee's one that works wonders but I didn't like the feel of it on my hands. I'd put it on my feet and cover them with cotton socks and rub it into my hands to leave as long as I could but would end up washing the palms of my hands off shortly after unless it was night when I'd go to sleep with it on.

I still haven't decorated and I'm not sure if I will but I am going to get started on more holiday prep this morning. Hope everyone is feeling great and having a fantastic weekend!

MeAndMine wrote:

What kind of core work do you suggest? I know that will help with everything and I need to be doing more than just walking.

I do Yoga mainly for balance as it's something that you lose with age. I do these:

Warrior I, II, III
Tree Pose
Half-Moon Pose

I do a lot of other things for Core Stength.

MeAndMine wrote:

Time sure Is flying... I can hardly focus on holidays !
Better get my act together.

My shedding skin and cracking feet have improved with liberal use of Udderly Smooth cream.

Went for a peripheral neuropathy massage yesterday, which was actually pretty helpful for
pain and tingling in my feet. Highly recommend ~
It hurt a little in some spots, but mostly felt great and really got the circulation going.
Was given instructions on how to continue at home and a container of lotion to use.

Exercise is on my mind. Will prob start with therapeutic yoga and indoor walking before mall opens.
I have done water aerobics and treadmill at the gym for years, but feel weird about the chlorinated
water now.

Don’t have any advice on constipation issues, as I had a time with that during chemo.

Feeling pretty good compared to a couple weeks ago.
So appreciate sitting down without the wince.

I'm with you on the holidays. I need to get started on gifts but I did get some casseroles in the freezer to bake on Thanksgiving day. I learned a long time ago that I could do them a week or so early and freeze them to have more time on the actual day to visit with family instead of standing in the kitchen.

That massage sounds amazing. Are the exercises at home easy to keep up with? I don't have the neuropathy symptoms as I haven't had the big chemo yet, just the pills along with radiation. I'll have a lot of questions when I get to that part, I'm sure.

Does the Udderly Smooth cream leave a residue when you use it? I used the O'Keeffee's one that works wonders but I didn't like the feel of it on my hands. I'd put it on my feet and cover them with cotton socks and rub it into my hands to leave as long as I could but would end up washing the palms of my hands off shortly after unless it was night when I'd go to sleep with it on.

I still haven't decorated and I'm not sure if I will but I am going to get started on more holiday prep this morning. Hope everyone is feeling great and having a fantastic weekend!

We had a nice weekend here. Working outside let me know I’m a bit out of shape, but grateful to get out in the fresh air and sunshine !

The Udderly Smooth isn’t too bad for leaving a residue. I do the same thing with my feet and the socks.

I’ve incorporated the foot massage into my morning routine. The instructions were once or twice a day. It takes about 15 minutes for my feet, trying to focus on the especially affected parts like the outside of my big toes... Ouch! Mornings are a lot busier these days.


Mike, I tried some of the yoga poses. Think losing that 25 pounds has helped my sustainability. Will continue those and am looking for an appropriate class.

suereal wrote:Mike, I tried some of the yoga poses. Think losing that 25 pounds has helped my sustainability. Will continue those and am looking for an appropriate class.

I think Yoga is great. It looks a little silly if you've never tried it but it's actually really hard.

I like doing barbells for core and muscles but Yoga does work a lot of muscles and also really helps with flexibility. You can see a lot of very strong Yoga practitioners.

All of this stuff is important above 50 years as we lose muscle if we don't use it.

Hi,

Today was my 22nd day of chemo radiation. My last 5 days of Chemo/radiation begins next Monday, I get 4 days off for the Thanksgiving holiday. The side effects I've had are severe constipation & painful hemorrhoids. My white blood count was low a few weeks ago and they reduced my Xeloda dose from 1500 twice a day to 1150 2x. I just found out my Red Blood Count is also Low. I'll see my Oncologist tomorrow so we'll see what will come next. The fatigue has not been too bad. I'm glad you and Sue have made it through your Chemo radiation and on the mend. I think I had gotten myself in a tizzy reading all the posts early on thinking I would have ALL the side effects. So I took a break from the forum. I did take bits of advice and use them and they were extremely helpful. This is the best place to go for 1st hand knowledge.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Dani

You have a low tumor. I've been there, and if I were doing this again this is my advice:

Get genetic testing as it will affect best choice of treatment.
Men should measure baseline testosterone before treatment because radiation will lower it and doctors might not want to supplement it if it drops to the lower end of the normal range (but that might not be "normal" for you.)
Educate yourself about the Habr-Gama "watch and wait" protocol. You should consider it to avoid LAR syndrome, which has high risk with low tumors.
Read up on LAR syndrome, as doctors tend to downplay it.
Find a surgeon who will perform the resection using a "low tie" on the inferior mesenteric artery if at all possible. This also reduces LAR syndrome risk.
Avoid radiation if possible, again this increases LAR syndrome risk.
You'll need to balance the aggressiveness of treatment with the possible quality of life impacts afterward. It's a tough decision. We all want to survive, but sometimes the most conservative course of treatment can produce consequences that make life much more difficult afterward. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to choose but being educated on the risks and side effects is better than relying on a doctor's advice alone who likely knows very little about the details of your day-to-day life and plans for your future.

Always double-check the advice of doctors. This forum is full of stories about how they made mistakes.

chrisca wrote:You have a low tumor....
Read up on LAR syndrome, as doctors tend to downplay it....

So true!

LAR Syndrome overviews should be required reading for all Rectal Cancer patients as soon as they are diagnosed.

The sooner Rectal Cancer patients learn the details about LARS the sooner they will be able to make early informed decisions that will impact their quality of life for years to come.

https://coloncancersupport.colonclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=62507&p=498376#p498376

Jacques wrote:

chrisca wrote:You have a low tumor....
Read up on LAR syndrome, as doctors tend to downplay it....

So true!

LAR Syndrome overviews should be required reading for all Rectal Cancer patients as soon as they are diagnosed.

The sooner Rectal Cancer patients learn the details about LARS the sooner they will be able to make early informed decisions that will impact their quality of life for years to come.

https://coloncancersupport.colonclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=62507&p=498376#p498376

It's a lot to take in at the time.

Dealing with Chemoradiation, then surgery, then adjuvant, reversal and LARs is just a ton of stuff to take in and I think that doctors don't like to tell you about the stuff later on for fear of scaring you off.