Hello! Just introducing myself. My name is Brittany. I am 34, married, 2 children (7 and 5). I was diagnosed last year with stage 3 upper rectal cancer. I recently finished treatment and have been declared NED. I read a lot on here while in treatment. This is my first time posting.
As far as my treatment, my mass was 11cm up, moderately differentiated. pMMR (wasn’t tested for KRAS or BRAF). Completed 4 rounds of neoadjuvant FOLFOX6 which ended with toxicity due to failure to metabolize the 5FU. CT scan after those 4 rounds showed near complete response so I moved into radiation with a low dose of Xeloda. After radiation I had my LAR, no bag. Pathology showed complete response to treatment, my tumor was gone, no residual cells in my rectum. 1/21 nodes showed treatment effect but viable cells. Another cell was dead with treatment effect. Completed 3 rounds of CAPOX after surgery. I had a clear scan in January and a clear scope last week. CEA was 1.5 (4 at dx) and my port was removed.
Now I deal with the mental side effects from my diagnosis which seem to be harder than anything I’ve been through. It’s like I can’t accept potentially being “cancer-free”.
Thank for reading!