(Somewhat Delayed) Five Year Anniversary

[testing765]

Hi. I was diagnosed with stage 3b colon cancer in the fall of 2014. I had colon resection surgery and finished folfox chemotherapy in the spring of 2015. I have had three colonoscopies and at least annual ct scans since then. As I was approaching my five year anniversary, ct scans revealed a cyst on one of my kidneys and a cyst on the left and right dome of my liver. So my annual ct scans continued passed the five year mark. I will see my oncologist next Friday, but I had a ct scan on Wednesday and I reviewed the radiologist report- a stable scan of lungs, abdomen and pelvis. I am not sure whether my oncologist will officially release me next Friday. I am very grateful for this outcome.

The most recent colonoscopy that I had was in the fall of 2018. No polyps or any other problems. The gastroenterologist suggested another colonoscopy at 3 to 5 years. I am leaning toward 3 and that would mean I would get another in the fall of 2021.

This site was so helpful to me as I dealt with the colon cancer. I just wanted to offer encouragement to people who are dealing with colon cancer now. Thank you all for sharing your experience, strength and hope.

[Lee]

Congratulation on your 5 year mark. That is a MAJOR milestone. I was scoped earlier this year, and yes they found a precancerous polyp. Surprise, surprise, surprise, NOT!!! I'm with you 3 year mark is fine with me.

Lee

[cptmac]

Congratulations!!!

[ANDRETEXAS]

I'm glad you have done so well. I know you were worried, as we all were, at the time of diagnosis, but you've done it ! Stay positive, exercise and help inform others. Congratulations ! Andre
P. S. I had a colonoscopy after one year, three years after that...and will have another in five years after the last - in 2023).

[DarknessEmbraced]

Congratulations! That's wonderful!

[testing765]

Hey all. So I met with my oncologist on Friday, 7/31/20. My colon resection surgery took place in the fall of 2014 and I finished 6 months of folfox in the spring of 2015. I had the stable ct scan in July of 2020. I was a little surprised that my oncologist told me that I still had a chance of colon cancer recurrence. I believe he said that I had a less than 10 percent chance of colon cancer recurrence. I guess I had assumed that if I made it to 5 years without a recurrence, that I would be completely out of the woods.

He thinks that the likelihod of me getting a new spontaneous case of colon cancer is low, assuming I keep up with colonoscopy schedule.

I will no longer receive ct scans for surveillance. I will only meet with him once a year, and I think my colon cancer monitoring will be limited to blood work including cea. Unfortunately, cea was not a sensitive marker for me when I was first diagnosed with cancer.

I did ask the oncologist about tcDNA, but he did not believe it would be helpful for me at this time. If I understood him correctly, tcDNA is potentially helpful for people who have more recently had colon resection surgery and have more recently finished chemotherapy.