Basil wrote:My signature tells my story. Stage 3 and will be released from surveillance at MDAnderson if/when my summer scans come back clean.
Got my fingers crossed for you!
Basil wrote:My signature tells my story. Stage 3 and will be released from surveillance at MDAnderson if/when my summer scans come back clean.
polluxx wrote:I really appreciate the statistic from your own doctor’s cancer group. I was also staged at 3c and I interpreted what I read online to mean that only 25% of 3c patients were even alive in 5 years. Either way, I like 60% much better.
When I finished Chemo, my oncologist wanted me to get my port taken out. I decided to keep it for 2 years anyway. She said, ”I really don’t think you will need it again.” That surprised me, but also made me feel a little more hopeful. It is better to try to live like you expect to go on living, but I find that hard to do sometimes. My oncologist reminded me that I almost died twice then had 6 months of Chemo, so it is just going to take longer for my emotional healing to catch up to my physical healing.
LivinginHope wrote:He's got a CEA tracker blood test in April, then every 6m for 3yrs. A CT scan in July, then another in 9m. A Colonoscopy in October. So the aim is for them to all confirm NED and stay that way, we just can't help feeling that we're waiting for bad news, please tell me this feeling gets easier over time ?
horizon wrote:
Really happy he's almost done with treatment. I won't sugar coat things. That fear of it coming back is always in the back of my mind. BUT it used to be almost paralyzing and now I can go a good stretch of time without thinking about cancer. That used to seem unthinkable to me.
LivinginHope wrote:Thank you so much and thank you for being so honest! I'm slowly realising it's never going to go away, I just pray we get to a point like you have, where it isn't a paralysing fear that makes up second guess decisions . We'd love to be able to have a care free life like we used to, that just isn't realistic at the moment
horizon wrote:I remember being where you both are in the journey. The thing that would upset me the most was the thought of something happening to me and my niece not even remembering me. Now I'm happy to report I've done a good job being the crazy/fun uncle. There can be brighter days ahead.
LivinginHope wrote:It's a really hard position because we should be so excited for the end of active treatment but we've realised active treatment feels like a 'safe place' because he's constantly monitored and has very regular contact with the professionals! The gap inbetween surveillance tests/scans feels very scary & risky, that it could be growing again inside him and we have no idea until after a scan, which could be 6-9m away
horizon wrote:
I would try not to think of it as "risky". In my opinion not doing the recommended treatment would be risky. He did what was suggested for the best chance for a positive outcome. I was anxious to get some semblance of normalcy back after 6 months of chemo. That's not to say I didn't have big worries when it came time to do scans!
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