Hey MissJV

[margotmagoo]

I read one of your postings where you referred to your chemo as a Pacman game. I just wanted you to know that I did that also when I started my chemo in February. It was a great visualization for me. I was diagnosed at age 40 with Stage IIIc colon cancer in January 2006. I noticed that you just celebrated a birthday....Happy 40th to you....not a great way to turn 40, believe me. I also have a birthday in September. I decided that since my 40th year pretty much sucked, that I would redo it this year. I am not sure where you are in your treatment now, but I wish you well.

[missjv]

hi,
thanks for the birthday wish. actually i am doing great i had 5 chemos and 50% shrinkage in 2 spots on my liver they went to under 1cm and the other spotis gone. pet scan results came back yesterday and my liver did not glow at all or did anywhere else in my body thank god. i am still going to have those 2 small spots removed by surgery as a precaution. my onco said i had one of the best responses to chemo in such a short time she has ever seen and she has been doing this for years so i am very happy now and they say i have a good chance of beating this crap even though my colon polyp metastaszed they still found the stuff on my liver very early and i have no lymphnode involvement so she said such a good response on the lesions means the micro stuff they can't see has for sure been effected by the chemo so yippy for me im excited. good luck to you as well!

missjv

[margotmagoo]

Fabulous news regarding your response to treatment! Congrats on your non-glowing petscan! You are probably on trreatment #7 or #8 about now? When will you have your surgery? I finished my treatments at the end of July. My post treatment colonoscopy biopsies came back negative and my CEA was a 1 and catscan looked good. I am 3 months out of treatment and so far so good. I really hope that things continue to look up for you....together with everyone else on this message board....WE WILL BEAT THIS CRAP!

[missjv]

hi,
well my surgery is dec 1st at sloan kettering. things look great my biggest lesion is .9 cm and other 2 are .6 and .4 cm the pet scan did not glow so these things are not alive at the moment i guess but i am still having the surgery and more chemo i am getting hepatic artery pump and doing systemic chemo as well i have 4 more of those to go after surgery i am not doing anymore chemo before surgery i want to be in as good of shape as i can so im on a chemo break im hoping between both types of chemo this crap stays away im lucky i guess my lesions were found at an early stage and are not large and they are resectable so i am glad i here that is the best chance for a cure is cutting the little turds out of there my primary was a very small polyp in sigmoid colon with no lymph involvment so im lucky i did not have colon resection i just have to be watched closly for anymore growths in that area so i will be a frequent flyer for colonoscopies. well glad you are doing good i think we all have a pretty good chance of beating this crap i read stories like erika and holly's and eileen and they are years out with no evidence of disease so it can be beat. i just wish colon cancer got the recognition that breast cancer does especially with the amount of young people who develope colon cancer someone needs to email katie couric and tell her to get in touch with oprah and have a show about it to get peoples attention.

missjv

[margotmagoo]

Just curious...how often will you be having colonoscopies? My doc said I don't need one for another 3 years and I was questioning that. He said it takes that long for something to grow. I had a mass in my sigmoid, 6/12 lymphs, and had a resection. It's fantastic that you had no lymph involvement. I wish you well with your surgery and your recovery. I actually did write a letter to Oprah a few months ago and never heard back. Katie Couric did do an interview in March with Suzanne Lindley from the CCA regarding the buddy program which is how I got involved with that. I am now thinking of writing to Sharon Osbourn.

[Hannah]

Hi Margot,

Happy (late!) birthday!

Technically, a colonoscopy at three years from diagnosis is what is recommended if you already had one close to the time that you had surgery. See this link and click on "Recommendations" on the right side of the page for CRC follow-up guidelines from American Society of Clinical Oncology, aka ASCO:
http://www.plwc.org/portal/site/PLWC/me ... 730ad1RCRD

The truth is that you are less likely to have a second primary cancer in your colon or a recurrence in your colon than to have a recurrence somewhere else - so it is much more important to keep up with your scans and CEA tests (which hopefully is an indicator for you). Also, of course this is based on statistics, which apply to populations - not individuals. So,it wouldn't hurt to go sooner (I'm sure that I would want to), so if you want to, push for it and get it - even if it's just for your own peace of mind.

Hannah

[missjv]

hi,
i will have colonoscopies once a year. i am having a sigmoidoscopy on the 20th to check the area polyp was removed from back in june. then it will be yearly. surgeons have decided not to take area where polyp grew out because it was so tiny and the cancer will usually pop up somewhere else not in same spot. i did not have any vascular invasion and stalk and margins around polyp were negative so i had no invasion through colon wall but it still went to my liver but my liver mets are at a very early stage and are resectable right now they do not glow on pet scan which is good i have had 8 chemos now and im done with chemo until after surgery my platelets dropped to 170 from a steady hold between 300 and 340 all through chemo so i want to be in the best shape for surgery so no more poisen for a while.


missjv

[margotmagoo]

My best to you for a successful surgery. I wish you a speedy recovery and a wonderful holiday with your family! Enjoy your break with chemo and get strong! Keep us posted...
Margot

[missjv]

hi margot.
thanks for the well wishes. i do love this chemo break but there will be more following surgery but thats ok whatever it takes to get rid of this crap and hope it does not reoccur. i know my surgery is so close to the holidays im doing my decorating and shopping now just in case i feel like crap after leaving hospital. i have a 10 day stay if all goes as planned then i have to fly back to florida so it will be alot but well worth it.

missjv

[survivormike06@yahoo.com]

Hi Miss JV, I had stage III/IV colon cancer back in Aug 05. I was told that it was a "good" 3/4, now how good could that be right. I had my surgery, mets were removed from my liver (20% of my liver was donated to science . I took 6 months of chemo, and finished treatments Feb 24 06-that day I will never forget.

How has your regiment of chemo been going, any weight loss/gain, food allergies and such.

I took my 6 back cocktail every two weeks with a bag of Avastin... yummy.

I hope this email finds you well.

Michael

[missjv]

HI MIKE,
WELL SURGERY WAS ROUGH BUT IM GETTING STRONGER EVERYDAY. I DONATED 30% OF LIVER TISSUE TO SCIENCE AS WELL. I START CHEMO ON JANUARY 3 FOR 6 MONTHS. BEFORE SURGERY I WAS ON FOLFOX NOW I WILL BE ON FULFURI. I HANDLED FIRST ROUND OF CHEMO QUITE WELL JUST SOME HAIR THINNING AND A LITTLE FINGER AND TOE TINGLING BUT OTHER THEN THAT THINGS WENT WELL I HOPE THIS TIME AROUND THE CHEMO WILL BE EASY ON ME AS WELL. BY JUNE I SHOULD BE DONE AND CAN MOVE ON WITH LIFE AND BE SCANNED EVERY 3 MONTHS AND HOPE IT DON'T COME BACK. YOU SOUND LIKE YOUR DOING GREAT, KEEP IT UP THERE IS HOPE FOR ALL OF US.

MISSJV