Lee wrote:
I suspect you are okay. When I was diagnosed, FOLFOX was still experimental (2004). I was given 30-50% chance of being alive in 5 years (depending upon who you talked to). FOLFOX (and Avastin) were a game changer then. I got the full 12 cycles because I was young and healthy (except for the cancer). I suffer some of the side effect today, butt glad to be alive.
30 years prior to my diagnosis, a good friend of mine, her dad was diagnosed with rectal cancer via exploratory surgery (no scopes then), 5FU was the only chemo for colon cancer. He died 6 months after diagnoses. He was only 46. You might be one of those people who see a "cure for cancer" in your life time. I truly believe we on getting closer to it.
All the best,
Lee
Well your odds were probably closer to 50% given all the new studies about surgery and chemo statistics.
It's great you've been NED for so long chances of recurrence are slim to none at this point. You're quite an asset to this board.
So the 12 treatments did you well. Did you suffer from Neutropenia at all? What are your long term symptoms/side effects?
I had an uncle who had cancer of the esophagus that did chemo about 20 years or so ago and passed within a month of diagnosis.
Also my Great grandmother and her son, my great uncle I suppose, both developed colon cancer. My great grandmother refused treatment and passed within a year in her early 60's.
My great Uncle, did a resection of tumor only and lived to his late 70's. His wife of 50+ years had passed 6 months before he did. They were very close and most likely her death was a big reason for his as he started to fail to thrive after her passing. I was never told of there diagnosis until after I was diagnosed. - otherwise I'd have demanded scopes like 10 years ago after bleeding became routine instead of taking a GI that gave me an anoscopes word that it was most likely just a hemoroid and anal fissure.
I certainly hope Humanity will see a cure for this disease as well as all disease and even aging itself.
I absolutely love life, existence, consciousness, and everything that we can learn/experience in it.
I'm one of the dreamers who see humanity expanding onto other planets and hopefully even beyond in the future.
As for cancer, science is making great progress with not only chemotherapies, but immunotherapy and nanobot-therapies.
I really like progression of both of immuno and nano therapies - until then chemo seems to be a great reducer of recurrence - especially in CRC.