Hi Jolene, I do hope your PET/CT tomorrow turns out well. One interesting thing I would like to point out is that my Dr relied almost exclusively on visual observation of the tumor site to determine CCR. I did have confirming MRIs and she did feel the site with her fingers, but she used some kind of...
I have a Kaiser Medicare Advantage plan so don't have to worry about insurance. If a Kaiser Dr schedules me for a procedure, then Kaiser automatically covers it. My treatment is as you described, except I do not have CT scans of chest and pelvis. I did have a chest CT shortly after I had the CCR but...
Great news lakeswim!!! You now have options available, and that's exactly what you wanted from the second opinion. Do take some time to absorb all the new info, I know it can take a few days to go over what the Drs were saying, and figure out exactly what they meant in layman's terms! The Drs on my ...
Here's hoping it all works out for you Jolene. I was very uncomfortable talking about my rectal cancer when first diagnosed, and we only told those people who would have been curious about my absences for treatment. :oops: Three years later the number of people who have seen my bare backside is in t...
Does the sigmoidoscopy requires a full operating theater preparation and admission(in-patient) like the colonoscopy does ? Or is it simply done at the doctor's clinic (out-patient) ? Were you under sedation ? I just googled and it says typically not, but with a scope up in the bum for 10-20 mins th...
Yes, liquid diet for 24 hours before the procedure, followed by two Fleet saline enemas, two hours before the procedure. The two enemas to be about 1/2 hour apart. I usually do an extra enema the evening before.
Hi Annie50, I'm still on W&W, it's a five year program. For the first two years I had quarterly flex sigs and MRIs. Now it's every six months until the five years are up! It's a very long drive for me to get to my Drs in LA. Most often they will kindly arrange for me to have the flex sig in the ...
Hi Jolene You should check this out. He is head of MSK Colorectal surgery and running the watch and wait study. I'm surprised you have not been advised to do full chemotherapy. It's called "consolidation" chemo and increases the chance of a full response. My opinion is that I would do eve...
My colorectal surgeon introduced W&W to her facility in LA. I could tell that my local oncologist and my radiation oncologist were not too thrilled about it, although they never actually came out and said anything negative. Three years later both these Drs are enthusiastic W&Wers after they'...
Please don't fret about your month of waiting. I believe it was pretty much standard practice for Dr Habr-Gama's patients to wait 12 weeks before she determined if they'd had a CCR.
W&W is not an NCI approved treatment for rectal cancer so it's likely that some medical facilities are reluctant to introduce it for fear of being sued. Also the medical profession is very conservative, and quite rightly so. New treatments gain acceptance more quickly when deep pocket drug Compa...
There is a lot of bone in the pelvic area and, as I understand it, radiation negatively impacts the ability of that bone to produce blood cells. I know all my blood counts dropped during radiation, and it took a year for them to climb back to just below the low end of the normal range. The counts le...
Hi Jolene, FYI a flex sig goes in plenty far enough to fully examine the rectum, so no need for a full colonoscopy. A flex sig is a mini colonoscopy for rectal cancer patients.
Determination of a clinical complete response is by visual observation only. I understand Dr Habr-Gama published photos and very complete descriptions of what the doctor needs to observe before declaring a CCR. My surgeon told me that these strict guidelines included a determinations of the color of...