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by prs
Tue Mar 26, 2019 12:13 pm
Forum: Colon Talk - Colon cancer (colorectal cancer) support forum
Topic: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery
Replies: 595
Views: 304615

Re: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery

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...
by prs
Mon Feb 25, 2019 1:47 pm
Forum: Colon Talk - Colon cancer (colorectal cancer) support forum
Topic: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery
Replies: 595
Views: 304615

Re: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery

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...
by prs
Fri Feb 22, 2019 4:23 pm
Forum: Colon Talk - Colon cancer (colorectal cancer) support forum
Topic: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery
Replies: 595
Views: 304615

Re: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery

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 ...
by prs
Thu Feb 21, 2019 2:58 pm
Forum: Colon Talk - Colon cancer (colorectal cancer) support forum
Topic: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery
Replies: 595
Views: 304615

Re: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery

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...
by prs
Mon Feb 18, 2019 11:35 pm
Forum: Colon Talk - Colon cancer (colorectal cancer) support forum
Topic: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery
Replies: 595
Views: 304615

Re: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery

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...
by prs
Mon Feb 18, 2019 5:30 pm
Forum: Colon Talk - Colon cancer (colorectal cancer) support forum
Topic: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery
Replies: 595
Views: 304615

Re: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery

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.
by prs
Mon Feb 18, 2019 10:28 am
Forum: Colon Talk - Colon cancer (colorectal cancer) support forum
Topic: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery
Replies: 595
Views: 304615

Re: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery

I should add my W&W program also includes an annual colonoscopy.

So like many on this board, I am a fully qualified MiraLAX expert. :mrgreen:
by prs
Sat Feb 16, 2019 12:03 pm
Forum: Colon Talk - Colon cancer (colorectal cancer) support forum
Topic: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery
Replies: 595
Views: 304615

Re: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery

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 ...
by prs
Thu Feb 14, 2019 2:22 pm
Forum: Colon Talk - Colon cancer (colorectal cancer) support forum
Topic: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery
Replies: 595
Views: 304615

Re: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery

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...
by prs
Thu Feb 14, 2019 2:11 pm
Forum: Colon Talk - Colon cancer (colorectal cancer) support forum
Topic: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery
Replies: 595
Views: 304615

Re: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery

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'...
by prs
Wed Feb 13, 2019 11:51 pm
Forum: Colon Talk - Colon cancer (colorectal cancer) support forum
Topic: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery
Replies: 595
Views: 304615

Re: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery

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.
by prs
Wed Feb 13, 2019 11:26 am
Forum: Colon Talk - Colon cancer (colorectal cancer) support forum
Topic: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery
Replies: 595
Views: 304615

Re: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery

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...
by prs
Mon Feb 04, 2019 4:08 pm
Forum: Colon Talk - Colon cancer (colorectal cancer) support forum
Topic: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery
Replies: 595
Views: 304615

Re: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery

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...
by prs
Tue Jan 29, 2019 12:28 pm
Forum: Colon Talk - Colon cancer (colorectal cancer) support forum
Topic: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery
Replies: 595
Views: 304615

Re: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery

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.
by prs
Mon Jan 28, 2019 11:15 pm
Forum: Colon Talk - Colon cancer (colorectal cancer) support forum
Topic: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery
Replies: 595
Views: 304615

Re: Rectal Cancer: Habr-Gama Watch and Wait Strategy to Avoid Surgery

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...

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