The Colon Club

Pagola44 wrote:it seems a lot of people had reoccurrences

Not me!!

Going on 11 years NED.

When I was diagnosed, I was told I was as close to a stage IV as you could get without actually being a stage IV.

The radiation oncologist told me my chances were 50/50.

It was very scary and for months I believed I was going to die. Obviously, I was wrong.

My oncologist told me after surgery that he believed I would be cured based on my response to chemo-rad. I didn't have a complete response, but I had a "pretty good" response with just trace cancer cells left.

PainInTheAss wrote:The radiation oncologist told me my chances were 50/50.

It was very scary and for months I believed I was going to die. Obviously, I was wrong.

Can't imagine how scary that was. I told mine not to give me statistics because I knew I would obsess over them!

horizon wrote:

PainInTheAss wrote:The radiation oncologist told me my chances were 50/50.

It was very scary and for months I believed I was going to die. Obviously, I was wrong.

Can't imagine how scary that was. I told mine not to give me statistics because I knew I would obsess over them!

Same thing for me. Oncologist told me 50-50.

Someone at the time posted a calculator used by one of the major cancer centers and it was more like 30-70 and not in my favor, due to node involvement and another poor prognosticating factor.

One the plus side, the radiation doctor said “we want you to live 40 or 50 more years but I do need to let you know about the possible risks with radiation”

I do notice that survival rates are pretty drastically increased since I was diagnosed.

Anyway, July was 14 years post surgery so a pretty good run so far. For those that don’t know, I believe Horizon was also 3C and began posting here within a few months of when I did back in 2010 or 2011.

For a little additional hope, I’m 52 now, I’ve gotten married since diagnosis and treatment(wife and I just celebrated our ten year anniversary in Las Vegas), I re found God and Jesus, I’ve promoted 2 times more at my workplace of 24 years, and with any luck I’ll be going Friday to watch my beloved Dodgers with my dad who is 82.

John72 wrote:Anyway, July was 14 years post surgery so a pretty good run so far. For those that don’t know, I believe Horizon was also 3C and began posting here within a few months of when I did back in 2010 or 2011.

I'm so pitiful I don't even remember my exact staging! It was stage 3 with lymph node involvement, but the smallest amount possible I think. Glad we're both still around and doing well!

Good afternoon! The operation was June 21, chemistry ended in February 22, I had an MRI examination a week ago - NED, in three months there will be a CT scan of the lungs. Almost 3 years from the date of completion of treatment

Hello fellow warriors,

I haven’t been here in a while but just thought I’d post an update on here. I hope it helps someone who has been diagnosed and looking for positive stories.

I was diagnosed in May 2009 with stage III colon cancer (sigmoid).
I had surgery the following week and then commenced chemo (12 treatments of FOLFIRI).
I had yearly CT scans (for five years), they didn’t want to do them more often due to radiation and being anxiety provoking and I had regular blood tests.

I was so fearful initially but it does get better.

My best wishes to you all xx

I didn't realised that I have crossed 4 yrs milestone last Feb 2025. I just logged in here after long time and here I am happy to write this to boost all cancer warriors in this forum. Keep your spirits and hopes high. You will be all well. Best wishes to everyone.