15 year colon anniversary

Please feel free to read, share your thoughts, your stories and connect with others!
helen098
Posts: 2009
Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2007 2:07 pm
Location: Forest Hills New York

15 year colon anniversary

Postby helen098 » Sun Jun 06, 2021 1:21 pm

15 years ago today I had my colon resection

Not sure how I feel, though it would feel more important, maybe because of what has happened is still happening in the world

In the fall of 2019, my brother (not with the disability) was hospitalized with major blood clots, was hours away from dying.
Ended up had testicular cancer, spread to his abdomen and spine, a hugh mass the size of a old hardcover dictionary. Was given 50% odds of surviving
Months of very aggressive chemo, hospitalization, all the side effects you can think of, many near misses, all the usual crap
Finished late Feb 2020, St. Patricks day 2020 we are in the hospital for his first post chemo cat scan. No patients in the hospital, staff going crazy, no masks
Watching dr oz on tv saying no reason to wear a mask, he only wears a mask during surgery so he doesn’t drop anything in the patience.
As we know the world fell apart,

We live in new york, the epicenter of the epicenter at first
Months of all you heard was ambulances 24/7, morgue trucks outside of the hospital
Only the patient allowed in even though he could still not really walk
Most appointments by phone, blood work, PET ( doc was wearing a full body end of the world suit with a darth vader mask…..only other patient was spraying lysol as she walked and was wearing plastic shopping bags on her feet….wasn’t sure either of us would survive the appointment
covid tent, more surgery, hospitalization when they were cheering for people recovering. Only 2 people on the non-covid floor

As of his last PET scan, blood work no signs of cancer, mass is still there so much smaller now the size of a orange. Can’t remove it because they would have to take the kidney out. Not functioning normally but the doc says its better inside your body.
Very lucky, another surgery probably in the winter for damage done by the tumor/chemo to his bladder.

Very lucky but it has been hell on him and the family

My other brother (with the disability) health is deteriorating.
Severe urinary incontinence, has been wearing adult diapers 24/7 for about 1 1/2 years, still wets the bed every single day, even with me getting him up every 3 hours.
Have been to many docs and specialists, tried every meds and just had botox injections into his bladder.
Very little improvement

Was supposed to have my colonoscopy in the fall of 2019, didn’t happen
all fully vaccinated now and so I have an appointment later this month.

By some miracle none of us got covid, we were wearing 2 masks before it was cool
Still haven’t eaten in a restaurant,
I know a lot people had it a lot worse

Happy about the 15 years.

Want to be happy about the future but the past 2 years have been a lot
stage 3A surgery 6/6/6 finished chemo jan 07
11 5FU/12 Levcouorin/10oxaliplatim
port removed jun 07
anal fistula surgery oct 05 may 07 feb 08 sep 08 jun 09

DeeMeee
Posts: 19
Joined: Sun Apr 04, 2021 8:03 pm

Re: 15 year colon anniversary

Postby DeeMeee » Mon Jun 07, 2021 8:45 am

Helen098, Go You!

Surely it is a celebratory moment for you, even if you can only muster a subdued, lower decibel woot woot!
You are a Helen afterall, so no surprise, every one I have ever known has been a quietly strong and methodical doer goddess.

Wishing you continued anniversaries and the best of health. It sure sounds like you are the rock of your family, wishing your siblings strength and better days ahead.

I’m going to go back and read some of your posts, I scanned through the last few and saw you mention gi lingering symptoms, maybe I’ll find some tips to fix. My brother is hella having those, since March right hemi surgery and now immunotherapy. He is losing more weight and bright outlook by the day, and it’s really difficult right now.

A Sunshiny & Healthy Week To All!
Dee
sister to 57yo m
3/21 CT blockage susp of ileal adenocarcinona mass w nodal mets & perit carcinomatosis
3/21 lap R hemi innumeral mets peritoneal nod 9.5 cm ileocecal mass. Remvd mass, apnx,12i sm int 6i l int nodules CEA 7.8
3/21 Path:Stage 3c pt4b pn2b signet ring cell carcinoma prly diff close mrg 18/28 n
4/21 CEA 3.9 FOne MSI H TMB 13mb KRAS G13D NRAS wt
4/21 Endsc Rules out UGI prmy: bpy:mild peptic duodenitis
4/29 surgeon consult; reassess 6mth for surgery candidate
5/3 Start of Pembrolizumab

User avatar
CRguy
Posts: 10472
Joined: Sun Feb 10, 2008 6:00 pm

Re: 15 year colon anniversary

Postby CRguy » Mon Jun 07, 2021 1:35 pm

Sending continued Cheers and Harmony your way my friend !!!!!!

Best wishes on the Journey
CRguy
Caregiver x 4
Stage IV A rectal cancer/lung met
17 Year survivor
my life is an ongoing totally randomized UNcontrolled experiment with N=1 !
Review of my Journey so far

DarknessEmbraced
Posts: 3815
Joined: Sat Nov 01, 2014 4:54 pm
Facebook Username: Riann Fletcher
Location: New Brunswick, Canada

Re: 15 year colon anniversary

Postby DarknessEmbraced » Sun Jun 13, 2021 10:17 am

!5 years is wonderful! :) I'm sorry that your brothers are going through so much and that your family dealt with covid. I hope you will be able to get your colonoscopy soon.*hugs*
Diagnosed 10/28/14, age 36
Colon Resection 11/20/14, LAR (no illeo)
Stage 2a colon cancer, T3NOMO
Lymph-vascular invasion undetermined
0/22 lymph nodes
No chemo, no radiation
Clear Colonoscopy 04/29/15
NED 10/20/15
Ischemic Colitis 01/21/16
NED 11/10/16
CT Scan moved up due to high CEA 08/21/17
NED 09/25/17
NED 12/21/18
Clear colonoscopy 09/23/19
Clear 5 year scans 11/21/19- Considered cured! :)


Return to “Colon Talk - Colon cancer (colorectal cancer) support forum”



Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 23 guests