So the cancer is officially gone! I'm in regular bloodwork and scanning mode. For the next two years I'll be having my bloodwork done every three months then for three years ever six months. My next CT scan will be in six months and no word a regular occurence for them. Given all this blood headed my way I've chosen to keep my port installed for probably the next five years unless there are complications.
Had a follow-up colonoscopy today and everything looks great! I don't need one for another three years. Still have a scan to do next month as well as blood work then go over everything with my oncologist on the 31s of October.
I've taken my last dose of chemo! For the side-effects to be fully gone I just need the build-up of chemicals to dissipate. I'll be getting scans and whatnot in October so I should know then if I'm rid of the cancer. Will update when I have more information, per usual.
Nothing new to report is a good thing in my opinion. I started my second to last course of the chemotherapy pills and once again the side-effects are quite managable. Figuing I've got about five more weeks of this then scans and whatnot to be sure it is gone. I can't wait!
My blood work looks good and I'm actually feel almost normal. Today I start my sixth course of chemotherapy, still only the pills. My energy isn't back and I tire easily. Biggest complaint related to the chemo pills is a bit of pain in my feet and hands which is an expected side-effect; thankfully it seems to fade away quickly when I stop taking the pills.
Had an oncology visit today and my blood work is looking good. I'm dealing well with all the symptoms. I start another two weeks of the chmo pills tonight then a week off like normal and only three more course after this one. I'm near the end.
Great news! This is my last planned infusion! I'm in the chair now waiting for this last infusion and damn this is great news. I'll still be going in every three weeks to check various levels in my blood and I'll still be on the chemo pills for the next three months.
Hello all! I've been neglecting this. Not real good at journaling and don't really have much to say or update you all on. I'm handling chemo just fine, it sucks but is all very manageable. Tomorrow I go for my fourth infusion. No more are scheduled but by my count I'm probably looking forward to to three or four more; when I know more I'll update here. Other than work I'm relaxing as much as possible showing my shows / movies, reading, and playing video games so not much has changed on that front, LOL. My spirits are great, as anyone who sees me in person can atest to.
Update! All is well. I have my next infusion on this coming Tuesday. My third week after infusions seem to be pretty good compared to right after infusion. Even after infusion my side-effects are what I would consider to be very minimal and easily managable.
Second day of infusion completed and this one hit harder than the first. Cold neuropathy started during the infusion and is a bit more sensitive than last time. Had dysphonia again for a bit but was able to control it a bit better than last time. Overall the symptoms could be WAY worse so if this is all I get I'll take it happily. Mostly just fill like crap, weak, and fatigued which is all quite managemeble.
Biggest issues is still fallout from the surgery which could remain with me in some fashion for my entire life o thats fun.
It has been 24 hours since I took my last does of chemo pills and it is amazing how much better I feel versus taking the stuff every 12 hours. Thankfully I can honestly say my first course of chemo, both IV and pills, have been kind of a cake walk when it comes to symptoms. My biggest complaint is still the fallout from my surgery.
One week after my first chemo infusion and one week on the chemo pills isn't going too bad. Biggest issue is extreme fatigue which is manageble. Other side effects are from the surgery so counting myself quite lucky on the chemo front so far.
My first infusion went well yesterday. A lot of anxiety leading up to the appointment but once I get in everything settled down. Been dealing with cold neuropathy, it is crazy if you want to look up those symptoms. Started the pill chemo last night and right now I'm very functional if not a weaker feeling than before.
Port installation went off without a hitch! It was interesting to be awake the whole time.
It has been a while but all is well. Most the delay was due to the acquisition of a new laptop and I had to configure its access to make updates to this blog.
My recovery is still in progress but I'm feeling so much better than I have for some time. I've got out patient surgery scheduled for this coming Friday, the 10th of February to install my port to make chemo infusion simpler. Can't say I'm looking forward to the 27th but the sooner I get this all started the sooner it will end. :-)
I've got the details! My oncologist appointment went well enough last week. The TLDR, I have to have chemo. The plan is to start on the 27th of February with my first IV chemo treatment and this will take place every three weeks. In addition to the IV I'll be on chemo orally everyday for two week on and one week off. Both of these treatments will take place for up to six months. In the coming weeks I'll have a port installed to make the IV treatment easier to administer.
Recovery from my surgery is still ongoing but I'm far better than I was.
So I have a doozy of an update for all. Early yesterday morning I started bleeding and it wouldn't stop. Got extremely to passing out. Had an amulance take me to the ER and was at the hospital over night till moments ago. The bleeding eventually stopped on it sown but not before I required two units of blood. I'm all good now though still working on getting my blood count up. Oddly enough yesterday was turning out to be the best I had felt since the surgery then I had to go a and lose a bunch of blood. I've learned today blood is VERY important.
Hello all. I'm still recovery. Every day is better but dang this takes a long time. I wanted to correct a mistake I posted earlier. My oncologist appointment is actually the 17th of January so I'll have treatment updates after that.
Hello all! I'm feeling good! Not 100% but good. Energy has yet to come back fully though I have no pain and the discomfort is far more mild. Will be back to work starting tomorrow.
As for potential further treatment... I don't know the details but based on the initial results it does appear I get to look forward to chemo and/or radiation treatment of some sort. I've got an appointment with my oncologist on the 14th of this month so I'm sure I'll have details then or shortly after.
I've been home since Thursday last week and it has been a ride. The pain meds started to wear off before I was told to take more so panicked when the Tylenol wasn't kicking in fast enough then started taking the oxycodone and was afraid to leve the big guns. I was worse than at the hospital which had me suspecting the oxycodone so last night I swiched back to Tylenol and I almost feel human! I was able to shower today that that took all the engery I had and was down and out for an hour. sitting upright for too long isn't great. My hand is nearly back to normal and between that and my overall condition please forgive any typos here. So far this sucks as to be expected but hopefully we got it all. I should have an update on staging this week of the cancer this week which wll inform any further treatment.
I'm out of surgery and it all went great. Will take a couple of days to stage the cancer and that will inform decisions for further treatment, if any. I'm moving around on my own well enough and not in much pain.
My biggest issue is strong tingling of my right had due to them having to lay me on my side. The use of a computer and phone is very limited for messaging so please understand lag in those areas.
Surgery is scheduled for December 28th! I'll be taking that whole week off as well as the following for recovering. Assuming all goes well I shouldn't be in the hospital for more than a couple of nights and just crossing fingers pathalogy of surrounding tissue finds no sign of the cancer.
Today I met with a colorectal surgeon and an oncologist.
As far as these things I could barely ask for a better prognosis. As it stands right night I need surgery to remove the mass; hoping to have that done in December. After the surgery pathalogy will be done on the surrounding tissue looking for any signs of the cancer. If no signs are found then surgery is all I'll need and just will just be monitored by my oncologist for five years. If they find stuff then I'll be headed to chemo or some kind of pharmaceutical treatment.
If you know me well I'm a man of very few words and direct. What I've stated here is all the information I know. Unless something comes up don't expect any kind of update till probably after the first of the year.
I have an appointment with my surgeon on Wednesday, November 9th as well. Both this place and my oncologist are in the same building and appointments are back-to-back. Couldn't have planned it better myself. I'll always update as I get new information.
I have my first appointment with my oncologist to discuss treatment on the afternoon of Wednesday, November 9th.
Good news from my scans! Quote from my gastroenterologist on the results: No abnormal lymph nodes or metastases were seen on your CT.
My CT scan went flawlessly today. When I have more information I'll update here.
Change in dates... One of my blood labs was messed up when taken two days ago so I went back today to take more blood. My CT scan that was scheduled for Monday, October 17th has been rescheduled to the 19th because they didn't initially tell me how early I had to be there and I couldn't make it when they wanted me. Hoping to have more details about next steps by the end of day Friday, October 21st.
I thought I'd address some questions I've been getting about my status. First, again, I'm completely fine. I may not be "fine" once treatment starts and I don't know when that is yet. Blood will be drawn today and I have a CT scan on October 17th. The results from those two things will go to my oncologist and surgical team to figure out what stage of cancer I have and we'll start to talk next steps. Once I know more I'll update.
If you were given the URL to this site then you know why you're here. I've got lab work and scanning in the next couple of weeks to figure out staging and should have an update by the end of October.