my next Step -Chemo ///24 days post- op

well guys , Great Big thanks for Your well wishes and Prayers ,I am able to feed my cows each day , and have been able to change out a starter and change tires on my tractor with no strain ,,, and at 2 pm I take a 2 hour nap each day .. So now ,.after colon surgery heals all the way ,, gonna do chemo for one lousey loose cannon on deck cancerous lymph node,,one out of nine tested to be a trouble maker ,..my Sara and I met with the chemo dr.today ,,the colon cancer has been removed surgically and is done! . but because of lymph node test I have a 5 % recurrence rate if I do nothing,.. it is amazing that some of us are walking time bombs carrying cancer cells for years that are dormant ,and we all feel ok and have no idea ,. the Dr. told me I have a kay -mast -strain (spelling ) in my body that could go rapid fire if it chooses to ,if bad things line up ,. kinda like a ember in a woods that finally gets wind and fuels itself on dry leaves to make forest fire ... So with That knowledge , I must move forward for chemo without a doubt ,,.not sure if I should get 2nd opinion ,I know I must receive treatment ,,. but I question the method ,the Dr , says I will be in treatment 6 monthes, twice per month, 12 sessions that will require a 3 hour office visit with chemo coupled with a take home box treatment that will dribble into me for some 44 hours at which time I come back to office and drop off the empty ,, they will have to install a port in my chest that will stay for a year ..there is lot to think about , they were most helpful and supportive and loaded us with literature and info which Sara is poring over rite now . ....and THEN ,there is another Dr.that I am thinking I could discuss methods with,. and i wonder how the treatment would differ . both Dr.are highly recommended and have a 4.5 star rating . their volume of patients seen and cured is a high number .consequently , and sadly both have indeed lost patients they could not cure , just wonder if you guys got any advice from your life experience and are willing to share ,,..I know you folks are not Dr.'s and I am not pretending you know more than the good Dr.'s,,. I certainly have come to trust your wisdom ,and have thouroghly enjoyed your fellowship and brotherhood in my 15yrs with the forum ..

01gentdc- Did they remove your entire Colon or a section of it?

ive had cancer 3 times,first was at 23 or 24,did 13 months of chemo in 93-94,second time I was 39,chemo and rad,third time I was 44 rad only.my experience with it is in my arm,i always laid my arm on a pillow and the nurse covered it wath a warm moist towel,my treatments were about 3 hrs each,i could feel it going thru my body,sounds crazy but its true,i lived on carnation instant breakfast for the entire time.it changes your body,or it did mine,the way the body/cells react to other meds.it also changed me as a person,my outlook on life,people say I'm dumb but id do it the same way again too....

I will get my 3rd treatment in 12 days. I have leukemia so the drugs used are different. As stated, the chemo will make changes to your body as the treatment progresses. Don't know if some of the changes will be permanent or not. Believe it or not, both my eyesight and my hearing have improved (at least for now).

My BIL has inoperable colon cancer plus it has gone to his liver. He gets chemo every 3 weeks. Originally they gave him 6 months max to live - that was over 2 years ago! He is back walking 2-3 miles a day and working office work, although he doesn't do physical work. He'll be 74 next month.

The chemo that I am taking leaves me weak and tired, but I can tell that my strength and endurance is slowly coming back after each treatment. If that occurs to you, just go along with it and get lots of rest. Hope that you have someone who can do the physical work until you recover; each treatment gets a little bit better and you get a little bit stronger.

The cancer doctors can do some pretty miraculous things these days; I am happy that I am getting the treatments. Haven't discussed what will happen after I finish the chemo in July.

Well, at least you found it early enough and have the chance to heal yourself. Sis-in-laws brother hadn't felt 100% for the last couple years and finally went to the Doc on March 9. Found out he is full of cancer and died 10 days later on March 19. Not much time to get things in order, 72 years old. Will keep you in our prayers.

the very beast of luck coming from nj

Dog gone Jim,I sure wish you the best of luck. You've got me email address don't you if you need anything?

best of luck,,sorry it got miss typed

greg they removed a foot ,..and no , it was not because I got kikt there long ago to get inspired and the boot had to be removed ,.. lol..normal folks have 5 ft of large intestine ,

I went through some of that a few years ago, I had the port and was no big deal. I also did chemo at the same time as radiation. Went to clinic Monday morning and got a portable chemo pump, was about the size of an old cassett recorder, had a strap over the sholder ( under shirt). then went to radiation , did radiation Monday through Friday. Then back to clinic remove pump and next week do over. Was for 24 radiation treatments. Any questions email be .joe

sounds kinda like my plan ,joe, minus radiation ,,. ,,and I only get 12 treatments ,,my son and nurse sis is suggesting a 2nd opinion about treatment plans . to be honest all indicaters seem to point to the fact I have the best rite now, and there is no need to look further,,. besides that , I just called the other dr.number and got a all circuits are busy,. and then a busy signal , and now the phone rings about a dozen rings and shuts off ,,probably the storms last nite messed with the phone lines ,,.or maybe april fools ,,. but it just mite be GOD trying to tell me to stik with 1st Dr. ... what do you guys think ???

It sounds like you made up your mind for the treatment. I had prostate cancer 3 years ago. They give me several options for treatment. I decided to get a second opinion and drive 50 miles one way farther for it. I ended up going with the second opinion. Once I made up my mind I didn't look back.

My 70 year old farmer friend just got done with his chemo for colon cancer and he's doing good. He just took on some more acreage and looking at a bigger tractor. Yours sound about like what he had. Good luck with your treatment from what I understand of it your chance of a complete cure is good.

Much good luck. My brother has been dealing with battling colon cancer for a few years now, but his is a special situation. He has an generative eye disease that is supposed to hit the males in every other generation that hit him, somehow missed me. He has something called Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) that is passed down from females to males, affects every other generation, and as they've found out is somehow tied to cancer, I believe colon cancer specifically. My mother passed the gene down to my brother, so if he had and sons they would be ok, but daughters would pass it down to their sons whom would possibly go blind like my brother did when he was in college. Was pretty much ok until then, but started losing his sight rapidly. FAST FORWARD to colon cancer. My brother came down with it a few years ago. While speaking with our family, one of his physicians said that he had been doing some research and that science has tied Retinitis pigmentosa to cancer, again, I believe colon cancer. A year or two later I'm doing some work for an internal medicine specialist physician and happened to mention that my brother has Retinitis pigmentosa, and he said that cancer, again I believe colon cancer has been tied to RP. Two doctors from two different states that don't know or work with each other say the same thing, so in my brother's case, I have to assume that it is true. So, my brother went through chemo for the better part of a year a few years ago, and seemed to do ok, was found to be "cancer free" for about half a year until it came back, and he also developed neuropothy in his extremities like his fingers and feet that sometimes is better, some times not so better. When his cancer came back, he was then treated for about four months with radiation that as it turned out had no positive affects on his cancer, and tore his insides up to this very day, negative affects from his radiation. Then he underwent surgery and had the cancerous part of his colon removed, and that took some doing with special foods and stuff. That seemed to do real well, except that they noticed something, a mass in his lymph nodes that they don't care for, so a few months ago, chemo again for him, every other week. Its a rough life that my brother is living, having gone blind, now cancer. May God always bless him, yourself and others. I'm not the most or least religious person that you or anyone else would ever meet, and I certainly don't and won't preach, but when I see others like my brother, yourself, others...I consider myself to be very blessed.

May God bless you, and I will say a prayer.

Mark

01gentdc- The reason I had asked is...in 2013, I had colon cancer and the Dr. removed about a foot of my colon(no Lymph node involvement). Rebounded pretty quickly.

2 months later, after MRI, they discovered more tumors in remaining colon. Removed the entire colon and no colostomy or Loop ileoscopy. He just sewed my small intestine to my rectum. Recovery was slow and painful. No Chemo or Radiation.

Good luck to you and pray it cures you.

I meant to say "no colostomy bag".

My mother had Colon cancer. Removed part of her colon, got a port, did Chemo and the bring home chemo and it didn't slow her down at all. Never lost her hair. In fact, after getting her chemo, I would take her to a local casino while she had her take home chemo on. Then the next year, she got colon cancer again. They removed another section and she has been fine for the last 12 years. Yesterday, she went to the casino for the second time this week at the age of 90. Her only problem, she can spend a long time in the restroom!!!

Keep you in our prayers. Wife diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in February 2015. 24 rounds of chemo and two weeks radiation. On treatment holiday until at least May. Scan and tests on May 2. She is fortunate so far. We only live 45 minutes from Mayo in Rochester. I had prostrate and surgery in 2011. Clear so far.

From this cancer survivor, good luck. You are in my prayers.

wow , greg that is a fine testimony ,..you have no idea how encouraging it is hearing from all of you guys and what does for moral for me and My Sara ,,.sara is a wonderful wife and a great health coach

thanx mark ,,.and all you guys for your prayers ..

Just one day at a time, looks like you are making progress. Will keep you in my prayers. Stan

your mother is amazing