Colorectal Cancer

[livingwith]

hi I am a 57 year old woman who was diagnosed with state 3c colan cancer march 2006 they removed the tumor and 13 nodes 6 of these noded were positive. the cat scan and the surgeon said no organs were clear. I went thru 12 treatments of 5fu and oxiplatin which left may hands and feet numb.
I would so much like to hear from survivors with stage 3. i was told i have 64% chance of being fully cured, is this really accurate? the oxiplatin has also showed 20% of the stage 3 people lived 6 years s...Read the full article

[KateC14]

My dad had colon cancer surgery a week ago - he is 57, will be 58 this November. They (doctors) went in thinking it was a stage I or II, but from what the surgeon said, it was an agressive cancer and it sounds like a stage three (we do not know for sure yet though). He removed 18" of the colon (descending side) and I think he said it was in the nodes that he took out, but it hadn't moved to any other locations in the body. After hearing colostomy, chemo, and radiation my brain stopped properly recording, but it did properly record that it didn't spread to any other organs. He will have to have chemo and radiation, but we haven't heard from the oncologist yet on the regiment he/she is recommending. Not sure when we will. He is due to be discharged tomorrow. At first my dad was vehement he didn't want the chemo or radiation, but when I explained what my coworker's dad went through, it didn't sound so bad to him. Also, when he realized that it was a one time series of treatments as long as the big C doesn't rear his ugly head again and that helped ease some of his fears. He seemed to think he'd have to do that every two years. God-willing he will not. One thing that throws a monkey wrench into it is that my dad is a insulin dependant diabetic. It's already caused complications (delayed his surgery by 2 days because he had a stress-induced high blood sugar attack - it was in the mid 300s when he was admitted).

I am posting because being the oldest child in our family as well as an engineer, I want as much information/facts/answers as possible so I can help him to heal as much as I possibly can.

[anniegam]

I am a 56-year-old woman who just had a colon resection 1 month ago. Half my rectum and part of the colon were removed, but my surgeon was able to prevent me from having a permanent colostomy. My cancer was discovered in a colonoscopy, the first I had ever had, in July. I had one huge polyp that was only 3 inches from my anus. Because I had not been having any symptoms, my surgeon thought I was in stage II or III. However, the biopsy from the tissue removed during the surgery indicated I am stage IIIA, because the tumor had penetrated 4 of the 6 colon wall layers and cancer was present in 1 of 16 lymph nodes that were removed. I have recovered quickly from the surgery and will begin radiation and chemotherapy next week, just 1 month after the surgery.

What I am dealing with now is regret for not having had a colonoscopy sooner. I have an uncle who died of colon cancer at age 45, but I did not know this until I got my diagnosis. If I had known, maybe I would have asked my doctor to schedule the test sooner. Luckily, I recently changed doctors, and my present physician ensures that all her patients get a colonoscopy as close to age 50 as possible. She has probably saved my life with that attitude. I wish I had changed doctors sooner.

Today I had a bad day and have been depressed because of it. I have felt the need to defecate almost every hour, and I have spent a good portion of the day trying to get relief. My abdomen is constantly cramping--almost as if I were having menstrual cramps. According to my surgeon, where the colon and rectum were attached, the incision has hardened (which is normal), keeping the feces trapped above the resulting ledge. I must strain to push the feces out, and it is very painful. My surgeon told me I could try using a suppository to help (laxatives are too harsh this soon after surgery, he said), but that has offerred me minimal relief. I am actually looking forward to starting radiation and chemotherapy next week, because that is supposed to cause diarrhea. I'm sure this situation will improve tomorrow, but this is the second day since my surgery when I have felt this way all day.

I wonder if there is a website where I can find information about this type of problem and how others are dealing with it. I also wonder if there is a website where patients discuss the side effects of chemo and radiation. My oncologist has mentioned diarrhea and possible mouth sores. I wonder if there is a way to prevent them. She did say I could use medication to control the diarrhea, but she did not mention how to prevent the mouth sores.

If I find out more, I will post it to this website.
AnnieGam

[KateC14]

I just wanted to note that we have found it that his cancer was staged as a 3C cancer. He is having an MRI today (blood tests last Wednesday) and should be meeting with teh oncologist at the cancer clinic at the hospital in the next few weeks to see what kind of chemo regiment is going to be followed. She said radiation depends on the chemo and how that goes. He also has to have a port put in before the chemo starts.