Colon Cancer - Stage 3

[Craig_Bartlett]

Hello, My name is Craig. I have stage 3 Colon Caner at age 39. One month ago I had my ascending colon removed due to the large tumour. The surgeon took out 37 lymph nodes and the Biopsy showed 2 nodes with cancer cells in them. Tomorrow (Monday 6th May) I am having day surgery to install the injection port into my chest. Then on Wednesday 8th may I start the Chemo. I am self employed with a small Graphics business where I cover al roles. Married with a baby boy who turned 1 year old 2 days ago.... My wife is going to give birth to our second child in two weeks. Due Date 18th May 2013. So much going on... Should be the best time of my life........ But then CANCER!!! How and I going to handle all this..... I am guessing the Chemo is really going to make a mess of me.

[#2]

Hi Craig, I'm new to this site 🙂 I just wanted to wish you well for your upcoming treatment, and let you know Chemo side-effects aren't always as awful as most people assume. My husband (43) has bladder cancer & recently underwent 4 months of chemo. Apart from nausea, he handled it really well. I hope the coming weeks bring you more joy than sorrow. -Nicole.

[sarah_hopes]

Hi Craig, Good luck and I hope everything goes well with today and the upcoming treatment period. Stay strong and positive! I know it's going to be hard but keep fighting and kick cancer in the butt! 🙂 This site is great because there's people that share their experiences through their Cancer journey and share their emotions as well. I'm new to this site as well and I found it really helpful to communicate with other people that are sharing the same feelings as me. I have stage 2 Bowel cancer and I'm 27 years old. I start my Chemotherapy today. I'll be taking tablets instead of the I.V but my Oncologist told me it's pretty much the same thing in terms of results. I'll let you know how I go with it. I wish you all the best with your treatment and stay POSITIVE! Sarah

[Craig_Bartlett]

Hi Nicole, If Nausea is my only side effect I would be very happy with that. Hope you husband is recovering and clear from this terrible disease. Kind Regards, Craig.

[Craig_Bartlett]

Hi Sarah, Thank you for your interest and engouraging comments. My Sugery like any surgery was daunting to say the least however the port is in now and I am feeling OK, a little sore but OK. 27 YO, Wow that is really young. How did you find out you had it at stage 2? Please let me know how your oral Chemo goes as I would be intersted how different it is. How long is you treament? Best wishes and as you say Stay Positive. Thanks. Best Regards, Craig

[Karen_X]

Hi Craig, Good luck with chemo today! I completed FOLFOX treatment in January 2012. I presume this is the treatment you will be having? If so, I won't lie, it wasn't easy (for me!), but it wasn't all hard either. I suffered with nausea to begin with, but my onc upped my antiemetics and that really took care of it, which was a pleasant surprise. There really are some great anti nausea drugs available now. Fatigue was probably the biggest issue for me. As I had treatment every two weeks, I found I had a good week (the off week) when I felt pretty normal, and a bad week when I was fatigued and tired. I often spent a day or two in bed after an infusion, so I made sure I made use of my good week, doing jobs I needed to get done and planning fun things to do, so I had something to look forward to when I wasn't feeling well during my bad week. The other issue with FOLFOX was the neuropathy. Both the acute (where you can't touch/drink anything cold) and the cumulative/peripheral (which didn't develop for me until the very end). The acute neuropathy wasn't too much of a bother, just a pain in the butt (excuse the pun) having to watch what I touched/drank. It tends to go away a few days after the infusion, so it wasn't too bad, but the cumulative/peripheral neuropathy took a few months after treatment finished to go away and got quite painful. Make sure you keep an eye on this and let your onc know if it is troubling you. That all said, chemo treats everyone differently and some people tolerate is a lot better than others. I hope it's nice to you. Regards Karen

[Karen_X]

Hi Sarah, I was also 27 when I was diagnosed with stage 2 bowel cancer. It was such a surprise to be told. It's definitely NOT something on the radar of a 27 year old young adult, is it?! I also had chemo (IV though, not oral) following my surgery. Six months of 5FU (the IV version of xeloda). I tolerated it fairly well. At first, I didnt notice any side effects at all! But the side effects were definitely cumulative for me. By the end of it, I was only working 4 days a week due to the fatigue and trying to control my nausea. In retrospect, I wish I had seen my onc about the nausea, because I am sure he would have been able to prescribe something to control it, but that's easy to say in retrospect! I hope it goes well for you Regards Karen

[Stace]

Hi Craig My name is Stacey, I too had stage three colon cancer I was diagnosed at age 29 after just having my second child. I had the port put in for chemo, I then had six weeks of continuous chemo and radiotherapy. After this step I had a six week break, I then had the bowel op to remove the tumour which of all the lymph nodes, I think there was 18 removed from memory only three were cancerous. I had to have a colostomy bag for nine months and then another six months of chemo after the bowel op. As far as the treatment went I found it very tiring, slightly nauseating but as was said earlier in another conversation the medications they put you on are fantastic, I used to take all of them!! I hate feeling sick! I also couldn't touch anything cold. This whole process you will be finding very daunting, plus having bub number two due anytime soon, you don't want to have to be dealing with this in your life right now. But draw strength from your family, that is what kept me going, I had to get better for my husband and kids as there was no way I was letting this awful disease take me away from them! You will need your rest, the best advice I can give is listen to your body, eat healthily, I found towards the end of my treatment I was having trouble with my blood levels but that's ok, its nothing to panic about it just means maybe having a weeks break and the whole thing dragging out a little longer, you will learn a lot from the nurses I asked so many questions and this website is fantastic. I wish you all the best on this journey, keep positive you will be fine!!Goodluck with bubba number two. If people offer you and your family support and help don't be too proud to accept it! Kind regards Stacey

[Stace]

Hi Craig My name is Stacey, I too had stage three colon cancer I was diagnosed at age 29 after just having my second child. I had the port put in for chemo, I then had six weeks of continuous chemo and radiotherapy. After this step I had a six week break, I then had the bowel op to remove the tumour which of all the lymph nodes, I think there was 18 removed from memory only three were cancerous. I had to have a colostomy bag for nine months and then another six months of chemo after the bowel op. As far as the treatment went I found it very tiring, slightly nauseating but as was said earlier in another conversation the medications they put you on are fantastic, I used to take all of them!! I hate feeling sick! I also couldn't touch anything cold. This whole process you will be finding very daunting, plus having bub number two due anytime soon, you don't want to have to be dealing with this in your life right now. But draw strength from your family, that is what kept me going, I had to get better for my husband and kids as there was no way I was letting this awful disease take me away from them! You will need your rest, the best advice I can give is listen to your body, eat healthily, I found towards the end of my treatment I was having trouble with my blood levels but that's ok, its nothing to panic about it just means maybe having a weeks break and the whole thing dragging out a little longer, you will learn a lot from the nurses I asked so many questions and this website is fantastic. I wish you all the best on this journey, keep positive you will be fine!!Goodluck with bubba number two. If people offer you and your family support and help don't be too proud to accept it! Kind regards Stacey

[Craig_Bartlett]

Hi all, Thank for your comments. It is nice to get so many responses. I had the first Chemo last week...... Wednesday was spent in the hospital being hooked up to all the Chemo bags etc. Then sent home with the pump to keep another chemo injecting into the port for 2 more days. I felt the effects of the Oxaliplatin that same day in my jaw. Although not severe was certainly uncomfortable. The by the evening of the Wednesday I was not feeling too bad and but was tired and slept from 7:30 pm through to the morning around 7am. So going OK at this stage. Thursday was no so bad either until the evening when my body started to feel the effects of the chemo. I took all the anti nausea meds etc but nothing stopped the next 24hrs of body and mind poisoning from this Chemo. I surely did not expected to be hit so hard... Friday the pump was finally removed from me and I hoped the symptoms would start relieving quickly. My mind was an aching cloud and my body was feeling very similar. I felt the common symptoms along with all body pain and a completely unfocused mind with unstable emotions. I have never been like that ever. It was Sunday afternoon before I started to regain my true self back again...... A midday 2 hour nap then I awake to my surprise with the my mind back in place and my body feeling as close to alive again. It was like waking from a horrible 4 day nightmare, with the difference being I remembered all the undesirable details. Today I am feeling pretty normal however a little lethargic and carrying on working. My poor wife did her best to take care of me. The nurse even commented that this round has really hit me hard. The Oncologist mentioned I may deal with the next round better as my body would have healed more from the previous surgeries and the take home pump dose will be slightly lower. Not looking forward to the second round..... But no choice I guess. We are expecting our little girl to arrive any day now. Glad I am feeling better for it. Thanks. Regards, Craig.