Hi Cat, An alternative medicine is a medicine or treatment that hasn't been proven to work or be effective. Or perhaps it just hasn't been tested? If it had been tested and proven to be effective, then I guess it wouldn't be an alternative medicine any more.   If you want consider using an alternative or complementary treatment, I'd encourage you to look into it and discuss it with your treatment team. You would want to make sure that the two treatments wouldn't adversely effect each other, and your doctor/treatment-team are the best people to advise you of that. https://www.cancer.org.au/news/news-articles/new-statement-on-alternative-and-complementary-therapies/ https://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatments-and-side-effects/complementary-and-alternative-medicine/complementary-and-alternative-methods-and-cancer/talking-to-doctor-about-cam.html   I suspect that a lot of these treatments are only available in Mexico because the medical industry is heavily regulated. Operating outside of the regulated environments might allow them to operate? I'm speculating here.   Best of luck. -s ... View more

Hi CDee, I'm sorry to hear about your Dad and what he's going through (and what you're going through). My father had bowel cancer.  By the time it was discovered the cancer had already metasised to his liver, kidneys and I think his stomach, but he still survived for many years. It was a long time ago now and I guess the small details also fade with time (and probably for self preservation). But even if I could remember, I'm sure that my Fathers symptoms could be very different to your fathers depending on so many factors, for example, where it has metasised to exactly.   If it is important to you for your father to see you married and it's not practical to reschedule, perhaps you could hold an earlier smaller cermoney, sooner rather than later, and take photos. You might then choose to take those photos with you to the later cermony. Just some thoughts.   Good luck, s -s ... View more

Hi Frankie,   I've been fortunate enough to not to have to do this. But I would like to offer my congratulations on passing the tests clear! Well done.   -s   ... View more

Hi SpunOut, Yep, that's truely a shit situation. (understatement there) I think that it's one of those things. Unless you've been there, noone else can ever really understand just how absolutely horrenduos the whole thing is. I feel for you, I really do.   A long time ago I was in a motor vehicle accident. When I woke up in hospital, the doctors told me I had 12 months to make most of my improvements, because after that they would severely taper off. The medical details I won't bore you with, but the end effect was that I had numerous disabilities, both cognitive and physically and my partner didn't want to deal with it any more, so she left too. I started to mentally prepare myself to spend the rest of my life in a nursing home. 12 months came and went and not a great deal had changed. I decided to ignore the statistics, and do what I could.   10 years of formal rehabilitation and more years of informal rehabilitation, and I'm getting back on my feet again. 2 years later and I 'm diagnosed with bowel cancer. F%ck 0ff. Someone upstairs has a really sick sense of humour.   I think that the medical profession is a wonderful thing, but I also think that sometimes they forget  that a person needs to have hope.   Mate, I hope you're still out there and reading this.   -sch   ... View more

Hi Melonie1988, I know this reply is somewhat late. I think this is a hard one, because this isn't something that you can easily dismiss. The only thing that I can think of is to find a distraction. For myself personally, I find that the best distraction is running/jogging. All my problems seem to fade away when I go for a good jog. Perhaps throw yourself into a new hobby? A good book? Enroll in a short course?   -sch   PS. How did the follow up go?   ... View more

Hi Johhnyslash,   I'm very sorry to hear that it has returned. It must be heart breaking after what you have already experienced going through the radiation and chemo therapies. How long ago did you finish these?   I'm glad that you've been able to use prior life experiences to help you with your current fight. Stay strong mate. Thinking of you.   -sch   ... View more

Hi Azjoetrucker, Congratulations! Chemo was bad enough, but I can't even imagine trying to also manage the effects of radiation therapy. A big congratulations there. I hope the symptoms ease up. Keep us posted.   -sch ... View more

Hi LJB, There is evidence that exercise can help minimise the effects of nausea and chemotherapy induced neuropathy, and will also help with improved state of mind. Of course, the exercises that you can do and duration will largely depend on your personal circuimstances. So if you are able to, try and include some exercise in your daily life. https://www.nccn.org/patients/resources/life_with_cancer/exercise.aspx   I'd also recommend keeping on top of the nausea with anti-nausea tablets (your oncologist can prescribe these). For myself, taking the tablets meant that I was more likely to exercise, which in turn helped with the nausea.   -sch   ... View more

Hi debbru, I was a bit sore initially after having the portocath installed, but after a few days, you won't even know that it was there. I wouldn't go wacking it with anything hard, but I only had mine removed so I didn't have to go through the bother of having to get it flushed. -s ... View more

Hi LJB, About 18 months ago a tumour was found in my large bowel during a colonscopy. After surgery I underwent 12 rounds of FOLXFOX (folinic acid, fluorouracil (5FU) and  oxaliplatin).   It's my understand that most of the side effects are from the Oxaliplatin.   There are websites around that will list all of the potential side effects, but they are just that. Potential side effects. You are unlikely to have them all.   With each round of chemo, I found the side effects got a little bit worse. I personally had neuropathy, fatigue, a sore mouth, a couple of allergic reactions to the oxaliplatin and an infection. The infection was just an upper respitory infection that drove my body temperature to 38.6 degrees, which meant I had to go back to hospital for a couple of days. The pump was more just annoying than anything. No big deal there.   After round one, the only side effect was a slight tingling in the lips. After a couple more rounds, and then cold water felt like razor blades sliding down my throat. (tip: just drink warm water)   Through out all of this I managed to keep working full time (I'm early 40's and reasonably fit), and I have a young family.   Let me know if you have any other questions.   -sch       ... View more