Cancer stage 3c into six nodes (colon cancer)   Prognosis. With treatment three years maximun.Highly aggressive. Survival time 21 years and 4 months. Surviving survival is not easy, I had to be my own advocate and make sure that all long term surveilance was adheared to. Stay vigilant and survive. ... View more

Cancer stage 3c into six nodes   Prognosis. With treatment three years maximun.Highly aggressive. Survival time 21 years and 4 months. Surviving survival is not easy, I had to be my own advocate and make sure that all long term surveilance was adheared to. Stay vigilant and survive. ... View more

Sometimes survival just happens, I did everything my surgeon and oncologist suggested and have lived a life of moderation. Both doctors believed I would not get beyond three years. Next Jan 22 is my anniversary. I will reach 20 years still cancer free ex stage 3 c colon cancer . I wish you all well for Christmas and a cancer free future, Ron. ... View more

Hi Magagie,    I really doubt that any of us ever get back to a normal life. As a matter of fact I am not even sure I want to. During my normal life is when I developed cancer. Now in my life as a survivor I have learned so much about how to avoid becoming a cancer patient again. I doubt that in my normal life I ever gave more than a moments thought to those small niggling ailments that when awareness was thrust upon me turned out to be cancer. It was not just me either. I went to a well respected doctor . I told her I thought I had colon cancer. She told me I was too fat , lose weight and I will be fine. I asked if I could have a colonoscopy anyway . She asked me exactly what I didn't understand about too fat.  Several months later and a different doctor. You have a loose loop of colon , it just keepss filling and emptying , see me in three months , you will be fine. A few weeks later ,same doc. I have a major problem ...DO SOMETHING. He said ok ,just to cater to your paranoia I will put you in for a scope. Woke up from the scope . Turned out to be stage 3 c colon cancer into 6 nodes. Had an operation and chemo. This is my new life , not normal but as a survivor. I know what precautions I need to take and at what intervals. I never miss tests . I take notice of what my body tells me and I make sure I pass that information on to doctors. Last january I started year 20 of survival. It has not been perfect and a lot of my problems stem from long term side effects from treatment. BUT no cancer.  I am treating my long term side effects in the same way and I am surviving them as well.   One of the things I hear so often from survivors who have just been turned loose after treatment is I feel abandoned , no one is doing anything for me. Please do it for yourself. Make notes , ask questions of your docs about what you should expect about your ongoing treatment and then hold them too it.. Best wishes to everyone Ron. ... View more

    Hi everyone. I am a colon cancer survivor. I was diagnosed with an aggressive stage 3 c tumour of my transverse and descending colon in Jan 1998. I had surgery and a year of chemo therapy. I have been cancer free ever since. On jan 22nd 2018 I will end my 20th year of survival. I feel for you who have just finished treatment. Will it come back ,am I cured , How will I know?   Sadly , for most of us , we will never know. I am not being harsh , just honest. To illustrate I will tell you a bit more of my journey.  I was treated with a chemo agent called 5Flourouricil. I had it via a canular in the back of alternate hands for nearly a year. Every fortnight It was enhanced with a drrug called levamisole, 9 tablets ,three a day , for three days. It was banned in the USA in 2001 for often fatal side effects and a belief that it did not really kill cancer. They know quite a bit more about it now because drug dealers in the US are using it to cut cocaine with some drastic side effects on users. I now suffer nephrotic syndrome of the kidneys , believed to be a side effect of the levamisole . My condition is auto -immune. Levamisole is in the family of drugs called immuno-modulators. I have auto immune peripheral neuropathy in both legs and left hand. I have auto-immune psoriatic arthritis as well as auto-immune hepatitis. A botched treatment for my kidneys also left me with type 2 diabetes and osteo-penia { prednisone is nearly as bad as chemo}  . My constant illness caused my marriage to fail so I have been living alone for over ten years. I am 67 and still work four days a week. Does the waiting ever stop? NO . I have been a survivor for twenty years. In that time no one has ever contacted me to see how I have been after having taken a banned agent. No one has asked why I am still alive. Why am I alive? because I became responsible for my own health.   I asked my doctor to refer me to a nephrologist after I was diagnosed with severe proteinurea. He told me to find one and he would send a referral. I did and picked a real dud ,he nearly killed me . I picked another who was about as much help. I finally picked a third and he is a gem. He is currently keeping me alive with cyclosporine twice a day. Stops the auto -immune disease but causes skin cancer. I finally ferreted out a good skin cancer doc. I lose a few pieces every year but he has kept the baddies at bay.. I haven't been so lucky with GP's. Unfortunately if you pass the exams with 51% they still call you doctor. I have just had a massive fight to get a colonoscopy thru the public system (who can afford private any more?) . I was supposed to have it done (scope no 11 for me) at three years which I was not happy about. It was eventually done at three years and six months. My New GI suggested that I had nothing to worry about until he removed four polyps , the biggest 11 mm. He has now told me to have scopes at no later than two yearly intervals.  That is why I am alive , because I would not go quietly away and die. That is my message to all survivors. Don't wait to die , don't wait on the medical agenda. Work out your own. If you are going to make it you have to live in survival mode. Learn all you can about your adversary. Ask lots of questions . Learn to edit the bull**bleep**. Maintain your vigilance and surveilance and never slack off.  I really do wish you all long cancer free lives just remember you are survivors you will probably always be jn the zone so keep your guard up. Hugs to all Ron. ... View more

   My best wishes to each of you going thru treatment for colon cancer. I was diagnosed with an aggressive stage 3 c tumour into 6 of 13 nodes. My surgeon and onc did not give me much chance for survival  . I was 48 at dx . I went thru surgery and 48 sessions of chemo over nearly a year. I am now 66 and nearly at the end of year 19 of survival still cancer free. 22nd of Jan I start year 20. My best wishes to you all ,survivors caregivers , friends and family. Surviving survival is not always easy but it beats the options. Ron. ... View more

Hi Carole , The secret to survival for me was compliance. They suggested ,I did it. There are break throughs happening all the time. To take advantage of them you need to survive. Not all long term survivors are cancer free. Quite a few ,like yourself , are holding it at bay .You do the best you can, you give the medicos a hard time and above all you survive. I have had no recurrence of the cancer but at the moment I am in nephrotic syndrome with my kidneys, they believe the chemo caused it years ago. I have been losing seven grams of protein thru my urine each day, 150mg is the max permissable loss. I am now taking cyclosporine which is an immuno suppressant used for heart and liver transplants. In three mos my protein loss has dropped from 7 to 2 grams. Survival is a full time job and it ain't easy...Hugs Ron. ... View more

Hi Cazza, Good luck with the treatment, I,ve just ended year 15 post stage 3c colon cancer. I was 48 at dx and had 48 weekly sessions of chemo after surgery. No home chemo in those days . I rocked up to the oncology clinic every Tuesday and had a bag of 5fu via canula in the back of the hand. every second week I took 9 tablets of levamisole over the three days after the 5fu. All the best Ron. ... View more

Hi Ian, Congrats on the clear scope. I had one in Nov ,only one small polyp. Ron. ... View more

I had a particularly bad flare whilst taking methotrexate for arthritis and kidney disease. I went to my rheumatologist and he checked his records. I reported similar problems the first time I was on mtx. He sent me to a neurologist who did nerve conductivity tests. He dxed moderate to severe sensori-motor peripheral neuropathy. He could give me no cause or any help for it. Ron. ... View more