Thanks.  I'll have a look through these tonight! ... View more

Practise makes perfect. ... View more

I hear you. ... View more

Hi tina80,   Congratulations on getting so far in both beating cancer and in recovering from the effects of chemo. It is quite an achievement to get through the surgery and the chemo. I am surprised that if you had stomach pains and blood in your stool for sometime, that they didn't do a colonscopy a lot sooner. But I'm no doctor.   I was 40  (I just looked it up - almost 2 years ago!) when I was diagnosed with bowel cancer, and had a total colectomy and 12 cycles (6 months) of chemo. My last month of chemo involved some nasty side effects. Most of the feeling has come back to my fingers (most, not all) and I have about 70% of the feeling in my feet. Oh well. One of the things that has been proven to help with neuropathy in your feet, is walking and running. This really does help.   Yes, the fatigue is still there. Glad I'm not the only one here with it still. I was beginning to wonder...   As for the bowel habits, in my experience I've find that I had to play around with a few variables. Eating different foods and different amounts of fibre in the food. Timing when you eat Training your bowel I found that some foods are processed at different speeds in my bowel and I'll need to go to the toilet quite quickly. Work out what these are and avoid them if you need to sit on the train or attend a work meeting. For example, I love weetbix. However, they are "in and out". WIthin 20 minutes of eating them, I'm on the loo.   Work out what foods are processed at different speeds, and then if you have a meeting in an hour, avoid foods that are going to be processed quickly OR eat them well before your meeting starts. This way you can try and time and plan your toilet breaks/stops.   Let me conflude by saying that I believe in you. I believe that you can strive for more improvements. I think you will find improvements by exercising where and how you can. This might be just be by walking. Also try some meditation and doing things that you enjoy.   Let me know if you have further questions. -sch     ... View more

Hi LeeRoy, This is tough.  While I haven't been exactly where you are before, I've been very ill and thought that the end of my life as I knew it was here. Do you have family nearby? Where are you based?   -sch ... View more

Hi Filafrog, They talk to friends and family, they  join community support groups and they join up to support groups like this one. Some of us here have had cancer,  some have cared for people with cancer and others have done both. While this is an online community,  the reality is I do care about your story.   What can you tell me about your husband? How are you?   -sch   ... View more

A big congragulations Marg2!! Well done on being in a position to post on here 8 years later! There has been so many improvements in diagnosing and treating medical conditions, that sometimes it's hard to believe how much they have improved. Absolutely amazing.   I'm so glad that you're here to chat with us. Which region are you from?   -sch ... View more

Hi StayPositive, Let me think back (briefly) to my diagnoses and the rational I went through and see if that helps, because we're similar enough.   I was diagnosed following a colonoscopy and was referred to a specialist surgeon. The original diagnosis was that the cancer was caught early, and that I may not even have to have chemo. They would see after surgery.   After my surgery, they found the tumour had made it through the wall of the large bowel and was nudging up against 1 or 2 lymph nodes, but they were unsure if it had made it into the lymph node.   Prior to my surgery my surgeon had presented me with a number of options for treatment. Keep my large bowel and CT scan every 3 months for 2 years. He acknowledged that statistically if the cancer was going to come back, it would come back in the same place. Remove the large bowel and regular CT scan. Remove the large bowel and chemotherapy for 6 months (12 cycles) after I had recovered from surgery. Like yourself, this was only a 2% drop in risk. Because I was young (OK - I'm calling 40 young) when diagnosed with bowel cancer and because I have lynch syndrome (HNPCC) I elected to take a reasonably aggressive stance because the chances of it coming back were high. 2% drop in the risk of cancer, given my circuimstances seem pretty damn good to me, because my of age and situation and because the risk of the cancer coming back in 5 or 10 years time was quite high.   I hope this helps you.   -sch               ... View more

Hi PeterK, Just to add to what Rick has already said, there is a getting started guide on helping otheres over here; https://onlinecommunity.cancercouncil.com.au/t5/New-Start-here/Get-started-on-helping-others/m-p/29826   Many off us here having lived through it, want to share our experiences with others with a view of "if what we share or advice we can give, in any way, makes a difference to some body else no matter how small, then that can only be a good thing".   -sch ... View more

Hi StayPositive,   Did the surgeons feel as though it would be beneficial? Have you discussed with your oncologist/doctor (the surgeon my have done so already)   If the specialists don't feel as though there's any benefit, I'm not too sure I would put myself through chemo for the hell of it. Having said that, a15% reduction is a 15% better chance of not needing further treatment after chemo. If you decide to have chemo, stay in close contact with your doctor and if you have symptoms you can always stop the treatment, as RGB mentioned.   Chemo sucks, having cancer sucks worse.   What stage is your cancer? Stage 1 or 2a from your description   -s   ... View more