Hi Darlene,   I know a few people now that have found out about bowel cancer from the home testing kits. While it's never great news finding out you have cancer, hopefully they've managed to catch this early and you will have a number of treatment options.   I'm not too sure what the state of your lungs is, so it's going to be hard for anyone here to know more.   As far as the endoscopy/colonoscopy goes, I guess you'll just need to discuss this your doctors. If the state of your lungs is bad and they need to wait for them to heel, maybe they'll choose to use a different scan. Say a CT scan and then give you some chemotherapy, while your lungs heal. I'm speculating here. Best of luck and make sure you let us know how it goes!   -s     ... View more

Hi butterfly, I am so very sorry to hear your story. How painful for you.  I was diagnosed with bowel cancer when I was 40 too. I have been lucky enough to have two children.   How are you going? Are you ok?   -s   ... View more

Hi Journeyman, Thank you for joining and sharing your journey. I hope you are feeling better.   -s ... View more

Hi Thriver,   My chemotherapy treatment was FOLFOX, of which  Oxaliplatine is part of the treatment.  The main side effect is neuropathy. I've given a link below which will hopefully help answer some of your questions.  Let me know how you go   https://www.eviq.org.au/medical-oncology/colorectal/adjuvant-and-neoadjuvant/1211-colorectal-adjuvant-capox-xelox-capecitabi/patient-information#other-treatment-information   -sch ... View more

Hi Belinda56, I'm very sorry to hear about your stage 3 cancer. I'm glad that you've made a start on your therapy already. If you are feeling down and you are struggling to cope, you need to seek/ask for help. You could speak to your oncologist. That would be a good start. They may ask you to talk to your GP for a referral (I actually have no idea personally) . If it's easier/faster to make contact with your GP, then go with that. Your GP might be able check with oncologist if required. My feelings and hope are with you. You can do this.   -s ... View more

Hi Pauline_50,   I'm sorry to hear about your cancer and the difficulties that you are having. What are the problems you are having with people who are treating? I mean, I get that people can be quite insensitive, so I'm not doubting you at all.  I just meant specific issues.   -s   ... View more

Hi Antan, Congratulations on the clear results. Any it looks like it has healed really well. Well done!!   -s   ... View more

Hi, I'm sorry to hear about your cancer and also breaking up with your gf. A double loss like this always makes everything so much harder. How long ago were you diagnosed with cancer? What have the doctors told you about what your treatment options are? What stage is the cancer?   I think giving your x-gf a call and let her know what has happened and what your situation is would be a good idea. But you might want to talk to her about how she feels about the situation. It might not be how you think it might be.   Do have family to spend your time with?   -s ... View more

Hi CURLA,   I am sorry to hear about your husband. You've come to the right place. As you mentioned, I had 12 rounds of chemo, but I also had fair bit of surgery. I also have a significant amount of monitoring and scopes each year for the rest of my life, but hey, life goes on.   I'm not too sure that there is a magic list of things that you can do for your partner. That's going to depend your individual set of circumstances, but one thing I would advise is to be present. Listen, talk, get angry, cry and laugh together.   There are many people here who have to deal with treatment beyond their 12 or 18 rounds of chemo and also many others who have helped support partners and family member who have gone through ongoing treatment.   Best of luck.   -s ... View more

Hi,   I'm sorry to hear about your Dad's bowel cancer. I had stage 2 bowel cancer, so I'm not too sure that my advice is 100% what you are looking for. Keeping up with the exercise is a really good thing. It will help him deal with the side effects of his treatment.   Hopefully someone who has tried the complementary therapy for bowel cancer can help you. https://www.cancer.org.au/assets/pdf/understanding-complementary-therapies   -s       ... View more