IKickedIt

Many thanks to you IKickedIt! your words of encouragement and faith I am sure have touched many lives. Thank you staying engaged in the community even though you are no longer in active treatment. We need all the positive energy we can get!

Hi friend, just checking in, I posted an update, I had a bad reaction last week to chemo, but it's going away. I know everyone had bad experiences & get thru them, I admire them! It was a doozy, but I'm remaining positive & pray for all going thru pain. I hope ur doing ok! Hope u had a happy Easter!

Congrats on the results of your PET scan! Wonderful to hear of the clean results! You go girl!

I still haven't figured out how to respond to a post on my wall. I wanted to say thank you for all of the invaluable information that you have shared with me.

Hi Hi; Read what you wrote on the after effects. You weren't told. They lied to me. No way to change history but there are ways to go forward. My lifestyle is waaaaay different than yours. Not saying better because I am struggling like a bear but I have actually found relief from Mom Nature and her curatives. I went 100% for raw & living food for 3 years. I still eat a whole lot of uncooked dishes. I make use of herbs over pharmaceutical pills and potions and I am, honestly a heck of a lot better. It is utterly amazing how Mom Nature heals (but she will not adhere to your rush to get well) without demanding tradeoffs like Big Pharma does. I have a book about raw & living foods http://www.etsy.com/shop/rawmaven and there are some few others I can recommend to you if you have interest. Honestly, there are way weird things you can do which are simple and effective. Best wishes. BTW, the docs were about 13 years behind me in their diagnosis ... read my story

Hi there,
I wrote u a comment!! Thx you for sharing & your advice & insight!!

Slow, steady, and determined...that's how I feel after reading your response. And it's so interesting what you say about worrying about the stray potential cancer cell taking up residence somewhere. I've been asking myself what I would say if the oncologist recommends something other than an aggressive strategy. I very much am the sort of person who can deal with something as long as I'm prepared for what the 'something' is. And you're right, I want those extra decades. Things seem to happen SO fast, then you wait and wait. The folks who have told me their experience with stage IIIa have been enormously helpful. I was caught off guard with hearing about the lymph node involvement which of course leads me to question everything the docs tell me. I can't tell you what a positive influence you've already been in my life! I would VERY much appreciate input as to what questions I should ask the oncologist tomorrow. There's so much I don't know about regarding this disease even though I'm doing a crash course in education. LOL

Hi Ikickedit! I was JUST diagnosed with StageIIIA rectal cancer at 44 so we are quite similar. SO excited to see someone who's safely on the other side and thriving. Thanks for staying on here to share with those of us in early days of this battle.

I just read your quote in the 'Beginners Guide To Cancer' and you articulated my feelings so exactly! It is SO foreign to put myself first. And it's a struggle for my family - they are not used to it nor am I.

Thank you so much for your answers. Even though I finished chemo in early 2012 I still have problems and wasn't too sure how common they were. Thanks again.

Thank you for your response to my chemo brain question. It helps to not feel like I'm going crazy!

Wonderful you beat it! God bless.

Thank you! :-)

Thanks for the encouragement. Hope your neuropathy is resolving itself , that part scares me as I am an artist and my hands really important to my existence. I made them reduce the oxaliplatin dose (took a hissy fit) and all imhave this time is a slightly numb tongue. (only had one treatment tho) not even the cold thingy. So keeping my not numb fingers crossed. Thank you for being there to support us newbies!

Thank you for talking about the muscle soreness and aches after you finished chemo. I thought I was crazy. I have the exact same symptoms. I feel better knowing it isn't something serious. My doctor just sort of blew it off it when I asked him. Thanks again. I will also be so happy when I can feel my hands and feet again.

My husband was diagnosed Stage IIIA same as you in August. He had 9" of his colon removed, the tumor did not grow outside the colon and he had 1 out of 25 lymph nodes affected. He his halfway thru his chemo treatments. He receives an IV once every 3 weeks and then is on 2 weeks of chemo pills, then a week off. He has been doing pretty well with treatments, does get fatigued easily. After his IV for about 5 days, he can't drink anything cold, it burns his mouth, has to be at room temperature. My question is, what can we expect after he is finished with treatments? Follow up etc? How long have you been cancer free?

Thank you iKickedit...it really helps hearing from other people who have been thru this. This has opened my eyes a lot, it is also teaching me some things. I have never been one to like ppl waiting on me, or taking care of me....Its hard for me to be on the receiving end...so this is teaching me how.
So far the worst is wearing the colostomy, I've gotten kinda use to it but cant stand it when it gets dirty or messy due to diarrhea...lol, funny since it is a sh*t bag.
My bag is only temporary, suppose to have proceedure reversed after chemo and everything looks good.
My appetite is not that good....I get hungry, but then don't know what to eat because nothing sounds , looks, or taste good. So far I eat a lot of Chinese, cashews, turkey, jerky, yogurt. Then when i do eat, its in small quanities .I have a Vitamix that I will start juicing soon...but just taking it slow til I know how the chemo will be.
My husband Jim, and family have been a great support group. Jim has been my rock, my strenght. He keeps me going and makes me feel beautiful and loved thru this all. He dotes on me, which is hard for me... I dont want to be a burden to him or any of my family...but I know this is just me feeling that way. I have some good friends who have been there since the beginning that have given me support and strenght too.
But finding this site has been a help, because ppl like you w/ your stories of survival gives me hope. Thats what I look for in this site, the survival stories.
I do believe that I am going to survive, that I am going to be like you and the other survivors, that I will be a miracle, an inspiration, and a testimony that God will and can use, like all of you to help others.
Everyday is a new day, with a new me...I keep telling myself this everyday. Thank you again! Hope to make some lifetime friends, to bring some good to this.

I like your username, "IKickedit".
Reading stories on these sites is sometimes scary. but your story is very similar to mine. Thanks for sharing.

Your answer to kathycompton was equally as frank as mine and after going through the Gates of Hell to where we both have emerged with victory, the colonoscopies are a small price to pay for surviving. Especialy knowing that the colonoscopies identified in both of us pre-cancerous polyps that had we elected to not have the colonscopies would put us in dire health risk again..at best. And nobody that hass been where we were wants to re-do that ordeal for ourselves or loved ones. Hope kathycompton now has what she need to know to elect to have that colonoscopy. Keep the faithmand the colonoscopies going for many, many years. Best.

Thanks for responding to my questions

Thank you so much for your response. I too, am full of anxiety I have been since Dec.19. I went in for a cat scan and a pet scan this morning. I will meet with oncologist on Thursday. I have a binder ready with 7 pages full of questions for him.
I have ?s for you is regarding work, did you work prior to your diagnosis and if you did, were you able to continue working thru treatment? I have heard everyone response differently some are able to while others are not. Did you have health insurance and if so were they helpful with paying for all the treatments and meds related to cancer? I will be sending you my email address and we can text as well if that is ok with you? I have my phone with me all the time. Thank you again.

Hello, I just read over your story. Almost the same as mine. My primary doc was treating me for an internal hemmroid back in Oct. I still wasn't feeling better so had another doc appointment with different doc( thank God), he sent me to the sig clinic where Dr. B went in to look at the lower colon area, said everything looks clear lets make a u-turn and see about that hemmroid, that's when I new something was wrong. He started taking pictures and did a biopsy. That was on dec19 (will never forget that date). And so here I wait, I have no idea just how large this thing is.... Surgeon did an exam with finger on dec 20 and said too big for surgery, we must do chemo, radiation then surgery for removal then a bag. I go into tomorrow for a pet scan to see if it has spread on, Friday I have colonoscopy and ultra sound. I too am 47.... Wonder how did my primary miss this? I go every year for my female exams, just had one in June 2012. When I went to her in Oct she was like no worries, it's an internal hemmroid. Ha, no worries echoes in my mind.... I hope you will keep in contact and share more of your experience with me. I have so many questions. God Bless, and thank you.

Thanks for being with us and sharing / helping with others. we, and they appreciate it. Hope your doing well!

Greg P
3x survivor
Team WhatNext

I just saw your post on the question regarding loss of appetite. I, too, suffered from blinding first bite pain with FolFox, which also made me question the value of eating. I gained all my weight after they stopped the Oxaliplatin (after the 6th round) and after chemo stopped. And yes, I also have some residual neuropathies - pain in my toes, and a loss of fine motor skills with my hands. I'm now 4 1/2 years after chemo.

(And don't get me started cursing about that pump, and the little "bzzt" every time another drop of chemo was infused.)

Glad you are doing well! So am I.

Good morning!

It looks like you are continuing to do well. Thank you so much for all that you are doing on WhatNext to help and support others going through cancer.

A couple things I noticed that I thought might interest you:
1) Did you know you can "follow" people on the site so every time they post an update or ask a question you will see it on your WhatNext wall. Just click the follow button to the right of their picture. I know it is not obvious right now. We hope to make it more obvious with some changes we have coming out in Jan.
2) Speaking of pictures - I am sure people would love to see a picture of you or something you think is special. You can change your avatar (e.g., picture) by simply clicking on your picture.
3) I see you shared several experiences but did not complete any of the standard questions (e.g., impact to daily life etc). Did you know you can edit your experiences simply by clicking on the icons?

Thanks again for being a part of the WhatNext family. Happy holidays.

David