Living with colorectal cancer - Meet others & come say hi

@michelle74 Hi I'm happy you found us here on connect. Cecum cancer is rare. You are so lucky they found your cancer early. It is typically not found till stage 4 and then it's terminal. God bless.
Yes I agree being stressed after being diagnosed. It has taken me personally 3 yes to calm down and try to get back to normal. But I was also diagnosed with follicular lymphoma a blood cancer 1 week later . So my stress got a extra dose of stress.
I call it double trouble.
Interesting you say dairy allergy cause I never liked milk it always bothered my stomach. I had lots of bloating after eating for most of my life..
Did the Dr's ever say what could of caused the cecum cancer?
Also do you have any relatives with Colon cancers?
I had a great uncle die from cecum cancer at the same age I was s diagnosed 54 yrs old.
Did the drs also run a lynch system test on you?
Your CEA levels are good. My run higher than yours. 2.4 is my average.
I like you had a flat polyp in my cecum with a stage 1 cecum cancer. They removed 12 inches of my colon, plus 20 lymph nodes.. I get blood work every 6 months. Plus CT scans every 6 or 12 months depending how my follicular lymphoma is behaving
I go back for my next check up in March.
Thanks again for finding us.
If you want to keep in touch with how your doing would love to share what I can with you.
Jackie

so this will be a longer reply. lol

I believe personally that food allergies contributed to my cancer. I was told it was "environmental". I remember being super constipated my entire life. it wasnt until my kids were born (2007 & 2009) and I saw my daughter going thru the same thing at age 5 that I decided to find out why. my GO is wonderful. she sent me to the immunologist but the problem with allergy testing is you kinda need to know what you're allergic to. I did not. I was tested for the "majors ". I didn't like her response. for instance she said I'm allergic to all bell peppers but I'm not, really it's only green. the immunologists I saw also paints food groups with one big brush. anyway, I then sent my hair follicles to a lab in the UK. based on the report they sent back, I compared the %reaction levels and went with that. this year was far more useful than my allergist's. armed with these results, I went back to confirm. I'm allergic to all the proteins in dairy, egg white, GREEN bell peppers, interestingly I'm also allergic to flax, psyllium husk, oatmeal and barley, millet and a few other grains. and a few other spices that I don't worry about. knowing this i stay away from Metamucil. every single doctor tells you to take that when you're constipated. now I know why I felt like it was killing me.
in the midst of my testing is when I saw my GI guy and he told me i have IBS and (now) diverticulitis. then came my scope with several polyps discovered in my adenum. he removed them then I had my 3 yr follow up only to be diagnosed with cancer.
a fee months after my first colonoscopy I told my dad to get checked out. he'd been very I'll and receiving blood transfusions every few months. cecum cancer. stage 3. but he was 80. he had surgery he refused chemo was given the all clear nearly 3 yrs later (August 23 the same day I was diagnosed)
my father is old school and secretive. his biggest fear is cancer. I had to speak to my aunt. she told me the Dallaire side (my dad's side) all get some form of organ cancer.
I then saw a genetics counsellor (I live in Canada otherwise I'd never be able to afford any of this, these are all included in our provincial health care plans). yes i wasbtested for Lynch (all tumors in Canada are automatically tested for that) . i dont have it.
the "family" history, at best, is a trend according to them. where I live there is a higher rate of colon cancer.
it's interesting because my dad's cousin (genetically, they are siblings) has celiac which led to colon cancer. this is why early on I thought I had celiac and switched to a gluten free diet which helped alot and why I went did allergy testing to begin with. my doctor still want me to eat GF but i simply avoid all those grains.2 au
all this knowledge I now have helps my kids. actually I have just yanked hair out of both the kids and I'm sending it to the lab Monday. their allergy appointments are on March 11. I'd like to at least solve some bowel issues before they need to be removed from them.
in my "line" I'm the only one with any kind of cancer. my cousins have all been checked as has my sister and everyone's clear.
I joined thus group because I put up a wall when I was diagnosed, I dealt with everyone else's emotions...people visiting and just sitting on my sofa crying. crying. I am the strong positive person everyone wants in their life. nothing gets me down. my husband took 2 weeks off work to ... freak out when I was diagnosed, I did not. I went to work. every day. i didn't know how to deal with the diagnosis so... I compartmentalize. for me, knowing i had/have cancer is easy. not knowing [for another 2.5 yrs] if i STILL have it is the most difficult thing for me. this week, my walls have crumbled and I need to repack my emotions and move on. i am glad that the stress and anxiety are normal. i thought there was somethung wrong with me. yes, i see the irony in that statement.
have a great day and thank you for reading, listening.

thank you. I appreciate your reply. it's helpful to know my feelings are normal. as silly as that sounds. I'm not a patient person and I definitely don't handle the unknown well. I'm the kid who searched the house high and low, unwrapped all the presents and rewrapped them at Christmas. hahahaha

@michelle74 To help with my stress I started going to the gym. Which i have taken off from doing the last 2 months UGH.. I need to get dressed right now and go.
Now is the Livestrong program offered in Canada? They offer a lot things for people with or who have had cancer. Like 12 weeks free exercise course with special cancer trained exercise Trainers. That really helped me last year..

That really helped rebuild my confidence and lowered my stress.

Here is there website..
https://www.livestrong.org/
Now everything I have read typically cecum cancer, is normally found in people in their 70 and 80's .

I never been tested for allergies but my kids have. My youngest son had problems with constipation as a child. But I was bad when I was young raising kids. The only time I would see the Dr is when I was put on a gurney. I despise going to the dr with a deep and utter passion. So I never went for anything. Now I took my kids all the time to see Dr's.. LOL.. But I seldom went. My kids were always sick so taking care of them more than I could handle at time. Between allergies, learning disabilities, broken bones, lacerated livers and numerous wipe outs on their bikes. There was no time for me.
Plus I ran my own store front company and took care of my Mom and Grandma.. Well let's just say my Stress had stress and that stress had stress and that stress had stress.

I was told a huge contributing factor in both my cancers was the combination of stress and something in my environment. I do not have lynch syndrome either.

Even with my Mom dying at 59 from Endometriosis cancer and one my Grandfather's from bladder cancer and the other from liver cancer.
Cancer does run in my family. But not that they can find as genetic mutation.

I think you are just going to be fine and don't have to worry I am just over 3 yrs and feel great.. Now if I could just loose the 15 pounds I gained through all of this stressing , I will be back to my old self. 🙂
Keep in touch..
Jackie

Hi @michelle74,

It doesn’t sound silly at all! When coping with any health setback, we tend to forget that it takes a toll not only on the body, but also our emotions and state of mind – and more often than not, the way we feel mentally, can play a huge role in the recovery process. I came across this great Mayo Clinic page about "Cancer survivors: Managing your emotions after cancer treatment” https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cancer/in-depth/cancer-survivor/art-20047129
Take a look, I’d really like to hear back from you.

thank you. wow, yes that sums up what's going on in my head right now.

I don't know about livestrong but i'm going to contact the canadian cancer society to find out! thanks for that!

My name is Brett and I have Stage IV colon cancer. I am 34 years old. I was diagnosed 16 months ago. I’ve had over 25 rounds of chemo. I’m still working full time. Luckily. Living with cancer is tough. I’m lucky enough to have amazing wife/caregiver by my side. We are expecting our first child in June. When I was at my lowest of lows she was there to pick me up. I guess what I’m trying to say is I’m here fighting my ass off and I’m thankful for everyday. Everyday is truly a blessing. No matter how sick I am I find that guiding light. May you all continue to fight! Be strong!

Hi Brett, I love your attitude! I also have stage 4 colon cancer. I was diagnosed as stage 2 in 2015 and had it spread to stage 4 in 2017. Luckily, I am currently NED and have been for about a year. Living with this disease is tough. I am 57 years olds though... I can’t imagine dealing with this at your age. Congrats on welcoming a little one to your life soon. We have to move on amd live life! There are so many success stories now for people with this disease.

Hi Brett! You are amazing. Everyone needs this strong spirit. We got to fight. Be strong brave with positive. Praying for you and family. So glad to know that your wife is a great care giver. There are a lot of cancer survivors. My Mom is one of them. It is truly blessings. We are here to support everyone. keep fighting. Best wishes, Soul