Colorectal cancer stage 3c: Need positive feedback

You can do this!! I was diagnosed with stage IV 2 1/2 years ago...NEVER thinking i would have cancer! I had a bowel resection, liver resection and several lymph removed, some clean, but most not. Got through the chemo - 5FU - although Oxalyplatin was hard on my nerve endings . My Dr stopped that after 6 treatments and I finished the 5 FU with all 12 doses. Since then I've had radiation for one spot to a lung, and just keep fighting. I also think diet and exercise and staying upbeat and positive helps. Best wishes - You are not alone!

Ty i know i am NOT alone but it sure feels like it. It is such a personal journey and a scary one. Who ever thought!

Hello there! Thank you for sharing your story. I have been wondering how many chemo treatments other Dr. Have been recommending. So far i have done 5 and my Dr. had recommended 8. Not sure I can handle that many, so it helps to know that your Dr. said 4 chemo. Sessions.
My Ayurvedic Dr. recommended that i follow the traditional medicine route but gave me the advice to "be strong". I took that to mean to be determined and brave. But for me it also means that i sometimes get to say that it is hard, when it's hard, that it is scarey when i'm scared. It's got to be ok to be honest with yourself and your people and your pets and keep on taking care of your needs and asking for help where it is needed.
Because of the location of the constriction in my colon- just proximal to the rectum, i had 31 radiation sessions. Be strong and cry when its helpful! Karen

@dianemarcia I agree it a very scary journey. I remember when I was told I had cecum cancer. I hyperventilated. Then 2 weeks later they told me I Follicular Lymphoma. a second cancer. I lost my breath and hyperventilated again. I never hyperventilated in my life.
I think the scariest part is the Unknown part of the journey.
It's really hard to stay cool calm and collect. It has taken me 3 yrs to get back to normal. And to also realize I am not dying anytime soon. I just need to be watched like a hawk by a team of Doctors.
You need to remain strong. Do not do the Dr Google search looking for answers. It will only make the situation worse. If you need support the best and most positive site I found on the internet is Mayo Connect. The other cancer sites I went too. depressed me beyond human understanding. By the time I got done reading everything on my 2 cancers. I had put the coroner on speed dial. Seriously it makes you nuts reading all of that.
You will be fine.
You may also want to contact the Livestrong organization.
https://www.livestrong.org/
They have many free resources that will help build you up to keep you positive too. I went through their YMCA 12 exercise program it was very good and helped me refocus.
I wish you the best. Let us know how you feeling from time?
Jackie

I am a 12 year stage 3 rectal cancer survivor. I was 39 yrs old at diagnosis with no family history. Talk about “who woulda thought”!! Nothing short of a miracle I even found it. I went through surgery, chemo, radiation, then chemo again. I had a temporary ileostomy for 6 months. Chemo was crazy rough on me. At my 5 year cancer free mark, a PET scan showed stage 1 triple negative breast cancer. There aren’t words to describe what hearing that diagnosis was like. So, after a few weeks of being devastated, I put on my big girl panties and began my second battle. Lumpectomy, chemo, radiation. Lost my hair and eyebrows and eyelashes with this chemo. I will be a 7 year survivor this July. So my message to you is...it’s rough. Definitely not for sissies. 😉 But the battle is worth the survival. Take things one day at a time. If you can’t do that, take them an hr at a time. If you can’t do that, take them a minute at a time. I wish you the best!

Yes indeed felt like alone. I just wanted to be alone so many times

Hi @annejacobsen, please accept my tardy welcome to Connect. We've had a few members, like @travelgirl, who were diagnosed with 2 primary cancers. Several members have spoken about the possible connection between colorectal cancer and breast cancer here:

- Connection between colon and breast cancer https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/connection-between-colon-and-breast-cancer/

I can imagine you have to take one day at a time, even one minute at a time getting through the treatments of not one, but 2 cancers. But you're here 12 and 7 years later to tell your story. Thank you!

@annejacobsen Thank you for sharing your story. Cancer changes us in many ways. It seems to knock us down but our natural survival instincts kick in, i think. When it feels like our world is lost and no hope is in site. We have that way where one day after laying around, we bounce back, and we become fierce again.
We are truly resilient to so many things and cancer is one of them.
It's about our state of mind and our being.
It's the Hope, Faith and Healing as Mayo Clinic promotes. That is exactly what sets us free and allows our bodies to heal.
God Bless and Thank you for sharing you success story..
Jackie

I too have experienced 2 cancers. While being treated for atrial fibrillation , and testing , a malignant tumor was found on large colon. More cat scans revealed a nodule on thyroid ( malignant.) Malignant tumor on colon removed and after discovering many polyps much of large colon removed. Watching thyroid tumor to check for growth. To have ultra sound in 3. Weeks at mayo.??

Wow, @1943. Incredible to find another member who has had 2 different primary cancers. Am I correct in understanding that at this time treatment for the thyroid cancer is watch and wait?