I was diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer in June 2022. My tumor was quite large, 12 cm, so the surgeon wanted me to do light chemo and radiation first. Radiation 5 days a week and chemo pill daily for five weeks. No bad side affects to speak of. I was exhausted the week following my last radiation. Waited a month, had surgery, loop ileostomy… and now I’m in round 7 of 12 of Folflox. I’m doing okay, the last round I started really feeling it. Super tired mostly. Overall, it’s not bad, I almost feel guilty that my body seems to handle it better than some. I will admit though, I feel it more each round, but still not what I thought it would be. I’ve not had nausea or hair loss, but others that I have in treatment with have occasional nausea and mild hair loss. The most significant side affect has been exhaustion. It’s manageable though.

I was diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer in June 2022. My tumor was quite large, 12 cm, so the surgeon wanted me to do light chemo and radiation first. Radiation 5 days a week and chemo pill daily for five weeks. No bad side affects to speak of. I was exhausted the week following my last radiation. Waited a month, had surgery, loop ileostomy… and now I’m in round 7 of 12 of Folflox. I’m doing okay, the last round I started really feeling it. Super tired mostly. Overall, it’s not bad, I almost feel guilty that my body seems to handle it better than some. I will admit though, I feel it more each round, but still not what I thought it would be. I’ve not had nausea or hair loss, but others that I have in treatment with have occasional nausea and mild hair loss. The most significant side affect has been exhaustion. It’s manageable though. There is a guy that has my same treatment day and he originally had colorectal cancer, his treatment was different from mine, he had oral chemo and radiation, then surgery, but no chemo after. He was good for two years and on one of his 6-month checkups, they found a spot on his lung. That really scared me. I was trying to do 8 rounds, not 12, but hearing his story changed my mind. I’ll gladly take the 12 rounds the surgeon and oncologist recommended. I don’t want a reoccurrence. My surgeon was more adamant than the oncologist, he clearly sees a high reoccurrence rate, even though it usually appears in other organs. Either way, the guy in treatment was my reason for doing the 12 rounds.