Living with colorectal cancer - Meet others & come say hi

Hi Brenz, I had the surgery first. They removed the right side of the liver and most of the transverse and all of the ascending colon. I am close to finishing 12 rounds of chemo. The types of food I am able to hold down or taste is of all things instant mashed potatoes and stouffers Mac n cheese. LOL. I’m not able to eat meat or many sweets. Although, I was a heavy sweet eater prior to surgery. All of this happened very fast. I suffered from what was thought to be gallbladder pain for many years and no one was able to find a problem until it metastasized to the liver. Hope all goes well with your husbands surgery. His appetite may change again after the surgery. God bless and all my prayers for his recovery.

@colleenyoung Wow our group is growing. They all came to the right place for support. I wish everyone the best.

Indeed it is, @travelgirl. I'm glad you're here to offer understanding, guidance, tips and support.

Hi Colleen. I am currently on Vectibix while at the hospital and then go home with an infusion pump that infuses 5-FU over the next 46 hours. Then I get to disconnect. Since my treatments began in 2011 I've been on all the chemo drugs known to treat cMRC yet the nodules continue to grow. Thank God their not spreading. Once the cancer has become immune to one drug they switch to another. The Vectibix is my last hope. After that all I have left is clinical trials. I've been very lucky over the years with really no side effects at all. No nausea, no diarrhea, my hair fell out naturally so nothing there. Back in the beginning I got neuropathy in my hands and feet from I think Oxiplatin? Doctor changed drugs and after a few years it's more or less gone away. Living with cancer has certainly been a challenge. It's the having to go for chemo every other week that sometimes gets to me. No long vacations are ever in my plans. I am so blessed God put my wife, and caregiver, in my life. Without her and her support and positive attitude I'm sure I wouldn't be writing to you today. She has been through it all with me. Never even missed not one of my appointments. A true Earth Angel sent by God to look after me.

I am from Neenah, WI. I had 14 inches of colon removed 4-1-86. I am doing very well. I have colonoscopies every 5 years with no recurrence. I did not have chemo. I have had over 50 skin cancers including 2 melanomas and all of it has gone well with no chemo. Mayo Clinic keeps special records of my cancers because of my history. I hope everyone could do as well as I have done.

Hi Memorae12, and welcome to the Colorectal Cancer group on Mayo Clinic Connect. You'll notice that I moved your message to the introduction discussion on Connect called "Living with colorectal cancer - Meet others & come say hi". If you click VIEW & REPLY in the email notification you can read through the messages and meet the other members of the group, like @travelgirl @brenz @missmary @soul @starrlight @sallyg @bush @minabird @rayleemorris and others.

Memorae, I assume since you did not have chemo, that the colorectal cancer was caught early in your case. Is that right? How was it first detected back in '86?

Welcome to the group Memorae 12. I am the caregiver of my mother who is 80years old and had colorectal cancer 2 years ago. She had to remove her colon without any Chemo. She is now recovering well. The good news is no cancer cells on her scan report. She has to take care of what she eats everyday to avoid the constipation. My Mom is in a good spiritual and she realized that it was the best decision she went through that Laparascopic operations. Since she did not want the operation. But she did it and it went well. With the guidance of Coleenyoung we were able to join the Mayo group discussion. It has been a wonderful experience. We got to learn so many things and exchange the knowledge from Mayo group discussions. We are so grateful. I hope you can join and share the experience. It has been a rewarding experience. Our best to everyone who has been in this journey. Soul

Thank you so much for that input story.  I found it is very helpful to discuss my cancer experience with everyone.  It helps me and helps others who do not know what to expect.

Hi everyone! I was diagnosed stage 4 in July of 2016. Since my diagnosis, I’ve been seen at MD Anderson, had an orange sized primary tumor in my colon removed and 16 lymph nodes, had a port placed, had my spleen and gall bladder removed, had a hepatic artery pump placed at UPMC in Pittsburgh (to help with a football sized tumor in my liver), I had my port removed, the hepatic pump removed and so far dominated 27 rounds of chemo (avastin, oxyoplatin, and 5FU...different combinations at different times), and currently battling two nodules in my right lung.

I am a mom to a 15 year old and a ten year old and I am married to the love of my life. I was given a terrible life expectancy at my initial oncology appointment, but I told my doctor I would be her patient a long, LONG time whether she liked it or not! Ha! I asked her at the same appointment what the difference maker would be in tackling this disease: nutrition? hydration? Exercise? Rest? Do you know what she said? ATTITUDE!

I am praying each of you are winning the fight against this monster! I have never joined a chat forum so I’m anxious to see how we can all help and encourage each other!! Here’s to kicking this in the tail!!

@jinatolle Welcome and thank you for posting a very positive and uplifting story. You also came to the best site. I was diagnosed with cecum.cancer and follicular lymphoma at the same time almost 2 1/2 yrs ago.
A great support team and attitude is what it takes to keep going agreed.

We are all.here for each other. So anytime you would like to chat please feel free to share.