Randi
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I am just heartened that someone is doing a study into this cancer! Thank you for sharing the information.
Katie,
So nice to hear your good news and the exciting things happening in your life. Stay healthy and happy.
-Randi-This is the only section of the discussion area that I read. I am so hungry for good news and good outcomes and just delighted with the news in this thread! 3 years! May Ron and Jathy1125 have 100 more years of good health.
-Randi-
Wonderful and encouraging news! Way to go. May you have many more clean scans in your future!
Best wishes.
-Randi-I am a 16 years survivor of breast cancer and an 11 year survivor of Thyroid cancer and a 9 months survivor of CC. Every day is a good one!
They were able to get clean margins and I had no lymph node involvement in the Whipple surgery (stage 2a) so chemo was adjuvant and totally my call to do or not do. I figured I might regret not doing it and I was told that Gemzar was well tolerated. I did 1x a week for 3 weeks and then 1 week off for 6 months. Just finished July 16th.
I didn’t get a port until half way thru when my veins were going away. I can only get pricks and pressures on my right side (I had breast cancer and had lymph nodes removed from my left side). I am getting the port out on Sept 22nd and I can’t wait! WIsh I had gotten the port sooner tho, cause my veins are pretty beat and NO I will not miss weekly blood draws!!
I see my surgeon for follow ups and he is the one who put in and will remove my port. My oncologist is the person following me mostly, however, I still stay in touch with a very caring GI doctor that first diagnosed me and my internist is wonderful as well.
I know what you mean about processing what has happened for the past 10 months, it’s a very ugly blur right now. Never thought I would be done with it and hopefully we are both done with it!
I went on a cruise 3 weeks after chemo was done with my family and extended family and it was the best decision I made throughout my treatment. It was relaxing and detaching and the only time I thought about CC was when I undressed and saw my scar (which is actually fading quite nicely) and my port.
I am also loving life. This is my third separate cancer (breast, thyroid, and CC) and I have had enough thank you.
If you are on facebook, go ahead and “friend me”… it’s Randi Barrell (I am the only one)
Take care,
-Randi-Nancy,
Sounds like we are a similar path. The doc wants to hold off on CT scans for me because I’ve already had 4 this year and he is worried about radiation exposure. I’ll see him ever 3 months and blood work then too (but my markers were never high). He did say that usually the only way they would know if it came back was on scan, but given my circumstances he feels like waiting 6 months is not a bad option.
how are you recovering from chemo? I seem to get stronger each day and my intestinal problems have gone away. I had a lot of intestinal issues with chemo where it just shut them down, especially the last cycle or 2.
Glad to hear you are doing so well. I will keep you in my thoughts as well. This disease sucks and I feel lucky to have been diagnosed so early, but then can anyone who has gone thru what we have be called lucky
Take care and continued good health.
-Randi-This thread absolutely made my day! Thanx to all. I am on cycle of chemo post Whipple 6 months and I have had some pretty dark days. Reading this really gives me hope for the future. Keep up the good work and here’s to many healthy days ahead!
I like being called a Woman of Valor! Thanx Lainey. And I will check out the Anti Cancer book for sure.
Well here’s my thought on this one for me, I am 54 yrs. old and I have had breast cancer (’94), thyroid cancer (’99) and now CC in ’09. I need to change something because obviously my body is telling me something is not working. So, since I am unwilling to go to daily mass (I am Jewish so that would not work for me), and I live a pretty clean life, I guess I am going to have to change up my diet and see if that works!
I have to say that I miss my red meat, but I’ll give it a try and see if this works.
You guys are so encouraging and inspirational with your good life attitudes and great senses of humor! Love it. A sense of humor is my best asset! It’s still pretty much intact.
Thanx for the good wishes all.
-Randi-
Thanx Lainy. Glad to hear that Teddy is doing well. I do believe our bodies can fight cancer and we just need to give it the tools to do it with. I am changing my diet to be more plant based, reducing my meat and lowering my dairy intake. I want to give myself the best advantage I can.
I would like to become the Miracle Woman!
Thank you for the suggestions. I started chemo (Gemzar) at the Wilmot Cancer Center in Rochester, NY (near where I live) last week. (I had a whipple in December that removed all the cancer with clear margins and 10 negative nodes. I went to Roswell in Buffalo and talked to Sloan Kettering in NYC and they both suggested the same course. Since I am relatively young (54) they suggested chemo as insurance (altho no one could really tell me how much insurance I was buying since there are no statistics on cases like mine). The jury is out on doing radiation. I am leaning toward not doing it since it has so many other possible long term effects and the benefits are not quantified at all.
1 down, 17 more treatments to go! I’ll be done my mid-summer. So far, so good.
Thanx again for all the input!
