Pathology Results from surgery and chemotherapy

Hi Craig, sorry to hear you’re not feeling great at the moment and I hope you recover soon. As to you question to how many rounds of chemo you need , your histology sounds similar to mine and I was given 4 rounds of chemo, but you have to bear in mind everyone is different so this is only a guideline. I hope everything goes ok for you , listen to your body and rest when you need to , good luck with everything.

Hi Craig123 As Ozzz says it will probably be 4 sessions but not until you’re up to it. I had a couple of set backs after my op and I was wheeled down to my appointment with the oncologist. She informed me that I looked like **** and I was in no fit state to start chemo at that point (loved my down to earth oncologist!) She told me that both my affected lymph nodes were close to the tumour (they travel in chains) so she wouldn’t be too concerned if I wasn’t able to manage chemo. I eventually started it 4 months after my op.

Hope this second lot of antibiotics does the trick

Take care

Karen x

Hi Craig. I too can confirm four cycles seems standard. I had a few more cancerous lymph nodes (22 out of 31) than you and ended up having six out of a planned eight cycles.

Kind regards.

Maninbath

Hi Craig,

My tumour was in the caecum but the grading was very similar, T3, N1b, affected 2 out of the 24 lymph nodes and I’m having 4 rounds of CAPOX. My first chemotherapy session is Friday, I believe it depends on your hospital but mine have told me that chemotherapy has to start within 3 months of the operation.

wishing you a speedy recovery 

Rachael

Hi Ozzz,

Thanks for the reply, Ive found that really helpful.  I hope your chemo was successful and not too invasive.

I’ve tried to take it steady, having a catheter do two weeks has slowed me down quite a lot anyway but I’m still learning what I can and can’t do.  I’m just conscious that will change again once the chemo starts.

Hi Karen,

Thanks for the reply and I didn’t realise that the proximity of the lymph nodes to the tumour was a factor.  It obviously makes perfect sense own you have explained it.  I’ve made a deliberate effort to not look too much into chemo until now, partly because I was hoping it would t be necessary and partly because I wasn’t ready to delve into the side effects and problems that come with it.  I’ve now had a look at the top tips page on here, that’s really helpful, thank you.  I think I’ve seen you post elsewhere that the reputation of chemo makes it more daunting than it may actually be.  I’m far more apprehensive about chemo than I was about the surgery.  I don’t know if that is warranted or my mind running away with me.  Several episodes of melena, two probable UTI’s, wound infection and an alarming query of possible sepsis on news year day makes me feel like I don’t have much more left to give.  As daft as it sounds my veins have all gone into hiding too, it’s like they’ve said ‘nope no more needles for me’ and the last few times they’ve tried to take blood or get a cannula in has not been much fun.

I will see what the oncologist says when I meet them and take it from there.  

Thanks as always,

Craig

Hi Maninbath,

Thanks for the reply.  Wow sorry to read so many of your lymth nodes were affected.  I do you mind me asking why you had 6 out of a planned 8 cycles instead of the 8? Did the cumulative effects make you too ill towards the end?  I do hope it was successful for you. 

Hi Rachael,

Thanks for the reply and I wish you well with the start of your treatment, please keep us informed of how you get on.  It does sound like our grading is very similar, you will have to forgive me, I don’t know what the ‘b’ stands for on the lymth nodes?

I will update my own story once I have started treatment and fingers crossed we both have as smooth a ride as possible. 

I believe the ‘b’ just indicates it was more than one lymph node. I will update you on how Friday goes.

Hopefully the antibiotics help and you will be fit for chemo soon. 

Hi Craig123 I can totally relate to the veins issue and mine took a good while to recover. With this in mind I would ask if you could have a picc line fitted before you start chemo? It’s a permanent cannula fitted into your upper arm where they put the chemo in and can take bloods out. The attempts to put the cannula in at each session coupled with the horrible stinging and sensitivity for a few days afterwards was one of the worst parts for me?