Recent diagnosis - feeling scared

Hi Mandy6300. Sounds similar to me. I was diagnosed with a 5cm tumour in January of this year. So far I have had 4 cycles of chemo, on a three week cycle. This finished in April and I have just started 5 and a half weeks of radiotherapy and chemo on 7/5/19. I then get 6 weeks off before another scan which hopefully will show the tumour has shrunk and then they will look a surgery, possibly sometime in September. The journey is a lot longer than I thought it would be but I am making it and hopefully this will all be behind me come Christmas.

At the moment I am struggling with the fact that having gone through all this treatment so far, I won't know if there has been any change to the beastie until at least the middle of July.

Like you I'm over the why me I just want to know that the treatment is working. The waiting is the worst but it does get better.

Good luck with your journey.

Hi,

I had a colonoscopy on March 28th and was told it was cancer and yes the waiting is terrible. I was referred at my request to a University and started appointments on April 10th. It has been a long six weeks of scans, tests and a second colonoscopy. I feel I have a great team including surgeon, medical oncologist and radiation oncologist. I started chemo in a bag (24/7) yesterday and will start radiation on Monday, both will run for five to six weeks then wait eight weeks for surgery and four months of chemo two times per month after surgery.

The prognosis is good if all goes well and so the journey begins. This group and one other I have been following have given hope and a large amount of info. They have improved treatment so much through the years. I totally know the fear of starting this journey and was a nervous wreck yesterday for the chemo to start and the first time to use the port.

I will be following and wish you both the best.

Remember: it is darkest before the dawn - we can do this,

Lana

Sounds horribly similar! My tumour is small  - but has "sticky fingers" into the muscle wall. The chemo/radio hopefully will get rid of those and enable surgery later this year.

I think I am in the totally overwhelmed stage too  - it has all happened so fast, but sort of so slow too. If that makes sense! 

Plus these liver nodules worry me -  little buggers better get zapped.

How was the chemo - I am getting myself into a stew re the whole immunity issue. PLus I am quite skinny already ( anxiety always goes to my stomach first!) , so I am trying hard to eat loads of fat etc before I start chemo next week.

I do not like this game at all . 

Hiya, do you know what chemo you are having? I had Oxaliplatin and Capecitabine. I found that the iv chemo knocked me flat for the first week and I did have some neuropathy, nausea, fatigue and loss of taste. Things either had no taste or tasted disgusting. Things are getting back to normal now and my taste is slowly returning.

Chemo is not fun but it is very doable. Make sure that if you do get any of the symptoms and are concerned at all make sure you use your 24 hrs helpline.

Yes that is my promised cocktail.  Trying to get myself psyched up for it !