Pangea422's Journey with Colorectal (Colon) Cancer
- 1 Oh No Icon Oh No
- 2 Oh No Icon Oh No
- 3 Procedure or Surgery Icon Procedure or Surgery
- 4 Oh No Icon Oh No
- 5 Side Effects Icon Side Effects
- 6 Oh No Icon Oh No
- 7 Drug or Chemo Therapy Icon Drug or Chemo Therapy
- 8 Side Effects Icon Side Effects
- 9 Side Effects Icon Side Effects
- 10 Side Effects Icon Side Effects
- 11 Celebration Icon Celebration
- 12 Celebration Icon Celebration
Caregiver: Colorectal (Colon) Cancer
Patient Info: Currently in active treatment (initial surgery, receiving chemo rounds/radiation), Diagnosed: almost 11 years ago, Female, Age: 76, KRAS mutation positive: Yes, BRAF mutation positive: Yes, Stage IV
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Experience Icon Descriptions
Procedure: Drag this icon to show a procedure.
Radiation: Drag this icon to show a specific radiation therapy experience.
Drug Therapy: Drag this icon to show a specific drug therapy experience.
Clinical Trial: Drag this icon to show a clinical trial experience.
Side Effect: Drag this icon to show experience with a specific side effect.
Oh No: Drag this icon to show when something bad happened (e.g., cancer’s back, lost job).
Celebration: Drag this icon to show when something good happened (e.g., last treatment, hair is back).
Loss: Drag this icon to show a time of loss (e.g., lost hair, lost loved one).
Decision Point: Drag this icon to show a time when you had to make a tough decision.
Other Care: Draft this icon to show a time when you needed other care (e.g., hospice, psychotherapy).
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Diagnosed
Oh No
This person has yet to add any details about this experience.
Health insurance issue
Oh No
Mom had the wrong type of insurance, so it didn't cover her colectomy surgery.
Colon surgery (colectomy or hemicolectomy)
Procedure or Surgery
Mom lost a lot of weight and never gained it back even months after the surgery.
Money
Oh No
Started getting tons of bills from the doctors and hospitals in excess of $140,000 despite having "insurance."
Weight loss
Side Effects
Could never gain back weight after colectomy.
Problem with doctor
Oh No
We were referred to an oncologist but her administrative staff was terrible and she didn't even recommend a PET scan so we had to go find a new oncologist. Waste of time.
Chemotherapy
Drug or Chemo Therapy
Tired for the first week after Oxaliplatin and Avastin IV. 2 weeks of oral Zeloda to follow. Then 1 rest week for a total 3-week cycle.
Diarrhea
Side Effects
This person has yet to add any details about this experience.
Nausea/Vomiting
Side Effects
This person has yet to add any details about this experience.
Swallowing problems
Side Effects
On her second cycle of chemo, my mom experienced the inability to control her tongue for about 30 minutes as well as her right hand.
Remission
Celebration
My mom just had a Petscan since starting treatment 3 1/2 months ago and the scan came back clean, meaning all the areas that were lit up before are no longer there! She was given the option to stop chemo, since she had such severe side effects, but doctor recommended a maintenance program, so she's still going to have Avastin infusion every 3 weeks, and take 2 pills of Xeloda a day for two weeks, then a week of rest. She feels better already, with this great news. She's stage IV, so doc says it's a matter of when it comes back, but I've heard stories of where it doesn't ever come back or it's taken years! Hopefully it never does. Thanks to everyone for their support on here!
Cancer is shrinking
Celebration
mom went to the doctor back in february 2013 expecting to get scheduled for another petscan. her tumor markers came back at 4.0, the lowest it's ever been and within "normal" range. she's happy and doctor said, let's not scan since she's doing so well!