Done with chemo!

[irel]

I finished my chemo yesterday. 18 sessions of Carbo/Taxol in all plus a huge surgery. My oncologist says I am cancer free. Hard to believe. Now begins my follow up sessions with him and with my surgeon. I want to have surgery to reverse my ileostomy reversed. Understand that surgery is no walk in the park but I hate the bag, willing to chance it. Any advice now that I am onto the next step in this journey. All would be appreciated.

[GwenHP]

This next phase is where your goal is to heal and to learn how to live with the uncertainty of the future and live in the present. I know that sounds like a clique.

Many of us when we reached our first remission experienced a lot of anxiety - 1) we feel like we jumped off a cliff and are flying alone. We've been so used to having to go to doctor appointments and now all of a sudden we don't see them for 3 months. 2) Meanwhile, every little ache and pain strikes up the fear that the cancer is coming back. What I did to help with this is to keep a journal. I documented how I was feeling - where the pain was, did it persist or increase or go away etc... and I gave myself permission to park my worries in that journal so I didn't have to hold them in my life all the time. The day before I had my next dr appointment, I would go through the journal to see if there was anything I needed to bring up to the doctor. It gave me an opportunity to see how most of the pain etc that I had experienced was transient and not likely to be cancer. It also allowed me to listen and understand what my body was telling me better. 3) and then there is the anxiety of getting your CA125 results. I remember being surprised the day after how exhausted I was not realizing how much tension I had been holding inside waiting for that result. It does get easier though with time.

[irel in reply to GwenHP]

This is so helpful. I am going to start a journal today. I do see my doc for the first time in two weeks and then will be on the 3 month schedule. I also have an appointment with my oncologist surgeon a few weeks after that to discuss all sorts of things including when I will do my ileostomy reversal surgery. The oncologist wants his take on my monitoring, whether I should do a CAT scan etc. I have been very sedentary and need to get back physical strength and work on my diet. It is challenging with the ileostomy bag so no raw food yet. It doesn't handle it well. I am wondering now that I am done with chemo if that will be better. Lots of other heath issues but my oncologist said to wait at least six weeks before I tackle anything else. Will go into infusion center once a month to have my port flushed. They are thinking I will keep my port until I complete next surgery. You are so right that I am anxious. I have never been any good at dealing with any medical symptoms. I always dismiss them as old age or something else and never tell them to anyone. Really need to stay in tune with my body and speak up. I am not even sure what to look for since all the symptoms for this cancer I ignored until I ended up in the emergency room with a collapsed lung. Thanks so much for your advice. Going t o use it.

[Archeveritas]

Go for it! I had my ileostomy for 8 months. I got it reversed and had a rough time for about a week. Just introduce your foods a little at a time. It has been a year this month and I can eat everything. Congrats on finishing chemo!

[irel in reply to Archeveritas]

Thanks. I am terrified to have it done because my surgery for the cancer was terrible. However, I hate this bag. Have had it for 6 months. Have been so sedentary that I want to be in much better physical shape/endurance before I do it. Starting a physical exercise program this week. See my oncologist surgeon at the end of the month. Will discuss with him. Did you have to do any pre tests? I read they have to check for scar tissue. If you don't mind me asking, why did you get one?

[Archeveritas in reply to irel]

They took out a foot of my colon and part of my bladder along with omentum. I did need a test to make sure I was healed and the intestine was clear of scar tissue. It was a bear of a test but with what we’ve been through it will be okay. I stayed in the hospital 3 days with the reversal. I could never have handled it alone. My husband and my daughter would help me change the bag. I was so lucky in that regard. Keep me posted!

[irel in reply to Archeveritas]

Thanks I will. How are you now, if you don't mind me asking?

[Archeveritas in reply to irel]

I’m doing pretty well. I’m swimming 3x a week. A lot of hip and finger pain after chemo and radiation but hanging in there.

[Cbyrdie in reply to Archeveritas]

I had finger pain so bad after chemo. My thoughts are from the steroids

[Archeveritas in reply to Cbyrdie]

Actually, I'm ready to take steroids for the pain. I got shots of cortazone in my palm to help with the trigger finger in both thumbs and pointers. Such painful shots but gave some relief for 6 weeks. Now, the pain is back. You can only get steroid shots 3 times in total so I'm trying to suffer through it as long as I can. As far as my hips, I don't know. I finished chemo and radiation almost two years ago, but from what I've read on the the American Cancer Society site, it can continue to worsen for years. I figure that I'm here to complain about it, so that's the upside! Hope your fingers are better!