Hello, taste? Taste? Where are you?

So it's Day 6 of Treatment #4 and like my friend, fellow cancer battler and blogger, Barb, says it feels like it's TSN Turning Point day.  My energy level is coming back, the nausea and heartburn are almost non-existent now and the other GI tract issues are manageable.  Sure I still have the sensory neuropathy and touching anything in the fridge or freezer or drinking anything from the fridge or freezer is a no-go, but at least I am not confined to the couch or bed like with previous treatments.    The side effect that is still a pisser is the complete lack of taste and lack of appetite trigger....I am constantly left wanting for some sense of taste of the food that I am eating...whether it be pasta sauce, curry, tomatoes, whatever...I get a little taste from mangoes, garlic, and watermelon but for the most part it feels like (or tastes like) I have scrubbed off all the taste buds on my tongue, inside my mouth and ran a tongue scraper along my gums.  And my lips feel numb. 

This morning I also met with my family doctor to have her remove the sutures from the port-a-cath implantation last week.  The last appointment I had with her was to remove the staples from my surgery back in March so it was good to reconnect with her and to talk to her about the treatment plan.  She noticed immediately that I had put some weight back on from when she had last seen me and remarked at how positive that is...that despite the fact that I am a third of the way into treatments you wouldn't immediately know it by looking at me.  It's amazing how that comment boosted my mental spirits...there are some things happening that I and/or Victoria are noticing such as my hair thinning, little red spots appearing all over my arms and hands...but others don't notice these things and don't see me as sick or fragile.

A number of you have sent me articles or information about alternative therapies, foods that benefit the fight against cancer and supplements that are being looked at positively in conjunction with traditional drug therapy for fighting cancer, particularly colorectal cancer.  Please know that I appreciate all of it. I appreciate all the suggestions.  I recognize that it always comes from a place of caring.  I must admit though that it can be overwhelming sometimes reading everything out there and can be really difficult to glean the "facts" and "truth" from what is being reported or documented as "truth" out there.  As I said recently to a good friend of mine, Adam, I don't buy into some of the conspiracy theories or articles that tout the benefits of a food or supplement (i.e. asparagus as an example) to cure cancer but that the big bad pharmaceutical companies and medical industry (including doctors, insurance companies etc.) actively block these natural and proven cures because it is in their best interest to do so. I will definitely discuss with my Oncologist because I firmly believe that as long as it doesn't interfere with the chemotherapy regimen then natural supplements or alternative therapies such as curcumin, capsaicin etc. can offer great positive benefits both in supporting overall health and possibly wider benefits in fighting cancer. I am particularly intrigued at some research emerging about curcumin and its possibilities in conjunction with conventional therapy to fight colorectal cancer, particularly drug-resistant cancer cells (thanks Adam for sending those links to me) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20332435 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17918158

It definitely does not hurt to discuss, to probe, to challenge assumptions and to generally advocate for as comprehensive an approach to treatment as possible.

Gotta go...have a lot of reading to do.

Treatment 4: thumbs up!

My good friend Andrew was kind enough to take me in to chemo today and actually he has been my "support worker" ;-) for the past two sessions....and he brought Cobb's bread, scones!!! What a great guy and they were sooooo yummy. Thanks, Andrew! Everything went smoothly for the most part today...bloodwork was done really quickly and it came back "good" so off to treatment I went. I took my new anti-emetic EMEND (thanks, Barb!) and some other meds, made myself comfortable and was infused for the next couple of hours. The clinic was full today and I don't know whether it was the sight of all those other fellow patients or the side effects of the drugs but I found myself getting a little emotional, overwhelmed a little bit by it all. But Andrew was great conversation today and man we talked about a whole lot of stuff that completely took my mind off the chemo.The team used the port for the first time today and what a difference this will be for me...other than a needle prick in my chest every two weeks which is completely endurable I will be able to shower without help, bathe, swim, get wet etc. and not rely on home nursing nearly as much to change dressings, flush lines etc. Not that I don't enjoy my nurse, Sandra's visits, but you should appreciate how this is a game-changer for me not just physically but also for my mental well being.

After the infusions finished and I was hooked up to my outpatient infuser bottle which will infuse at home until Saturday, Andrew and I headed to the Diagnostic Imaging team to have the PICC line removed and it was pulled out in seconds and all that remains is a small hole in my arm that was immediately bandaged. Bye bye picc!

Then home to rest and finish the chemo over the next two days...and the fatigue has already set in along with wicked sensory neuropathy. I cannot touch anything cold including anything to drink out of the fridge. I think in a previous post I talked about this side effect and all I can say is that it is getting more intense with further treatments and what lousy timing as we are now in summertime, patios are so inviting, and I LOVE ice cream. This isn't just a slight crush we are talking about here...I repeat I LOVE ICE CREAM. Damn FOLFOX. You better be working for making me give up cold drinks and ice cream.

Speaking of "you better be working" I also met with my surgeon this week for my three month follow-up. Dr. Hart and his admin Michelle are awesome btw. I am so blessed to have Dr. Hart and his team as my surgical team. The surgical site and scar seem good and my recovery from the surgery has been exceptional so that's great news...but we also booked the next appointment. First week of October I see Dr. hart again one week after my CAT scan ordered by my Oncologist for September 24 to assess whether the chemo has been doing its job and whether "we got it all" or whether further surgical intervention is required. Those words "we got it all" still are sinking in but I have decided to put it in my mindset that that appointment with Dr. Hart will be my last with him and I will shake his hand (who am I kidding I will give him a huge hug) and thank him for getting it all!

When life hands you lemons...

Just a short post this time...after all isn't there an expression "a picture says a thousand words"?

One of the staples of my diet and in fact treatment regime is freshly squeezed lemon water with the occasional lime thrown in.  I drink a pitcher a day easily...often starting my day off with a glass of lemon water a half hour before I eat or drink anything for breakfast.  I have read that lemon water is wonderful at de-toxifying the liver and stimulating it to assist digestion.  Essentially, the lemon water makes the body more alkaline which is the end-goal.   It has been wonderful at helping to manage the hiccups, sour stomach and heartburn/indigestion that have really hit me hard with these treatments.  More importantly, during chemo and for the next few days afterward it is soooooo important to flush out those harsh drugs from the kidneys and liver...you don't want them sitting there for any longer than needed.  

And wouldn't you know it...lemons are chock full of wonderful things like Vitamin C and anti-oxidants that certainly cannot hurt in the fight against colon cancer.  So...when life hands you lemons..make lemon water.

Port a cath...good choice but ouch!

So...I am home now from the port insert surgery and "recovering". The whole procedure was quite a bit more involved than when I had my PICC line inserted. Between setup, procedure, chest x-rays it took almost two hours.

When laying on the table being prepped for the surgery I requested a sedative Ativan and am soooo thankful that I did. It does not make me a wuss or say anything about my tolerance to pain...after all I recovered from a colon resection surgery and all 29 staples. It relaxed me just enough to endure the numerous needles for local anesthetic, the suturing process, the intense pushing and prodding as they threaded the catheter into the superior vena cava (or a really large main vein)...and there was a couple of times where I could feel the suturing.

When all was done a chest xray confirmed that things were fine and I was released.

So now I am recovering at home...a little groggy from the Ativan and SORE from the incisions... Especially when i turn my heck. So i won't turn my head today. Straightforward looking only.

They left the PICC line until my next treatment this Thursday to ensure that the port is working properly for the chemo nurses. If so a visit back to DI to have it removed.

The port will stay in for about a year or so (hopefully not to be used again for future chemo) but the scars will remain...like a badge of honour.

Hail to the Port-a-Cath!!

Today is the day! I need to be at St. Joseph's Hospital at 7:30 for implant of the port a catheter in my chest to allow for much more flexibility like showering!!!!!! Yipppppeeeeeee. Apparently the surgical procedure is a little painful and it is friggin sore for a few days but bye bye PICC line!!

Immediately following my surgery, Victoria and I go to our first meeting with the OB-Gyn so we are both super excited.....

What a day Monday is turning out to be...

Giving a Shout Out

In the words of Gene Simmons and the boys from KISS...."Shout it, shout it, shout it out LOUD!!!"

The response I have received to my blog and to my FaceBook updates is nothing short of overwhelming...so many of you have posted words of encouragement, have suggested that I am courageous, strong, brave in my attitude and actions...and I have to give a huge SHOUT OUT to all of you especially as these past few days I have not felt so tough or brave.  Not even remotely.  These past few days following my third treatment have been pretty rough.   Some of the side effects of the treatment have really hit me hard this time and left me feeling far removed from tough, strong, courageous, positive.   It becomes cyclical...a negative feedback loop.  I feel crappy physically and feel crappy mentally that I don't feel well enough to embrace all the positive things around me especially my pregnant wife, Victoria, who at 16 weeks is simply glowing.  It is incredible how life works, isn't it?  We found out we were pregnant on the same day that we got the pathology report back from my Oncologist.   Having a child on the way gives me so much positive to focus on and to embrace that it only reinforces my determination to be strong...to get healthy.

So this post is to all of you who join our growing circle of support. Know that I draw strength from every message, every wave of positive energy that is sent my way.    And as the song suggests...when the treatments are over and the battle has been won we've "got to have a party"!

What the FU?

The chemotherapy regimen for Stage III colon cancer that I am on is commonly known as FOLFOX.  It is made up of three drugs: Folinic Acid (leucovorin), Fluorouracil (5-FU) and Oxaliplatin.  So...my routine is this...every other Thursday I go into the hospital and have bloodwork drawn and analyzed...I then sit and await the results of the bloodwork as they check that my white and red blood cell counts / hemoglobin are "healthy" enough to undergo another treatment session.  After the results of the bloodwork, I head to the Treatment room to find a comfortable recliner where I will lay for the next few hours.  One of the wonderful nurses in the Clinic starts a Dextrose IV drip and then gives me a capful of pills - the much needed anti-emetics designed to prevent chemo-induced nausea.  About a half hour later I am hooked up to two chemo infusion bags through the PICC line in my arm and I sit while they infuse for about two hours.  Actually...I sit and then I get up and go pee...sit, get up and go pee...sit, get up and and pee...almost clockwork..every 15 minutes or so.  Then, after the two IV bags are depeleted, the nurse injects a loading dose of the third chemo drug and hooks me up to an infusion bottle that literally looks like a baby bottle.  Over the next 46 hours I am forever joined with the bottle and it slowly infuses until sometime Saturday afternoon when my homecare nurse visits me in home and disconnects the infusion, flushes out my PICC line ports, changes my dressing and checks on my overall health.

Although every patient reacts uniquely to their chemotherapy regimen there are some consistent side effects for FOLFOX that are becoming ever more "fun" to navigate through....Almost immediately on Day 1 of the treatment I have been super sensitive to cold.  Touching anything cold with my fingers is a no-go...it feels as though needles are being stuck into the fingertips as soon as I grasp anything from the refrigerator or freezer.  Cold drinks are a no-go as well :-( and what a lousy time of year to be off cold drinks.  I have no other way to describe it but that the back of my throat goes numb and it feels as though it would choke on the drink. That goes hand in hand of course with the almost constant but not quite sore throat and strange taste in my mouth.  In a previous post I talked about the impact on my sense of taste and appetite...and this is only getting worse for me as I go through treatment.  The most intense and difficult to manage side effects in my experience are the gastro-intestinal ones....everything from almost constant nausea, heartburn, hiccups, sour stomach, constipation one day, diarrhea the next day, loss of appetite. 

This time around the fatigue has been more intense and it set in earlier on.  I have spent the vast majority of the past three days since my last post Saturday night either laying down on the couch or in bed...just too damn tired to get up and with an upset GI tract to boot.   It might just be time to put a call into my Onc team for relief. 

I cannot wait to say a big "FU" to 5-FU and to FOLFOX

Three down...9 to Go!!!!

So it's Day 3 of Treatment 3...a Saturday evening and I have just enough energy to write up a brief update. 

Man am I wiped today.... I had a wonderful visit from my friend and co-worker Lillian this morning and it was great to see her.  It is exciting to observe her and her fiancee Jim work through their wedding event planning..  But I became so fatigued after second visitor, my nurse, left to disconnect my infusion bottle and change my  PICC line dressing and flush the caps that I did something I haven't done much and that's sleep in the afternoon...and did I crash.  Just couldn't get out of bed.  The fatigue went hand in hand with some pretty good gastro issues today...wicked hiccups, heartburn and a little nausea.  These side effects seem to hit earlier on in treatment than the first two especially with the hiccups but my doctor has prescribed a PPI (proton pump inhibitor) called Pantoloc and has cut back in half the dosage of steroid to minimize the GI issues especially in light of a new anti-nausea drug that I am trying out EMEND (thanks, Barb!!!).  I didn't get the EMEND in advance of starting treatment for which it is designed but it seems to be doing a better job of controlling the nausea than the other anti-emetics I was taking for Treatments 1 and 2.

The good news is that my blood work which they draw just prior to each scheduled chemo treatment came back good for white blood cells, red blood count and hemoglobin...which means I was healthy enough to continue with treatment.  And that is good news.  The challenge is to stay healthy enough to experience no delays in the treatment.  The drugs are designed to kill the rapidly dividing cells from tongue down to the butt...and they don't discriminate...they kill the good ones with the bad...and so the overall effect is to compromise my immunity by decimating white blood cells and can really impact the hemoglobin....and there is relatively little control I can have over this progression other than to eat well, rest lots, exercise when I can, and stay as healthy as I possibly can and approach my overall health in a holistic way - physical, mental, emotional - try to achieve balance with all.  As a result I have made some changes to my diet - nothing drastic - just making some different choices whether it be buying organic meats and vegetables where possible and realistic to approaching meals and cooking as cooking whole foods rather than pre-processed or packaged foods.  I have done a LOT of reading on food - after all it's a passion of mine.  I LOVE TO EAT!  I find it overwhelming the "information" out there about food and its relation to cancer whether it be thought of as preventative or even to treat.  I talked at length about nutrition and diet and the role within the context of my treatments with the dietician on the Oncology team during my hospital visit on Thursday to start this round of treatment...and was surprised to hear that diet at this stage will not have any significant statistical impact on the factors in the blood that the team is monitoring to determine readiness for continued treatment.   What?!!!! You mean that all the kale, asparagus, lemon water, broccoli, strawberries and blueberries, eggs, honey, rapini etc. that I have added to my diet isn't having a dramatic impact on my bloodwork?!  Maybe not...but I have learned that it is so important to look at it a different way...eating well and balanced is so important to keeping me overall as healthy as possible to keep me as strong and energetic as possible to keep me active as much as positive...to prevent me from staying completely sedentary....keeping me from spending my days inactive and not eating well.  More about food I am sure in future posts...but let me finish with a thought.  It has struck me today that one of the more impactful side effects of these treatments and the drugs I am prescribed to help manage the side effects is the effect it is having on my appetite and love for food.  Example:  Victoria made a wonderful stir fry for dinner tonight....full of healthy vegs and some very tender lean meat...with a sauce made from scratch...and it smelled wonderful!!!!!!  And normally the smell of cooking would trigger my appetite response. (Remember...I LOVE to eat!)  But with these treatments my sense of taste has been  drastically compromised...there seems to no longer be that trigger or connection between mind, nose and gut.  I ate this wonderful dinner simply because I needed to eat...not that I was hungry.  And I am saddened that my sense of taste is so drastically impacted by the treatments...after all... I love to eat.  However, even stranger a patterns seems to have emerged for the first two treatments and I am curious as to whether it will happen this time around.  After about a week it's almost like a switch goes off inside that triggers my appetite response. My appetite becomes voracious!  In discussions with the Hospital pharmacist and my dietician it is related to the steroids prescribed me...which they have now reduced in dosage to try and combat some of the other GI  side effects I have been experiencing...so I will wait and see what happens to my appetite as I go forward this time around.  

That's all for now...my tank is now empty.  Time to rest and get my energy level up for tomorrow.  And bring it on!

Recovery at home and PICC Line vs. Port

Recovery from Surgery

After discharge from St. Joe's I recovered at home from the surgery. Although what many say about how much  quicker someone will heal once outside of the hospital environment is very very true I can honestly say I remained surprised at how slow was my recovery from surgery despite being in relatively good physical condition and health before the surgery.  But then again should I really have been surprised...I need to accept that colon resection surgery is major surgery that cuts through adominal, core muscles and THAT takes time to heal.

The pain from the incision was really quite manageable...I only relied on narcotics for a very short period of time at home.   After the staples were removed they no longer would catch on my clothing so that helped immensely.  But what was pretty intense and has still not disappeared although has abated is the sensitivity of the scar.  Apparently this is common...and could be permanent as the nerves are damaged.  Anyway it is manageable now and besides I treat the scar as a battle wound.  A badge of honour if you will...as I do my PICC line as well.

My recovery at home was certainly bolstered by all the words and actions of support from friends and family whether it be food drop-offs for Victoria and I, emails, cards, notes, visits, phone calls, Facebook messages, etc.  I recovered well enough to thoroughly enjoy my wedding day on Saturday April 21 and even could dance a little bit with my new bride and our wedding guests!!!!  I am so grateful to Dr. Hart for rushing me into surgery to give me an opportunity to recover in time for the wedding...so grateful that Victoria and I invited Dr. Hart to our wedding (which unfortunately he could not attend).  It removed so much stress from us when we knew that we didn't have to postpone the wedding and that all our planning and work would be realized.

PICC line versus Port

Prior to starting the chemotherapy in May, I visited St. Joe's once again to have a PICC line (peripheral intravenous central catheter) inserted into my upper right arm under the bicep.  The PICC line has two ports coming out of the main line that inside the vein in my arm drains into to the heart for immediate pumping out to the body.  It allows the vein in my arm to not be destroyed by the toxicity of the chemo drugs.  The procedure itself wasn't that bad at all...not as painful as you may think and was over in a matter of 20 minutes or so.  The PICC line allows for drugs to be intravenously administered for weeks and months without having to have an IV put in my hand or arm every two weeks...for six months.  Unfortunately the PICC line also means home nursing requirements (3 times a week) to clean the picc site and change the dressing once a week, flush the ports etc.  It also is a royal pain in the ass to shower - I rely on my wife to wrap my arm up in Saran Wrap and tape just to have a shower.  Swimming is out.  Hot tubs are a definite no.

So...at my first meeting with the Oncology team prior to my first treatment, a suggestion was made to consider having a port-a-cath installed instead.  The port a cath is surgically implanted under the skin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_(medical) and as such allows patients to freely swim or have showers and can be removed after the treatment course is over.....and so...I have a requisition to have a port-a-cath implanted the third week of june prior to my fourth chemo treatment.  I can't wait!!!!!! No longer will I have to cover up my arm in public...I will be able to enjoy swimming and boating at the family cottage this summer....and less nurse visits to home to change dressings and flush lines.  

My next post will talk about the wonderful Oncology team that I am working with, the FOLFOX treatments and the numerous side-effects that I navigate through daily.

Where do I begin?

My first post...the inaugural posting if you will.  As I suggest in my profile I really am inspired to start a blog by reading the inspirational updates of my friend and fellow cancer battler, Barb.

Diagnosis

Where to begin?  How about March 13, 2012...about 11 am.  That is when my life/our lives changed drastically.  Just five weeks out from our wedding date, my fiancee and I sat across the desk from Dr. Springer at the Vaughan Endoscopy Clinic after my colonoscopy to assess why I had been experiencing bowel changes and issues since the late fall and heard his words "you have a significant growth and need surgery as soon as possible".  What an emotional discussion...thankfully Victoria was with me to ask questions because I frankly was in such shock that I couldn't process what was being said...I have what looks to be a medium size tumour in my sigmoid colon, I have colon cancer, it has almost created a complete blockage of my bowels, I need to have my colon resected and re-joined but I shouldn't have to "wear a bag".  From this moment in time and ever since a whirlwind of events kicked off.  

Victoria and I returned home, both scared and shocked and began making phone calls to the closest people in our lives to communicate the news.  By the end of that day, the office of the surgeon at St. Josephs Health Centre, Dr. Richard Hart, a colleague of Dr. Springer, had called me to prepare me to go in for surgery at the end of the week.  They called again Thursday morning to have me stop immediately all food and anything but clear fluids as I was to be admitted Friday morning.  I need to tell you that although it may not seem like a big deal all things considered the fact that I was unable to eat any solids or consume usual liquids beginning that Thursday came on the heels of the prep cleanout for the colonoscopy that started Monday morning that week and I was only able to consume a small dinner that Wednesday night...little did I know that it would be almost a week and half before I would be eating and drinking anything solid!  

The Surgery and Hospital Stay

I was admitted to hospital Friday March 15 at 12 noon and prepared for surgery Saturday a.m....hopefully early in the morning but really on a waiting list.  I was sent for bloodwork (the first of daily bloodlettings), chest xray, and my first CT scan ever.  It would be a tense 24 hours to await the results of these critical tests to determine if the cancer had indeed spread outward to other areas of the body.  I had several visitors Friday evening - and looking back now some months later it all becomes almost like an out-of-body experience.  I can still vividly remember Dr. Hart telling me Saturday morning just as I was to go in for surgery that the tests came back clear.  My surgery happened at about 9am in the morning and about 3-4 hours later I found myself back in my room with my parents and Victoria there waiting for me.  I was told that the surgery was successful in removing the tumour and that Dr. Hart had removed 17 lymph nodes for analysis.  I remember looking down at my lower half under the hospital gown and seeing the catheter, the shockingly long incision with staples (29) stretching from above the belly button and making a question mark pattern down to just above my crotch area but most importantly not seeing any colostomy bag. RELIEF!!!!!  

My stay in the hospital ended up being 9 days...9 long emotional event-filled days.  I began my recovery very well...was up and walking the next day, my vitals were strong, my breathing was although a little laboured from the narcotics overall pretty good...signs were positive for discharge after 5-6 days.  But by Wednesday things took a turn for the negative.  I developed an infection in my abdomen.  I spiked a fever, sweat through my hospital gowns and generally felt really really lousy.  The surgical team, and I mean team...I  was visited by them regularly beginning Saturday evening...took action immediately and sent me for tests - xray, CT scan.  These came back showing some fluid in the surgical site that appeared to suggest there had been a small leak that had healed/repaired itself but was fighting the fluid build-up and infection.  I was started on anti-biotics immediately and put back on nothing but water...nothing...not even coffee, tea, soup...just water.  The CT scan unfortunately showed a spot on my liver and this prompted an immediate ultrasound.  Three technicians including the Director of the department scanned my liver and could not find the spot / shadow that had appeared in the CT scan.  You can imagine my tension going in to these tests as I  prayed that the spot didn't indicate spread to my liver.  It is good news that the ultrasound team could not find any evidence through ultrasound of the disease on my liver....so I can breathe somewhat easy for a few months at least...but more on that later.  The anti-biotics did their job as by Friday I began to feel better and my vitals and bloodwork returned to normal .The infection did mean though that my stay in the hospital was extended until Monday morning the 19th.  I will end this section with this...a huge shout-out to the staff at St. Joseph's...every single one of them that I interacted with are/were simply put wonderful...they have such compassion and treated me and Victoria so well over my stay there.  I am almost at a loss for words to describe the staff there.

The Pathology

On Sunday, Dr. Maniate, the Oncologist who was originally taking me on as his patient, visited me for a second time with the pathology report.  I should tell you that this was the one and only day that Victoria was not staying with me in the hospital...it was her Bridal shower and she was thankfully out focusing on our wedding and her celebration....positive things.  Dr. Maniate explained to me that the pathology had come back showing that 2 of the 17 lymph nodes showed infiltration.  The tumour had metastasized to at least 2 of the node sites.  Diagnosis:  Stage 3B Colorectal Cancer.  He explained the statistical benefits to chemotherapy treatments for my cancer based on factors such as my age, complete lack of family history, etc. and of course the side effects that I may or may not experience on the treatments - FOLFOX, the length of the treatments and treatment cycle, the diagnostic tests such as scopes, CT scans etc. and their timing.  Essentially he laid out what I should expect over the course of the next six, nine, 12 months, 3 years, 5 years...5 years....the magic number 5 years.  This is the target.  To be cancer free after 5 years to be declared "statistically" cancer free and cured of colorectal cancer.  To have no recurrence or spread within the 5 year survival period.   Realistically, the chemo therapy became a necessity rather than a probability or even option.  The stats suggest that chemo could reduce the recurrence rate by 50% to around a 35% chance with chemo as opposed to leaving it untreated.  So...I was to get married....have a brief honeymoon and then come back and prepare for 6 months of FOLFOX chemo treatments.

Thus began my life as a Colon Cancer patient, a cancer fighter, a "member of the club" if you will.  And as I explored on the Internet patient forums, cancer websites, and heard from friends and family stories of others with similar journeys, there are lots of members in this club.  WTF?!!!!  What the hell is going on?  All my pre-conceived notions and thoughts of colon cancer were shattered in a matter of weeks.  I had always thought that it was a cancer of older people who had lived a long full life and was more a reflection of normal aging.  Was I wrong.  I now know far too many of us in our fortys, thirtys, even twentys being diagnosed and being treated for colorectal cancer.

So I will end my first posting here...following with thoughts about my recovery from surgery, my first treatment and now second and third treatments...and some reflections on my life now as a cancer battler. 

In the words of Barb...my fellow battler..."Bring it on!"