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Chemo. Here we go!

Cartoon man made of sparks running through dark.

We met with and oncologist this week, and we figured out details on my cancer and a plan going forward. 

We found out I have stage 3b colon cancer, and they recommend chemo. The good news is that they should have gotten all the cancer removed in the surgery, however I’ll be starting chemo soon to help prevent it from coming back. Chemo lowers the chance of the cancer returning from 50% to 25% which is pretty significant.

I’ll have my first round of chemo as early as Monday, 11/15. That’ll then start a schedule where I’ll have to go into the doctor’s office for a 3 hour appointment every 3 weeks. Along with that, I get to take some pills at home every day and get weekly blood tests. I’ll do this for 6 months. The start date is a bit up in the air as I have to get all my medications first, so that 11/15 date may be pushed out a little.

For those that are wondering, I’ll be taking Capecitabine and Oxaliplati. Don’t ask me how to pronounce them. 

My doctor did say that chemo shouldn’t disrupt my life much at all, which is great news. I can still do almost everything I want, I just need to listen to my body. The side effects shouldn’t be too terrible, however until we start, it’s hard to say. If I do have any issues, the doctors seem pretty happy to adjust the meds as needed.

No, I shouldn’t lose my hair either. I know you were wondering. The drugs I’m on don’t usually have that effect. 

This is all moving so fast that it’s a bit overwhelming at times. The day we met with the oncologist we got to know each other, talked over everything, agreed on a plan, picked a start date, got a tour of their facility, got a binder full of information, scheduled some initial appointments, and I was a bit overwhelmed. 😳 It’s just a lot to take in all at once. 

At the end of the day, I’m doing good, and I’m working on focusing just on the next appointment, and then we’ll go from there. No need to worry too much about the future. Just enjoy today.


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