Never too young for colon cancer.. Where I've been

Hey F8L, Just found this thread and I wish you all the best. it's a tough road but I'm confident you'll pull through.

I know what you're going through, having watched my brother get diagnosed at 27 with a softball size tumor in his Colon. His cancer was pretty far along and he was able to fight it off for 6 years before it got the better of him. It seems you caught this much earlier, and with your positive attitude, I'm sure you'll pull through just fine.

My brother lived with me through most of that time, colostomy and all. So I know all about living with it and the challenges are mostly psychological. Eexcept for that chemo stuff, which my brother found was only tolerable with the assistance of weed. To be honest, he was pretty healthy and productive for most of those 6 years after he recovered from the initial surgery. His lifestyle was not impeded at all by the colostomy and he did more hunting and fishing in those 6 years than the rest of his life combined. He met, engaged, married, and moved out a year before the cancer came back.

Good luck and feel free to drop me a line if you need some support.

 

Hey F8L,

I just saw this thread too. Here's wishing you a speedy recovery!--Scott

 

F8L........you have lots of friends here. You are a positive encouragement to each of us as you handle the big challenge in your life right now. I am glad that you are feeling the power of the spiritual and emotional energy being sent in your direction. I am praying for your recovery and know that other are, too. God bless!!

 

F8L, Just found this thread and started from the beginning to "catch up". 33 is definately young for what was considered an "old man's" disease. I acidentally discovered I had colon cancer at age 45. I went in for a sore throat and through a series of general questions that led to some tests I was in for the experience of a lifetime.

It is beatable. I've been cancer free for 10 years now. I had surgery, chemo & radiation. While I do profess to be Christian, I understand your situation and yes, staying positive is indeed good for your soul (reguardless if you believe you have one or not ) )
Through my ordeal my positive attitude affected many of my friends who later were afflicted with illnesses.

Those that have not gone through chemo and radiation cannot really know what you are going through, so I know to remain positive in a time of uncertainty takes a lot of strength, which is something that you physically don't have at this point.

Taking things one day at a time works well in this situation and what seems like a lifetime to get through will look like only a blip in time as you look back.

Hang in there and know that there are many of us that right now as they read this are sending up a prayer for you. Nice thing about this is that while you may not necessarily believe in God, He believes in you and knows you. So our prayers will indeed help. Because He's my friend ;o)

If you ever have any questions, PM me. I've dealt with a lot of the issues you'll deal with and will talk openly about the struggles of living without a piece of your colon. It grosses my friends out, but my doctors never really seem to grasp some of the difficulties and I've learned most of what works through trial and error.

Joe in WV

 

That was very decent of you to provide support for your brother. Sadly, I've seen a lot of family members ignore/turn on another family member with a serious medical condition

 

I'm positive your attitude alone will ensure a speedy recovery

 

One thing you need to realize, it took me a while, is that statistics don't tell the whole story. My odds of 5 year survival was 50% based on the staging of my cancer. The more I read into this the more I realized that since Colon Cancer is considered an old age disease, many of the people that have this and do not survive 5 years may have actually died of complications due to age or other things not directly related. Yet they get added into the statistics.

Radiation and even chemo will have short term effects that can really hurt older people. I had pneumonia twice during treatments and had to be put into the hospital due to the weakened immunity system that go along with chemo.

I was fortunate that the hospital where I took my chemo treatments was right beside my work. My boss and peers were supportive and I missed little work during treatment. Although I usually got sick on the last day of the week during the weeks of chemo (it was a week on and three weeks off). I really dreaded having to look forward to the weeks I took it but felt really releaved on the last day of treatment knowing I had three weeks off.

Funny thing was my doctor told me to eat when ever I felt like it. I figured , hey, I have cancer one good thing is I'll lose weight. Nope, I ate all the time as it seemed to be the only way to get the taste out of my mouth. Gained 30 pounds. Unfortunately still have that with me (

I had never gone through surgery and hate needles so yes, it scared me to death. Then I ended up with an infection after the surgery and what was supposed to be a four day ordeal turned into a 14 day stay (witout food). Time goes slowly in a hospital and you become disoriented (at least I did since I was in ICU for 3 days due to the infection). On bad days, focus on knowing the next day will be better. Because typically it will be.

The tiredness is something you live with for a while as radiation zaps the energy. I dreaded getting out of bed and walking up my stairs took a lot of time as I lifted my (heavy) legs one at a time.

After surgery, when they make you stand up the first time, I felt like my insides were falling out. Gravity and some missing colon I guess. However push yourself and recovery is a lot quicker. I did not exercise when I was finally allowed to and have never really gotten back to any form of good conditioning. That was my mistake. When you are allowed, get out and walk and do whatever exercie you are allowed. You'll feel a lot better.

God designed the human body with some pretty tight tolerances. Missing a little bit of your colon will cause some problems. Nothing you can't deal with, but a change perhaps in eating habits and having a general awareness of where the bathroom is when you travel.

Will it change your life? Possibly. However I expect the experience of going through this is what will change your life more than the physical aspect.

The day I found out I had cancer was the day I took my wife and kids on a 1000 mile trip to Disneyworld and the Flordia Keys. My doctor was surprised when I asked if if I could still go. But he said he would run the additional necessary tests when I returned. The "C" work really brings out a lot of emotions. I assumed most people died and as I traveled looking at my then small kids, all I could think about was would this be my last trip. I know this stuff has to go through your head, we're all alike in that respect.

I cried one night and then determined to place it in God's hand. I never asked Him why, because I know in this world that sickness and death are just part of the plan. I don't understand it, but I'm not willing to be mad at God over a mystery. He never promised me a longer life than many who never achieved my age and who am I to expect more. I did pray for three things (I should have asked for more) and he granted all three of them and much more. I was ready to go then and I'm ready to go now. But he has a purpose for us all and I had not fullfilled mine yet. I am a believer that if I'm not willing to fulfill my purpose then there is probably no reason for me to remain here. Not wanting to leave just yet, I have sough to seek my purpose. Not sure I have fully discovered it yet, but I think he's OK with that as long as I an sincerely seeking it.

Even with the somewhat annoying difficulties, I found that one of my wishes was to see more of His world. I hated the thought of dying and only seeing my little world from West Virginia to Myrtle Beach. Over the next couple of years I was in a total of 17 countries. I saw things I never dreamed of seeing and have seen beauty beyond imagination. I've also seen pain and suffering.

Chemo changed me. It brings out an emotional imbalance. You may cry, even if you're not the type. It can be corrected after treatment, may even take some medications. However I had become hardened to a lot of things and found that I liked the feeling. My kids would laugh at me as I listed to sad songs or cried at movies. But that's OK. It has given me compassion for the suffering. For those who don't have that positive attitude as they face the trials of life.

It was the worst possible news I could have imagined, but a time in my life where I grew more as a person. If given a choice of my old life or what I have gone through I would not go back and have my old life back.

An old friend that was a foreman that worked for me was an ex-Marine Sgt that served in Vietnam. I'd heard this before but when he said it, knowing what he had gone through it meant more to me, still to this day. If it doesn't kill you it will only make you stronger.

Well, I've rambled on for quiet a while. Good thing this isn't a forum for the Prius so no one has to read this if they don't want.

We'll be back in communication I'm sure as every day may bring a new question. I don't have all the answers but I have probably asked all the questions so I'm here for you.

Joe in WV

PS, I believe that if I was able to sit and watch the ocean I would have healed faster ) You coastal people don't know how lucky you are!

 

One other thing I did, I took up photography. Once I travelled I wanted to start capturing more of what I saw around me. Several of my recent pictures are of my new granddaughter (one of the gifts I was allowed to enjoy with an extended life) but deeper into my photo stream you can see my interest in nature and travel. I'm not really "Green" but since my experineces with a Camry Hybrid and Highlander Hybrid and soon a PriusIV I'm finding myself much more in tune with nature and simply not wanting to waste resources or harm the earth more than I need to. I still believe it was given to us to use, but as a good steward I aim to take better care of it.

Flickr: wvgasguy's Photostream

 

Seriously, they pay you to do this stuff??? You are blessed!

I've found that by studying the world around me in photography, I can see the complexity of nature. It drives some to one conclusion. For me it definately pushes me towards a Designer of the universe.

I almost went into Environmental Engineering back in 71 but back then it was basically sewer plants )

Ended up in Civil Engineering working with (clean and green) natural gas.

Your images are great. I see you have one critique so two would just be critism. Your P&S Camera will do just fine, especially if you have good light. However you may indeed want a dslr some day. especially if you continue working aroud the incredible nature. Since you work with the ecology a good macro and dslr will give you the opportunity to get some incredible detail shaots. As your friend mentioned, a good (or at least decent) tripod will do wonders, especially if you start doing macro with a long focal length. between you shaking the camera and the wind, it is sometimes difficult.

I just got a good macro for Christmas so I'm just learning that aspect. I still need a better tripod. Mine is fine, but it is too heavy to trek around in the woods with it and my camera bag. Carbon Fiber would solve that.

My hills of WV provide plenty of sights, but wow, the opportunities you have are amazing.

 

Anyone who would get their tongue stung by an anemone for science should't have a problem with a little old thing like chemo and radiation. Surfing the South Coast as a kid (Galveston) we would occasionally get Man O' War swarms. I was never stung, but saw the results.

 

And after looking at what you do for a living and seeing as you're in great physical conditioning, you won't have any where near the problems I had in recovery.

 

Endulge yourself during this time. I recommend Peach Milkshakes. I never kept them down long but boy were they good )

When you don't feel well and you need to eat, one thing I was always able to eat was cheese "toast". That is simply a slice of american cheese on bread and put it in the oven under the broiler until the cheese starts to swell up and starts to turn brown and develop a crust. It's the only thing that never made me sick. I still like it, especially if I don't feel well.

On your photography, since you have a point and shoot, if it's windy use the setting for "action" with the little running guy. That will give you the fastest shutter speed and hopefully "freeze" the action.

Also for your point and shoot, since it doesn't weigh much you don't necessarily need an expensive large light weight tripod. A smaller cheaper tripod will do fine most of the time. Chances are if it's windy and the tripod won't steady the camera then it may be too windy to get a clear shot anyway. I have a new Nikon for my wife and it has manual modes. If yours has that option then go to manual mode in the windy conditions and try for a shutter speed of 1/500 for those flowers swaying or a slow moving lizard or bug.

For the landscape shots go with a smaller aperture. This is where you need the tripod as well as you will have a slower shutter speed.

Bottom line is it's digital so take a lot of shots, learn what works and erase the bad ones.

 

How are you feeling today F8L. Hope you are doing OK.