How it all started…

So, this whole thing began around the end of Summer in 2019.  I had some sushi with friends, pretty much just tuna and salmon and I had the worst reaction, it was pretty bad.  I just thought it was food poisoning, though neither of the other people I was with had any reaction at all, even though they had practically the same menu items.  Afterwards for about a month or so I still seemed to have abdomen irritation, and I just figured that was an after effect of having such bad food poisoning, so I kind of overlooked it thinking it would dissipate.  Then a month or so later, I went to another friend’s home where we cooked another type of fish, and I know it was done right.  After eating I had the same reaction as before, if not worse.  At that point I figured I had either developed a severe allergic reaction to fish (that I never had before), or ingested some kind of parasite or who knows. 

Time went on from there and I still had an irritated abdomen which was slowly but progressively getting a little worse.  So, around the beginning of 2020 I brought it up to my primary care doctor, and she tried a few basic meds and solutions (fiber supplements, Imodium, Colace, various probiotics, etc.).  Nothing seemed to do anything to help.  I was losing hope that we’d actually figure it out without a ton of testing, and I wasn’t looking forward to doing so much for them just to tell me I had IBS or something generic and open ended like that.  Finally, she referred me to a gastroenterologist, and they tried a few other slightly more intense IBS type meds.  Again, nothing seemed to help, while things were progressively feeling worse as time went on. Admittedly I was procrastinating because I knew what was next, a colonoscopy or other intrusive testing.  Even though people told me that the worst part is the formula you must drink beforehand, and the actual procedure is really no big deal, I was still reluctant and a bit afraid (my tolerance for pain is pretty much zero, and I had no large medical procedures ever done to me previously).  But…eventually I finally did the procedure in January of this year, and low and behold, everyone was right.  The formula I had to drink 12 hours before was horrible, and the procedure itself was completely painless.  But…here is where this story has been leading up to (this was a long explanation to get to this point, but it will make sense in a moment). 

So, the doctor who performed the procedure came to my bed as I’m waking up from the anesthesia given to me during the colonoscopy.  He sat down next to me, and painstakingly relayed to me that they had found a tumor in my colon, and that he was very surprised to find it.  He honestly thought that from my symptoms and my age, that he would maybe find some small polyps, or some inflammation that could more than likely be remedied fairly easily.  But nope, it was a rather extensive tumor, and he suspected it to be cancerous.  Needless to say, I was devastated because I didn’t know what that meant for me, and when you say the word cancer it strikes fear in the heart of anyone. They proceeded with a biopsy, and 2 days later it was confirmed, malignant, aka colon cancer.  Eventually they (my new team consisting of a colorectal surgeon and 2 oncologists) told me after a CT scan and an MRI that it was Stage 3B, which if you aren’t familiar means that it’s got-to-go NOW like soon, but has not yet spread past the local area where the tumor was found.  So, between my surgeon, and the 2 oncologists (one for radiation and one for chemotherapy) they came up with a regime of very aggressive radiation/chemotherapy along with a plan to surgically remove the tumor.

I started out at the beginning of this last March doing radiation doses Monday through Friday, finishing up around the middle of April.  Also, at the same time I was taking a rather high dose of Xeloda, which are chemotherapy pills to go along with the radiation, making it supposedly more effective.  The side effects were…not fun but didn’t overwhelm me.  Mostly just exhausted a lot of the time, and somewhat further irritation in my abdomen, along with intermittent moderate to severe nausea and other things that go along with that.  At the moment I’m on a break from the therapy, and preparing for surgery happening Tuesday June 8th.  Previously I was to start a regime of IV based chemotherapy called “Folfox” before the surgery, but this had been decided to be postponed until about a month after my surgery is done (more about this chemo in a moment). For the surgery, thankfully they aren’t going to have to remove my whole colon, as part of the tumor extends to my rectum as well so it will be part of both. (If you know your anatomy, the tumor is right in the corner where the colon meets the rectum, I’m sure Google can give a nice diagram), so basically that makes it a bit difficult for them to get to it.  And for that reason, they are hopeful now because with the aggressive radiation/chemo treatment that was completed in April it appears the tumor has shrunk some, as well as removed some of the cancerous cells in the nearby lymph nodes affected, potentially making it easier to remove what is left.  The surgeon will then remove the tumor from the part of the colon that is affected, as well as the part of the rectum that is affected, and then essentially put it back together.  This will inevitably require about 6 hours of surgery, about a week in the hospital to make sure all is well with no complications, and then some recovery time (home at least) of approximately 2 to 3 weeks of not working (In case you’re wondering, I’m still working from home right now during the treatment, until the surgery happens).  And the other kicker is they will have to install in me an ileostomy bag (as opposed to a colostomy bag) which is where my waste will be coming from my small intestine while I’m healing.  They are doing that because they need to make sure that the seal of my colon and rectum takes 100%.   If anything were to leak it would cause sepsis and could be devastating (like if your spleen or appendix were to rupture). 

Once the surgery is completed, and about a month afterwards, they will start the next round of IV based chemotherapy, what I mentioned above called Folfox.  This type of chemo may have different side effects but it affects everyone differently.  It will be for another 4 months, administered every other week for about 4 hours.  (Side note, about a month ago I had an intravenous port installed under my skin in my chest, which is where the chemo will be administered so they don’t have to prick my veins every time.)  Then once the Folfox chemo is done, and another 4 or so weeks have passed to allow the chemotherapy to work its magic (further solidifying that the tumor and any other cancerous cells do not return), they will put me back to normal, essentially removing the ileostomy bag, and configuring my internal “tubing” back to whatever normal it’s going to be…and I should be good to go hopefully early December!  (with a little bit of adjusting of course)

Anyway, so the reason for the previous explanation (including the fish reactions) was to emphasize that even though the fish itself didn’t cause my cancer, had I not experienced this reaction prompting me to eventually get the colonoscopy, I may not have ever felt anything or been alerted to possible cancer for 10-20 more years (colon cancer is rather slow growing, but at the later stages it is life threatening).  And by that time, it would have more than likely been at Stage 4…the potentially unrecoverable type.  So, I was lucky in that my body alerted me to take care of business.  Funny how things work out like that sometimes.  Being that I caught it when I did, they are confident that they will be able to eliminate it with the aforementioned radiation/chemo and surgery, and then continuous MRI’s going forward every year or so to make sure it doesn’t come back.  Also, I can’t stress this enough, please make sure (all people not just men!) need to be diligent about having their colon checked starting at around your mid to late 40’s (your doctor can give you an exact time frame).  But this should be done so that if gawd forbid you have something similar to me, that they will be able to eliminate it soon and you’ll be able to continue to live a long and fruitful life.

Ok that’s enough from me.  I’m thinking some of you may have some questions or want to leave comments etc.  You are more than welcome to write them here on this site where I can respond, or you can get a hold of me by text/email/phone/postal mail what-have-you (checkout “Contact Me” on the home page).  Don’t worry I am not asking for money, or even sympathy.  I give myself enough woe-is-me and instead am trying to remain ultimately positive, since this is supposed to be taken care of soon in which I’ll be able to live as close to normal as anyone else.  But if you would like, sending good vibes or a smile or anything positive, I’ll take it!  And it will ALL be very appreciated.  As far as help, I have a wonderful medical team taking care of me, and have an immediate cheerleading squad around me quite often helping me out when it’s needed.  So, thank you in advance but I’ve got this, and will continue to get this until it’s done, over with, and then we can all celebrate remission with a cocktail or two!  Thanks for taking the time to read my story, and I hope you all are well.