Tag: chemo

On 5 February 2020 I was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer. I made the mistake of looking up survival rates on the internet. Scared the crap out of me.

The following month I had surgery, but they couldn’t get at a couple of malignant lymph nodes, and on 16 March I began chemotherapy infusions every two weeks. My oncologist said that something would happen by my third year of treatment, but he didn’t know what.

In 2023 I passed the three year mark. Nothing happened in my fourth year either, and the onkydoc said I was an unusual case, an outlier within the top fifth percentile of patients. He reduced my chemo dosage for a second time in October 2024.

On Monday, 12 May 2025, the oncologist informed me that Infusion No. 129 would be my last, and that I’m officially in remission.

I still get to visit the pretty nurses in the clinic every three months for a blood draw and Signatera test, and have a CT scan every four.

I’ve been fortunate that my side effects have been tolerable. The most bothersome was chemobrain – the mental fog that never quite dissipates. I’m hoping that as the toxins flush out things will improve, but then I won’t have chemo to blame for when I get a case of the stoopidz.

Thanks to all for the good wishes and prayers. Seems they worked.

 

I debated whether or not to post this as it’s a personal story, part of a journey, but it’s an important one to me. So here goes. Continue reading “My 3rd Year Anniversary of Beatin’ the Odds”