r/coloncancer

53 Years old. Had a colonoscopy last week where they took out 4 polyps all of which were benign. There was a 6cm mass that they couldn't get. Biopsy came back as cancerous. Molecular isn't back yet. Proctology appointment is next week.

The doc who did my colonoscopy was optimistic that a colon resection would fix the issue and no chemo would be needed, but, that's not definitive until I get scanned and staged.

Open to any advice or perspectives.

Hey everyone,

My mom (45) recently got diagnosed with colon cancer in her sigmoid colon. It is 5 cm, CEA = 1.5 pre surgery, clear CT scan, and the surgeon was confident it’s in early stages. I’m really hoping it’s only stage 2 but we don’t know yet, I’m worried it’s stage 3. We get the pathology results in a couple days but I just need reassurance or support from those who have similar experiences. My mom is otherwise healthy and hasn’t had any issues prior. We live in Canada by the way

If anyone has any positive stories, advice, or support to share that would be amazing :)

Was on Ozempic for about 2 years; modest weight loss but excellent glucose control. Had to come off it for colon cancer surgery which went well. Now on chemo with only fatigue as a side effect. Metformin not working and blood sugar way too high. Doc wants me to start Mounjaro for both weight loss and blood sugar control. Anyone else on chemo and MJ?

I just completed my first Oxaliplatin infusion. About 1.5 hours in my arms and legs got heavy and I had some numbness and mild tingling in my hands and feet. I’m not full Frankenstein but a bit awkward moving my extremities. They were concerned it happened so quickly and gave me more antihistamines and steroids. Has anyone heard of or experienced this? I guess some people just can’t hold their heavy metals.

Peritoneal Mets and primary colon tumour have shrunk but unluckily liver Mets and lung Mets have grown, bugger. :(

Oncologist is moving me to Folfiri starting next week.

Any advice on the transition such as side effects etc would be super appreciated.

I had my first dose of folfox this week (Tuesday, unhook Thursday).

Is it normal to have good times that very rapidly turn into feeling terrible?

Is gas, bloating, and diarrhea normal? What helps when wiping hurts?

Is there anything that helps with night sweats (this could be more perimenopauae, but has gotten much worse)?

So far, chemo is 0/10, don't recommend!

My husband (51) was diagnosed in March 2024. It was supposedly stage 3C and then when it reoccurred in April 2025 he had liver Mets and dr gave him 2 years. Here’s the thing. He had suspicious lung nodules in 2024 that were never biopsied but they monitored them the whole time. Now scans show there have multiplied. I mention these because I suspect now that he’s been stage 4 this whole time.

In the last 4 months he has quickly deteriorated. After first line chemo stopped responding at the end of 2025 the next chemos were failures. He’s declining rapidly. Taking morphine and losing 40 pounds in 3 months. Last week he barely ate and vomited afterwords. He hasn’t eaten now in 3 days and is barely drinking. We have young children and I’m trying to prepare them. He just sleeps and gets angry if I try and speak to him. We are estranged but he’s living with me since I promised he could come here in the end. What can I expect? He has a drs appointment on Thursday and I suspect they will discuss end of life care.

My mom, beginning of her 50s, went in for a routine colonoscopy as recommended and came back with a cancer diagnosis. Pathology showed G2 differentiation and a 40mm tumor. That seems so big to me. I’m trying to research but it’s hard to keep information clear. She doesn’t have anything else wrong at all. She eats extremely healthy and is active, doesnt drink or smoke. Any advice on how to navigate things and knowing how seriously to take things? I know we won’t know anything until after the scans, but I’m incredibly nervous and have the constant feeling I’m going to lose her. Shes my best friend.

This is the two year anniversary of my hospital admission at age 73 for the discovery of a malignant tumor the day before during a colonoscopy. They thought it was stage 4 and would require an ostomy; it turned out to be stage 3b and no ostomy was needed. My Folfox was completed in December of that year and so far there've been no recurrences.

Cancer has changed my life, my world view and made me aware of how lucky I am and how cruel this disease can be. All of you and the people who stand by your side are the true heroes. I wish everyone reading this the very best.

I'm taking care of my Mom and ever since she started taking Xeloda for her cancer, she says she's had a looot of pain in the right side of her stomach. A CT Scan showed nothing, but it's also been 2 cycles since the start of her pain with the problem persisting. The pain is definitely from the build up of the xeloda in her system as it's all new for her with it.

What kinda things did you guys do to help mitigate the stomach pains? She hasn't had nausea recently, yes diarrhea which is being taken care of with lots of gatorade/electrolytes and imodium.

She is eating a toast and some eggs, and an ensure at the time of taking her Xeloda.

Any recommendations on pain? Or perhaps further questions we can ask her Onc? I've talked to him about the pain already, but all he said was Pepcid AC and Imodium. I will ask him again.

My sister in law has been battling Colon cancer since March 2024. She has been through a lot, from surgeries to chemo,non stop. After the massive Hipec surgery, cancer was back only 2 months after, in the rectal area. 😔 She was stage 4 when diagnosed with metastasis in liver and pertonium .

Now she was supposed to take chemo and radiation and then possibly another surgery to remove the rectal tumor but the doctors said she isn't responding well to chemo as they found new lesions in liver and pancreas while she was having chemo!!!

They will start Biological treatment hoping this can help.Any hope or this is terminal ?

Anyone had a similar situation?

She is Canada, but they are willing to go anywhere if there is better outcomes.

I hope everyone dealing with cancer a full recovery.

Thanks.

I had surgery Tuesday the 14th of April and I’m only 5 days out. Was discharged Friday and both Friday and Saturday night in the middle of the night I had sudden crazy hunger. I’m basically either starving or full and rarely in between. Is this normal? Any tips to sleeping through the night?

Well, it’s good that I enjoyed my little chemo break, because it looks like I’ll be asking to restart folfiri + erbitux when I see my oncologist on Monday.

For the good news: I don’t need to seek surgery because there was complete metabolic response with the pelvic tumor and the hydronephrosis has resolved.

For the not bad news: the tumor in my left lung shows persistent but decreasing fdg uptake. Yay! The treatment was working and I can start infusions very soon to keep the cancer dying off.

For the bad news: A 5mm mass is in my right lung. This report is the first time I’ve heard about this.

It has remained stable in size since my scan at the end of November, but between early October and late November it grew from 3mm to 5mm. It is suspected to be metastatic, but is too small for them to measure for uptake on scan.

There’s something else that I need to wait until tomorrow, when I am no longer high, to be able to comprehend.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!!!!

3 rounds in and all I can smell is cigarettes. Not something like cigarettes. It is that jacket from the smoky bar from the night before. Unexpected.

38/Stage4/MSS/KRAS/2.5yrs in.

I’m lucky that I live an hour from Duke so that’s where I’ve been going for 2.5 years. Currently I have a roughly 6cm x 5xcm retroperitoneal met. Dr Blazer was amazingly pragmatic, I was “inoperable” until this year but he felt that surgery wouldn’t be great at this time. Major midline cut, remove rectum and part of vaginal wall, and debulking. He doesn’t like HIPEC.

For now, I’m FOLFOX+Avastin+Balstilimab (still on the BBOpCo trial at Duke). I had some great results but no shrinkage on this last scan, so I’m getting ducks in a row. I would imagine FOLFIRI would be next *shudder* but still.

I’ve linked my oncologist up with Dr Maggie at Vanderbilt and am having him message Dr Morris in Australia (not that I’d travel that far, but just to chat about it).

I’m curious if there are other peritoneal champions you all could recommend that I reach out to for opinions. I’m kin of collecting them like Pokémon and doing a Choose Your Own Tumor Board lol.

Thanks!

Curious if anyone still has a drink now and again. Not sure how that would mix with chemo.

My family member just got diagnosed with rectal cancer and they have booked them in for a CT scan, MRI and meeting with a surgeon. The tumor is localized high up, 15 cm from the anal verge. Anyone else had their tumor high up? How was your treatment plan?

I also feel like they’re moving very slow. Got the results a week ago and the ct scan and mri arent for another 10 days. How long did you have to wait for surgery?

My wife had stage 3 colon cancer in 2024. She finished surgery and chemo around this time last year. We just got segnatera result positive 4.7 and last year was 0. Has anyone else gone through something like this? We have doctor appointment tomorrow and we're terrified. Have two very young boys and my heart breaks thinking of them.

I had my 6 months past NED scans 4 weeks ago. Went in to the dr visit hoping they’d say that the blood clot the chemo caused in my lung was gone and I could stop the Xarelto. She came in and said, “let’s go over the good news first. You still have the blood clot. It’s not migrated or broken up, but it is shrinking so we will continue with the Xarelto.”

I thought, “damn.” Then, ……. “Wait, …. That was the good news?”

She said the ct scans show a hot spot on the liver, and another lower in the pelvic region. She was very troubled with this development, but very glad she caught it this quick. She needed to know more so I was going to get an MRI, with and without contrast, fast. Till they knew more, I wasn’t going to be considered in remission anymore. I got the MRI with only two week wait. That was last Friday, and today was the follow up visit.

I am no longer in remission. At this point, because of the spot on the liver, Dr said I’m considered stage 4. I will be seeing a different specialist, and will be getting radiation treatments soon, with the hopes of burning this out and hopefully killing it before it goes any further. The pelvic region spot is just going to have to get in line, the liver takes precedence.

So, yeah, ….. well, …….damn.

We all know I’ll beat this one just like the last one.

Still sucks though.

My drs. have said I'm clear and my Signatera was negative. So now, I get to take baby aspirin and so much CT contrast for the next 3 years. Yes!

I have my ostomy reversal in 3 weeks. I messed up my flex sig instructions and had to do it without sedation. It really wasn't bad. I asked more questions than the accompanying med student who turned red at my unhinged comments. I'm probably still being quoted. Lol.

Ive signed up for a 5k race the weekend before my surgery. I haven't ran since 2020 (but work out regularly) so at least I didnt sign up for the 1/2 marathon? Lol

Ive got alot of stuff going on and thanks to my cancer team, I get to overschedule for at least the next few months. I have a fun summer with my kids planned!

Fuck Cancer for ever and ever!

*my ADHD positivity is going hard this morning.