May 5, update

First, thank you to Billy for setting this up. Hopefully I can keep it updated so if anyone wants to know where I am they can just log on to this page.

I have never really been sick so this is a new experience for me. I can not express how much the support of my wife, family and friends has helped me with the process. I have a great team of doctors but an even better support team.

This morning I received my 3rd of 25 radiation treatments. I am radiated 5 days a week with weekends and holidays off. Apparently Radiology does not view cinco de mayo as a holiday.

I am also taking 2000 mg of Xeloda orally every day. Xeloda is an oral dosage of 5-fu which has been a Chemo treatment forever. I will have 2 weeks of this treatment then 1 week off and then 2 more weeks. I am also receiving 4 doses of Oxaliplatin over 5 weeks. Oxaiplatin in a Chemo drug that is very effective against colorectol cancer. Unfortunately, the way it is administered is through a 3 hour inter venous drip session. (I do not like needles) I had my first session May 1.

From what I understand this is a very aggressive treatment course. We have selected this course to give me the best probability of survival and after going through the course the best quality of life. Right now I feel pretty overwhelmed, tired and on the edge of nausea.

Below is a brief history of how we got to where we are now:

I started having some bleeding and called my general doctor in February.

I was referred to a gastro intestinal specialist and he scheduled my colonoscopy.

I had the scope on April 10th and he found two polyps.

On April 11th one of the biopsies came back positive for cancer.

I met with a surgeon on April 14th and started all the testing. As it turned out both polyps were cancerous. The first one detected was poorly differentiated.

I have had an ultra sound, a CT-PET scan, and the slides have been reviewed by the surgeon, 2 pathologists. I was presented to the tumor board at St. Josephs Hospital in Orange. St. Josephs is a National Cancer Center.

The positive news is that the CT PET scan came back clear and only two lymph nodes were detected on the ultra sound and they are very small. This is all very good news. It is being classified as stage 1 cancer.

We have selected a very aggressive treatment because of the type of cancer and because of my age. If all goes well I will have 6 weeks of radiation and Chemo, then I will have 6 weeks off and then surgery. The surgery currently suggested is major, I will be in the hospital for 5-7 days and then 2-3 weeks of recovery.