Surviving Colorectal Cancer, Part 35
I’m recovering pretty well from treatment and surgery for advanced (Stage IIIc) colorectal cancer. After six months of chemotherapy and radiation in 2022, and successful surgery on January 30, 2023, doctors declared that I was cancer-free.
But but but … As I get ready to celebrate the second anniversary of that date, I feel older than my 81 years. The experience aged me greatly and changed my life in many ways.
So, what is the future for me? I’m not certain.
The National Library of Medicine has a scientific study documenting that many rectal cancer patients experience recurrence within 26 months after surgery. The study shows the cumulative recurrence rate is 89 percent at five years.
Those are sobering statistics for me because it means my cancer may come back within the next three years. But maybe not.
The scientific publication Nature has an article exploring survival probability for advanced rectal cancer (Adv_RC). That purple line on the chart above at 60 months is even more sobering.
The medical textbook for colorectal cancer, which I bought early in my chemo treatments, has a five-year plan for oncologists to monitor patients following successful surgery. The monitoring includes quarterly laboratory tests, periodic office consultations, MRI and CT scans, and colonoscopies at scheduled intervals.
February of 2025 will begin the third year of my monitoring following the initial surgery in late January 2023. So far, so good.
The combination of aggressive chemotherapy and radiation facilitated successful surgery, but it also had physical and mental side effects. The Cleveland Clinic discusses several side effects, and I’ve experienced almost all of them. Some side effects, such as balance problems and trouble remembering, continue to slow my recovery.
I don’t remember many details of my four weeks of hospitalization in Guadalajara, Mexico, following each of the two surgeries. Maybe my mind repressed some details to help me recover. Fortunately, I had a private suite where my wife Maria was able to stay with me day and night to interact with doctors and nurses whose Spanish I did not understand. She remembers everything.
I left the hospital a final time on June 21, 2023, a year after my diagnosis and beginning chemotherapy. I was surprised at how much my body deteriorated during the two long hospital stays even after physical therapy in my hospital room each stay.
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In the summer of 2024, more than a year later, I was still experiencing “cancer fatigue” as doctors call it. I was tired all the time even though I slept more than eight hours a night and had an afternoon nap.
In 2025, I’m exercising more and eating healthful foods every day. I’m trying to regain leg strength and increase my cardiopulmonary capacity by trying to walk two miles a day, which my iPhone calculates based on my stride. But I still need my four-footed cane to minimize the risk of falling.
The good news is that my colon and rectum are functioning well enough. My sphincter muscle is strong enough to control fecal incontinence. Maria and I and my medical team are happy with my progress.
Oncologists also have tools to predict five-year survival rates after surgery for different stages of colorectal cancer based on thousands of patients in the USA. Memorial Sloan Kettering has a calculator based on the type and stage of the cancer and the age of the patient at the time of surgery.
My doctors say every cancer patient is unique because of other health issues. They and I are optimistic about beating the survival statistics because I have no underlying health issues. And I’m following their recommendations for eating, exercising, and resting to fully recover.
Maria doesn’t want to think about a recurrence of my cancer, and she refuses to discuss the predicted survival rate for me. I try not to think about it either.
The stressful ordeal has disrupted my daily life and her life for two and a half years. We have a lot less stress now in the recovery phase, but recovery won’t be complete until I have no recurrence and have survived for five years after successful surgery.
I hope nobody else in my family or among my friends experiences what has happened to me.
And Maria and I don’t want to go through hell again.
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About me: In June of 2022, at age 78, I was diagnosed with Stage III colorectal cancer. After five months of aggressive chemotherapy and radiation, I had successful surgery in January of 2023 to remove the tumor followed by successful surgery in May to reverse my colostomy.
Surviving advanced-stage colorectal cancer was like starting a new life. My oncologist and my wife both urged me to write about my experience as a catharsis and to encourage people to have colon cancer screenings. I began journaling every day, and to celebrate my 80th birthday in October of 2023 I began posting articles almost every week on Medium. I hope my articles will motivate people to have thorough colon cancer screening starting in their 40s and continuing past 75 and also help other colorectal cancer patients deal with everyday life while trying to survive five years or more.
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