I’m recovering pretty well from treatment and surgery for Stage IIIc colorectal cancer. After six months of chemotherapy and radiation in 2022, plus two successful surgeries in 2023, doctors said I was cancer-free.
But but but … The experience aged me greatly and changed my life in many ways. When I marked my 80th birthday in late 2023, I felt older than that.
The combination of aggressive chemotherapy and radiation facilitated 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 and my wife Maria was able to stay with me day and night to interact with doctors and nurses whose Spanish I did not understand.
I left the hospital 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.
In the summer of 2024, a year later, I’m still experiencing “cancer fatigue” as doctors call it, and I’m tired all the time even though I sleep more than eight hours a night and have an afternoon nap. I’m trying to regain leg strength and trying to increase my cardiopulmonary capacity by walking. My current goal is 3,000 steps a day, which is all I can do for now.
The good news is that my colon and rectum are functioning well enough, and my medical team is happy with my progress. I’m getting better at controlling bowel functions, but I still use a diaper every day and have a diaper bag when we go anywhere. It may be a few more months until I have complete control.
The bad news is that I don’t feel confident or well enough to be away from the house for very long. Trips to the medical center for tests and appointments are a challenge and wear me out.
So, what is the future for me? I’m not certain.
The National Library of Medicine at the NIH has a study showing many rectal cancer patients experience recurrence and the cumulative recurrence rate is 89 percent at five years after surgery. The medical textbook for colorectal cancer has a five-year plan for oncologists to monitor patients following successful surgery.
I’m in the second year of monitoring following the initial surgery in late January 2023, with laboratory tests, periodic office consultations, and MRI and CT scans and colonoscopies at scheduled intervals. So far, so good.
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.
I hope nobody else in my family or among my friends experiences what has happened to me.
The stressful ordeal has disrupted my daily life for two years, and Maria’s life too. We have a lot less stress in the recovery phase, but recovery won’t be complete until I have no recurrence and have survived for five years after the successful surgery.