Hi Gary,

I'm sorry to hear about your diagnosis, but take comfort in the fact it was caught early, and your prognosis is excellent. It's a really scary time, and you'll be working through the anxiety for a while to come. 
 

I didn't need chemo in the end, as the histology showed a PMS2 protein deficiency, which, without drowning you in information, significantly lowers the chance of recurrence. it also means the standard chemotherapy treatments were less effective so the benefit was virtually nil. I am at 9 months cancer free. 

Until I had that information, I was all set for chemo as I wanted to do everything I could to stay healthy, so I understand your position entirely. I am also a younger man, I turned 33 last week, and am planning on having a family, so chemotherapy was rife with risk for me. Ultimately the 0.5% difference in my already excellent prognosis wasn't worth risking infertility for me, but it wasn't an easy decision.

I would say follow your instincts, listen to your doctors, and remember that if it gets too much, you always have the option to stop. Ultimately catching colon cancer early is great news, and there's light at the end of the tunnel. You've got to do what will give you peace of mind. 
 

I hope that was helpful, and I wish you all the best for your recovery. 

Pete 
 

Thanks Pete, 

I Appreciate your reply, I'm lucky to already have a 7 year old boy at 44 and understand your predicament I can't imagine what I would have been like if this had happened before he was born so I guess I'm very lucky.

Thank you for your advise it means alot and I wish you all the best for the future  

Hi Caroline, i have just had my first round of EC for breast cancer. I feel exactly this and in all honesty don't think i can even face a second. It goes against everything i think & feel. I have managed to negotiate Herceptin next time when i should have chemo 2. Herceptin sounds gruelling enough. I wondered what you decided to do & how it went? I had a mastectomy, lymphs clear, cancer got. I cant get my head around this physical hammering on the basis of one possible rogue cell & the belt & braces approach as they call it. 
I wonder if anyone has just had one round. Xx

Hi Drobinson9,

I'm good, thank you. Though I'm sorry to hear of your diagnosis, I'm delighted it was caught early. It's a difficult decision you face, one that shouldn't be left in our hands, in my opinion. I struggled with it for a long time. Even after deciding not to proceed with chemo, it weighed on me. Did I do the right thing? 
 

So far so good for me. I have my year scan in January. My situation sounds like it may have been different to yours, I was looking at more like 1/100 for chemo efficacy. My tumour had a PSM2 gene deficiency, which lowered the odds of recurrence dramatically. I don't think I had any cells in my blood vessels, though I'm not certain. 
 

Ultimately for me it was a case of weighing up pros and cons. Risk of infertility was a big factor for me, I was 32 at the time and looking to start a family. Still working towards that goal. Had I already had my children I might have gone the other way. Chemo is no picnic, but there is also a strong arguement for doing everything you can to ensure a cancer free future, though that's never guaranteed. 

Whatever you decide, try to accept you did the right thing for the right reasons, and don't second guess yourself. Counselling also helped me massively in this regard. I wish you all the best for the future, and that this will be a distant, albeit unpleasant memory. 

Hi,

Good to hear that you're doing well. Long may it continue! :-)

My cancer was actually a Stage 2, T3, N0, M0. No nodes involved. I keep reading on the internet that surgery is usually sufficient for stage 2 but I'm thinking that the belt and braces approach may be best for me. I'm 63. My dad passed away with bowel cancer at age 70. No idea if this is hereditary but I've already made massive changes to my lifestyle that I intend to maintain from now on. Lost loads of weight (2 and a half stone and 4" off my waist!), haven't touched a drop of alcohol for 3 months. Doing lots of exercise, too. But perhaps this chemo tablet is the final piece in the jigsaw, so to speak. I think I'll literally suck it and see! At least if it does come back in a few years time - or whatever - I can say that I used every means offered to keep it away (well, that's what the Colorectal Cancer nurse said to me yesterday, anyway). 

Hope everything goes well for you and best of luck raising that family you want!

Cheers,

Dave