11 months ago I was diagnosed with Stage 4 colorectal cancer

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image showing 11 months ago I was diagnosed with Stage 4 colorectal cancer

tikilouie on July 20th, 2021 at 00:51 UTC »

Today after months of radiation, chemotherapy and two surgeries, I can finally say that I’m cancer-free. Besides the routine scans and blood tests to make sure I stay that way, this journey has come to an end. So as I eat my grilled cheese, imagining it’s a double Butter-burger deluxe from Culver’s and wearing my hospital gown like a Flashdance sweater, I want to thank everyone for their kind words and support. I’ll be in the hospital for a couple days 🤞🏼 but I’ll be back stronger than ever.

JosephSears on July 20th, 2021 at 00:52 UTC »

16 months for my stage 4 liver and lungs diagnosis, keep fighting and good luck, brother

tikilouie on July 20th, 2021 at 02:23 UTC »

A few people have been asking about how I found out and what my symptoms were so I’m posting this to answer them all and for anybody else to see. I’ve had stomach problems for years. I was diagnosed with diverticulosis about 15 years ago. I was 30 and this was unusual for someone my age. I’ve had flare ups of diverticulitis (the infection) a few times throughout so I always attributed any problems to that. In Feb 2020 I thought I was having another attack and went to the doctor to get antibiotics. It didn’t seem to do anything as I soon had the continuous urge to poop without any poop coming out. My doctor referred me to a gastro and after some minor tests, he suggested a colonoscopy as a last resort. That was when they discovered the tumors in my rectum. After a scan, they found it infected some lymph nodes and I had a couple spots on my liver. The bad thing is that about 5 years ago, I went to a different gastro for some stomach pain and he said I could get a colonoscopy but didn’t think it was really necessary. I should have got it then. I might have caught it sooner. I’m getting treated at Northwestern Memorial in Chicago. They had me do radiation first. I did five straight days, 15 minutes a session. They told me this was a newish way of doing radiation. Then I did about 5 months of chemo. Every two weeks I’d go for 3-4 hours. 9 sessions. The only side effects I experienced was neuropathy and extreme acne all over my body. After a month from my last chemo session, I had my first surgery. This was the major one. It lasted 7-8 hours and had two surgeons working on me. One removed the tumors from my rectum while the other took care of the two spots on my liver and lymph nodes. I got an ileostomy so that my rectum could heal. That was three months ago. Today I got the ileostomy reversed and my pipes are back together.