The next steps – bowel cancer. After recovering from surgery, the next stage of my treatment was chemotherapy. Following some scans and tests, it was discovered that some lymph nodes had been affected by the tumour in my bowel.
Next stage of my treatment was chemotherapy
After recovering from surgery, the next stage of my treatment was chemotherapy. Following some scans and tests, it was discovered that some lymph nodes had been affected by the tumour in my bowel.
Fortunately, it had not spread to any major organs. But in this instance – as I am young, and cancer cells are more energetic and active in young people – my oncology team decided the best plan of action was chemo. This was quite daunting to learn. I’m sure everyone has a scary / unpleasant idea of what chemo is in their mind. My particular treatment was modified FOLFOX6 (mFOLFOX) . It would be administered through an infusion port every 2 weeks for a period of 26 weeks.
Seeing a fertility specialist
We visited a fertility specialist. And we discovered that the chemo may have an impact on my ability to conceive naturally. And possibly at all. So we started the process of IVF. In order to give my husband and I the best chance should we want to have children in the future. That is another process that deserves it’s own post – fertility science is IMPRESSIVE! What the heck is an infusion port? Well it’s quite nifty. It’s a small ‘plug’ that inserts under your skin, right near your collarbone. Which has a line directly into a large vein in order to minimise risk of infection. (As there can be with a PICC line.) And to allow easy access for administering drugs, or even taking blood! This was ‘installation’ is in a very short (40min) outpatient procedure. And it made my entire treatment significantly easier. I would highly recommend getting one if you have to have lengthy chemo as I did, and if you are able!
Read other War On Cancer articles here:
Why are we not talking about prostate cancer?
Coping with a cancer diagnosis
