The New Plan of Attack

After a long few weeks we now have a plan of attack in place to get rid of this cancer once and for all.

On Tuesday (12/19) morning, Carrie and I drove down to the University of Colorado Hospital. We first met with a medical oncologist in the Colrectal Cancer Clinic. The doctor specializes in the cases of people under 50 years old. He discussed the tumor board's recommendations for radiation treatment. The radiation will be every weekday for 5 weeks. I will be starting on January 8th. In addition to the radiation I will be taking an oral form of chemotherapy (Capecitabine). The chemo will have similar side affects as the FOLFOX treatment I was on for 6 months but will be a lesser dosage. The hope is that it will slow any cancer growth along with the radiation. He also presented a clinical trial of immunotherapy that I would qualify for. I guess I'm a bit of a colon cancer unicorn given my age and the fact that I haven't taken a certain cancer drug during my treatment. This clinical trial would be an option if this round of treatment doesn't work but generally would be a last resort if other options fail.  The doctor reiterated that my treatment is very much still working towards a curative goal and there is no reason to think we can't beat this.

After that appointment we headed to the radiation oncology clinic. Here we went into more detail about the radiation portion of my treatment. As I mentioned, treatment will be every weekday for 5 weeks. The radiation treatment will only last for less than 10 minutes. We were advised by the doctor that we could do the treatment in Fort Collins but she would prefer to do it at their clinic in Denver. Carrie and I both thought it best to do the treatment in Denver since we want to have the best people we can working on me. The side affects of the treatment will be cumulative so the first couple weeks I may feel good but will start to feel very fatigued towards the end. They were then able to get me in for my radiation simulation. This involved me lying stomach down on CT scan table. Underneath me they had placed a plastic bag filled with some sort of special polymer. They taped the bad around my torso and pelvis areas and I was told to lie as still as possible while the polymer hardened. This bag with the polymer inside will serve as a mold/cast while I get radiation. I was then given a CT scan so they could determine where all my internal organs were sitting. Finally I was given four time tatoos on my sides and two on my spinal area. These are hardly even visible but will help the doctors get the radiation lined up just right. After about 30 minutes of lying still I was able to get up. My back was killing me.

We also learned that after radiation they will want to do a surgery to remove the portion of colon which has the current mass on it. They would also like more radiation to be applied at this time. However, no ORs in Colorado are equipped to do this so I will likely be traveling to either the Mayo Clinic in MN or Sloan-Kettering in NY for the surgery.

Carrie and I both felt really comforable with the doctors and believe their plan is the strongest plan of attack at the moment. It will be a long 5 weeks of treatment but will be worth it in the end.