Recovery After Cancer

Hi everyone, my name is Chanda. Here is my story.

In 2020 and 2021 I fought the hardest battle of my life. I fought Stage 3 Colon Cancer while the world was going through a pandemic.

My symptoms started in January of 2020 and tests were scheduled until we went on lock down in March. With the pandemic raging, I continued to get sicker and sicker until I landed in the ER in May. I was scheduled for a CT scan and they found what they thought to be an abscess on my colon. They prescribed strong antibiotics which only seemed to make things worse. 2 weeks later, following another CT scan it had grown larger. Now they suspected a tumor.

I was scheduled for surgery in July where they removed 1/3 of my colon along with my appendix and local lymph nodes. Analysis at the lab determined it was stage 3 Colon Cancer with a level T2 in the lymph nodes.

We scheduled to have a port placed in August and on the day of that surgery my Covid test came back positive. I spent the next two weeks fighting Covid lying in bed for about 3 days feeling like I had been run over by a truck hoping I would survive. Once my symptoms had subsided, we rescheduled to place the port but I kept testing positive for Covid

Even though I still kept testing positive we rescheduled to have my port put in at the insistence of my colorectal surgeon to get moving with starting chemo. He didn't want any more delays.

Even though I finally got the port put in, unfortunately I still kept testing positive for Covid That meant I could not get started with chemo at the infusion center because I might pose a risk to the other patients. Sigh

They referred me to an infectious disease doctor who went ahead and cleared me since I hadn't had any symptoms since August and now it was mid October.

They finally started me on chemo in November where I'd go in for my drip every other week and go home with an infusion pump attached to me for two more days. They had me on two different types of chemo 5FU and Oxaliplatin. The later was the worst with major reactions to anything cold. By the third round, I would get a major gag at the back of my throat and they feared I was having a much worse reaction to it. Later finding out I am allergic to trace metals that are in the drug which caused a more severe reaction.

They discontinued those rounds of treatment and had me back in the hospital in January for 3 days to start a new round and to monitor me for any adverse reactions. Once they determined I was ok to continue therapy, I started my usual rounds back at the infusion center but only on 5FU

By mid April, I had 2 more rounds to go when my infusion pump malfunctioned. I went into the infusion center and they decided to finish out the dosing there but it was at a high concentration in a much shorter period of time.

A few days later I started developing canker sores in my mouth all over my tongue. Ouch!! Forget about eating. Then my hands and feet got red and swollen and my skin began to peel. They told me I had the equivalent of hand, foot, and mouth disease brought on by the higher dose in a much shorter window of time. My oncologist said we were finished with treatments.

About 2 weeks later is when my hair started falling out. My body went through a lot of pain and suffering and it took months to fully recover from the side effects of chemo. I am still recovering from bouts of major fatigue, insomnia, muscle and joint pain. I also went into a form of PTSD with anxiety and depression.

Chemo is a rough process and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

During all this time, I was not working while accumulating high medical bills. This compounded the stress I already had.

Extended unemployment along with the additional Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation got me through and covered my living expenses.

I applied for SSI Disability in August of 2020 and after months it was initially denied. I now have filed an appeal with a disability lawyer. It's so ridiculous how this system is set up that when you need help the most they drag their feet and take all their time while your financial situation gets more perilous.

I'm still waiting on disability but have reached the end of my unemployment and am now in a precarious financial emergency. I don't have a job and have run out of funds in my bank account to cover my living expenses. I've applied for some assistance but that wouldn't be fast enough. After all that I've gone through, I'm asking for help to cover my living expenses until disability gets approved and also to cover the many medical bills that have gone to collections.

Any donation would be much appreciated as you would be helping to save a person from overwhelming circumstances that could impact their livelihood.

Thank you very much for you generous support and help.

Chanda