Often, for some, there would be long hiatus in life for several reasons - depression troughs, busyness in life or critical illness. The hiatus and the ensuing vacuum would be very difficult in the sense that it takes a sustained, long and dedicated effort to get back to the mode which you leave before the hiatus. Sometimes, this break in the life is helpful and sometimes is sickening.

Ever since I was diagnosed with colo-rectal cancer (CRC) early October 2008, I have been off from my active life - a stage of life where I had my feet in work, research, reading and play. The suffering has been so huge that my mind was not thinking anything else except the disease and the resulting pain. I did not have a chance even to sit and key-in my thoughts in my blogging world! It had been an old idea to capture all my experiences over this most painful suffering I have ever experienced in my life until now in the form of a written diary - either a printed form or an online resource. This blog serves and helps me in thinking myself out while going though this painful phase in my life.

To have a brief on the happenings over the past one year, here is a gist:

September 2008

• had severe anal pain and bleeding while passing stools
• consulted a local physician in Bangalore and took pain-killers and laxatives
• visited the family doctor in my hometown (Kadapa, A.P.) and had a diagnosis

October 2008

• had a biopsy test in Chennai after my family doctor referred the case to a specialist
• diagnosed with colo-rectal cancer (CRC)
  
• decided on taking radiotherapy in VS Hospitals, Egmore, Chennai
• had a prognosis test in the form of KRAS, which showed that the tumour is gene-mutation negative
  
• did semen banking in Prashant Hospitals, Chennai, since it is the prerequisite and recommended step prior to taking radiotherapy
• first PET CT scan done to know the extent of the disease (it was at Stage IIIb)
• started radiotherapy in the mid-October with 5 daily doses of radiation for 6 weeks coupled with Oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy every week

November 2008

• returned from Chennai to my hometown for taking rest for 2 months. (This rest was necessary after radiotherapy before further treatment).
  
• suffered with proctitis
  

December 2008

• stayed at Kadapa, my hometown for post-radiotherapy rest

January 2009

• returned to Bangalore to plan for a permanent colostomy surgery at Apollo Hospitals
• a PET CT scan confirmed the metastasis of the disease with its spread to liver and lung!
  
• Dr.Bapsy of Apollo Hospitals recommended Avastin-based chemotherapy along with 5FU and Oxaliplatin
  

February 2009

• started chemotherapy at Apollo Hospitals, Bangalore

March 2009

• continued chemotherapy at Apollo Hospitals, Bangalore
• had another PET CT scan after 3 cycles of chemotherapy. The scan this time shows improvement in the recession of the disease though not remarkable. Dr.Bapsy advised to continue the chemotherapy with the same protocol.

April 2009

• had Salmonella bacteria infection and admitted to the Apollo Hospitals for a week. Survived with severe symptoms of diarrhea and fever
• chemotherapy stopped because of infections. (It is not advisable to have chemotherapy when body is infected)

May 2009

• admitted to Apollo Hospitals due to an abscess in the rectal area
• got the abscess drained. Doctors, Vijay Kumar and Nawab Jaan of Apollo Hospitals advised at least a four-week rest before the surgery so that the drained abscess would heal.

June 2009

• not convinced with the Apollo's team of doctors on the state and curability of the disease, took the opinion of Dr.K.S.Gopinath of Bangalore Institute of Oncology (BIO)
• had a temporary colostomy surgery by the team headed by Dr.K.S.Gopinath

July 2009

• consulted Dr.Niti Narang, a medical oncologist with BIO on further chemotherapy
• a PET CT scan showed a progressive disease :-(
  
• started chemotherapy at BIO, the protocol including Cetuximab, Irinotecan and Xeloda

August 2009

• started chemotherapy at BIO, the protocol including Cetuximab, Irinotecan and Xeloda
• admitted once to the BIO for cure of low neutrophils in the blood and got administered Neupogen

As recent as last week, I had another PET CT scan which showed good response to the chemotherapy and the disease got reduced by at least 60%! :-) Dr.Niti advised continuing the same protocol of the chemotherapy.