Linda Reichert

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting. As most of you know, I am not the best at talking about myself (although I am a good talker).  I thought this would be an easy way to keep friends and family updated on my status the best I can.  I have asked Joy to help me keep it up to date and hopefully informative for all.


I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Rectal cancer (surprising how when I have been called full of shit or a pain in the ass how true that really was) on August 12.  Since that time I have been visiting doctors and surgeons as well as an oncologist to ascertain the best avenue for me to treat this.  At this time I am opting for the standard of care that is typical for this type of cancer.  The tumor is close and deep in the muscle area of other parts of my body at this point, so it has been suggested that this be the best course for someone my age.  I will begin 28 days of chemotherapy (8 pills a day 5 days a week) along with radiation; I get weekends off, on September 27.  After this course of treatment I will have to allow for 4 weeks of healing time. 


I have elected to have surgery in Georgia at Emory University. I have confidence in this surgeon and I will be close to family for initial recovery.  The surgery will happen after a followup MRI at about ten weeks.  Once surgery has occurred I will have 4-6 months of systematic chemotherapy .  It should all be over after that.


Thanks for all of your friendship and support.  I will do my best to keep everyone updated.