Until October 2008, I never gave cancer much of a thought. I was healthy, had no family history of cancer that would cause concern and didn't have any other risk factors. However, in June and then again in September, I had bouts of bloody diarhea. I thought these might be from stress, a food allergy or perhaps some other intestinal condition related to stress or diet. I also knew that I had a hemorrhoid which could potentially be "acting up". On October 1, I had my first-ever colonoscopy.
The colonoscopy revealed a large blockage in my sigmoid colon (the left side of the body) which was biopsied. The GI doctor referred me to a surgeon to remove the blockage. A couple of days later, the biopsy came back positive for colon cancer.
On October 8th, I had a colonectomy to remove the section of my colon containing the "mass". In addition, they removed the associated lymph nodes and did a biopsy of a lesion on my liver. This lesion came back positive for cancer as well. A CAT scan (and subsequent PET scan) show that I have "multiple" cancerous lesions on my liver. These lesions are metastasized cancer from my colon cancer.
Needless to say, this news was pretty shocking to me and my family. At 45, I didn't think I would be worrying about cancer any time soon but now I am looking at a cancer that has already spread. I had experienced a small amount of blood in my stool going back about a year or so but had a complete check-up in September of 2007. That checkup didn't reveal a problem and I attributed the small amount of blood to a hemorrhoid.
I have now spent the better part of the last few weeks trying to learn everything I can about colon cancer and it's treatment. There's a lot to learn. I have met with four oncologists to get opinions about my condition and how to proceed. I've also found an excellent website run by the Colon Cancer Alliance on which cancer survivors compare concerns and treatments. I found it very helpful to be able to ask questions of other people in similar circumstances about how they have coped with the uncertainty of living with cancer and about their experience in treatment.
I am now coming to accept what is going on - getting over the shock of it, I suppose - and am ready to get started on a plan to address it. The "odds" for people with metastasized colon cancer (Stage IV as they call it) are not very encouraging on paper. But it's important to recognize that large group averages hide a lot of important information that is critical to an individual case. In my case, I am significantly younger than the average cancer patient, I am in very good health (other than cancer) and my metastasis is only in my liver. To me, this means I probably have a better shot than "average". That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
The colonoscopy revealed a large blockage in my sigmoid colon (the left side of the body) which was biopsied. The GI doctor referred me to a surgeon to remove the blockage. A couple of days later, the biopsy came back positive for colon cancer.
On October 8th, I had a colonectomy to remove the section of my colon containing the "mass". In addition, they removed the associated lymph nodes and did a biopsy of a lesion on my liver. This lesion came back positive for cancer as well. A CAT scan (and subsequent PET scan) show that I have "multiple" cancerous lesions on my liver. These lesions are metastasized cancer from my colon cancer.
Needless to say, this news was pretty shocking to me and my family. At 45, I didn't think I would be worrying about cancer any time soon but now I am looking at a cancer that has already spread. I had experienced a small amount of blood in my stool going back about a year or so but had a complete check-up in September of 2007. That checkup didn't reveal a problem and I attributed the small amount of blood to a hemorrhoid.
I have now spent the better part of the last few weeks trying to learn everything I can about colon cancer and it's treatment. There's a lot to learn. I have met with four oncologists to get opinions about my condition and how to proceed. I've also found an excellent website run by the Colon Cancer Alliance on which cancer survivors compare concerns and treatments. I found it very helpful to be able to ask questions of other people in similar circumstances about how they have coped with the uncertainty of living with cancer and about their experience in treatment.
I am now coming to accept what is going on - getting over the shock of it, I suppose - and am ready to get started on a plan to address it. The "odds" for people with metastasized colon cancer (Stage IV as they call it) are not very encouraging on paper. But it's important to recognize that large group averages hide a lot of important information that is critical to an individual case. In my case, I am significantly younger than the average cancer patient, I am in very good health (other than cancer) and my metastasis is only in my liver. To me, this means I probably have a better shot than "average". That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
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