Making a second post to add this: You asked for positive stories, not my rant, but I want to leave it intact because I feel passionately about women having more knowledge about their fertility options. I do remember one or two women here getting pregnant after a cancer diagnosis and doing well! User...
Please, PLEASE reach out to your surgical team tomorrow. This is not a topic that you can get your own information from the web and wing it. Rock_Robster, colon surgery CAN impact a woman's fertility , and it's frustrating to see someone suggest otherwise. I just read a statistic that up to 50% of w...
Skin sensitivities to the adhesives. No real talk about how different brands may work for your skin, and how to try new styles. Little real talk about disposable bags versus reusable bags, especially with regard to insurance reimbursement. Doctors feeling like ostomies are a failure and a last resor...
There's a confusing aspect to cancer staging and tumor grading : they both used a 1 to 4 rating. My guess is that the surgeon wasn't giving you a stage IV diagnosis, but was giving a grade 4, based in the tumor's size and growth into the intestinal wall (assuming it did as part of the perforation). ...
SIBO test is a breath test to check for bacteria overgrowth in the stomach or small intestine. I added a specific probiotic to balance my guts: Visbiome. It's available from a pharmacy, and mine has to special-order it since they don't keep it in stock. Some insurance will cover it; mine doesn't rig...
It might be optimistic to assume that you have a choice between an ileostomy or a colostomy. In order to have a colostomy, you will need to have some of your colon remaining, and if they are indeed taking "everything", that implies that they are removing your entire colon, and possibly you...
You say he had a colectomy and no colostomy bag, but that doesn't really address what his new plumbing is like. He could have an internal pouch, like a j-pouch, in which case he might have pouchitis, which needs to be addressed by a doctor. If he has a straight connection, he might not have a lot of...
There is a guideline to be scoped ten years before the age at which your parent was diagnosed, but this applies to families in which the parent was younger than 55. The thinking is that many colorectal cancers that are diagnosed later in life are generally slow growing and need about ten years befor...
Congrats on the baby! Now...for you, the most important thing is that you stop the Googling, and try not to get ahead of yourself. You've got doctor appointments scheduled, so try not to do too much research on your own until you have a little more information to go on. You asked about staging; it c...
I'm in Seattle, and we have a group that meets monthly for CRC patients, survivors, and caregivers. Anita Mitchell is a Stage IV survivor and former Colondar model who leads the group when she's not traveling for advocacy. Second Wednesday of the month, so Nov 14 is our next meeting. 7pm at the SCCA...
I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis 13 years before my colon cancer diagnosis. The Crohn's and Colitis Foundation gives a lot of information saying that having an IBD raises your risk of colorectal cancer. They recommend yearly colonoscopies Starting ten years after diagnosis. Even if you have i...