awaiting colon surgery

[joy]

I had NO symptoms - I was on top of the world feeling fine and looking forward to my trip south and my 60th birthday!!

6 weeks ago I had a terrible bleed from the rectum.We were in the process of getting ready to spend our winter in Florida (Canadian Snowbirds). At first I was going to ignore the whole thing - but when it happened a second time I went directly to my doctor. The fastest thing to order was a barrrium enema - which showed a 3cm mass. This moved me quickly to a colonoscopy where it was seen clearly that I had a nasty irregular shaped bleeding polyp. The surgeon refused to remove the polyp (too big - and suspicious!!). Scheduled me for surgery on the 16th December - went to hospital at 8:30 a.m. lay there until 2p.m. - surgery cancelled because of an emergency. Re-scheduled for the 4th January!!

The biopsy from the colonoscopy showed that I have a "pre-cancerous" polyp - but surgeon is "concerned" because he couldn't take a very big sample - polyp looks as though it is "ulcerated" and touching it makes for a bleed.

Surgeon doesn't give any"drugs" when he does colonoscopy so I was able to see "the beast" - nasty little devil.

I'm going crazy - this will be my 4th "colon" prep Not to mention that my nerves are shot!!

I'm going out of my mind with anxiety.

Thanks for listening

[Guest]

Joy,
We've all been through it! Don't worry too much, it sure sounds like your doctors are on the ball and getting things taken care of as fast as possible. It also sounds like you catching it really early on. Matter of fact, it sounds almost exactly like what I went through. I had serious bleeding twice and immediately went through all the test you have and they found a polyp that carried some pretty rare and agressive cancer in it. The whole thing happened within a month and a half and I was out recovering from a resection (I had a foot and half of colon removed, 89 lymph nodes and my appendix). Luckily, because it was still in stage I, I didn't have to have chemo. Five years later, I am still kicking and survived the whole ordeal just fine (at least physically!) I know it's hard not to be stressed about it, but just enjoy your holiday and try to think positively about it. You'll do fine!!!!!
Maggie
PS- yes the colon preps suck, but you might as well get used to them, because after your surgery, they don't go away!!! You'll most likely have to have colonoscopies or sigmoidoscopies on a more regular basis!

[Guest]

Oh boy -- I do sound like a whinny wimpy person. I'm just feeling down to-day. 2 years ago my baby sister died of ALS (aged 47) then just over 3 months ago my middle sister (aged 56) died of cancer. Im the oldest and last remaining sister!!

This colon problem really has me spooked.... I've got to get my head to-gether and start thinking that I'm going to be O'K

I've been reading about all the wonderful people on this group ---- I will try hard to gain strength from them!!

Thanks for listening........

[lisa]

Joy, I am SO happy that you went to the doctor right away. It sounds like you are in great hands and you'll fly right through this. I had bleeding off and on for about 6 yrs before I had a colonoscopy and when the source of my bleeding was finally discovered I was at Stage 3, 4 nodes positive. I am SO happy you didn't delay!

Lisa
www.lisaschaos.blog-city.com

[Holly]

Joy,

I am so pleased to read that you are proactive in the management of your health! This is so important and good for you!

As for the colon prep...If it makes you feel any better I completed my 10th on Tuesday early morning. Not much has changed from the first one or perhaps I have become sensitized to the ordeal!

This holiday season, I wish you a long, blessed life and holiday cheer throughout the year.

Hugs!

Holly

p.s. Florida sounds great right about this time of year!

[Guest]

Surgery to-morrow at 8.a.m. I'm ready to go - just get this darned "beast" out of me... have confidence in my surgeon, thinking good thoughts. READY TO GO!!!!

prayers would be appreciated.

[Terry Miller]

Hi Joy,
My story was pretty much the same as yours. Significant rectal bleeding..a colonoscopy.. and a right side colonectomy. I had a two week wait from diagnosis to surgery with a Stage 1 tumor removed with 18" of colon. It was the longest wait of my life. Remember, though, there is one thing far worse than being diagnosed with colon cancer....it's not being diagnosed with colon cancer. Good luck with your surgery tomorrow. While it is no walk in the park, it's not all that bad. The benefits of surgery far outweigh the temporary pain and discomfort. Best wishes to you tomorrow. It sounds like your prognosis will be a favorable one with no chemo.

Sincerely,
Terry Miller

[Holly]

Joy,

By the time you read this post, your surgery will be complete~I want you to know that you are in my thoughts and prayers! Remember ALL things are possible

Hugs!

Holly

[Guest]

Yippee it is over! Was it PAINFUL YES ...... ONLY WHEN I LAUGH

Haven't got the pathology results back however surgeon is VERY optimistic that the results will be good. HE said "if by any chance it comes back as positive, I'm sure that it is in the very early stages". The surgeon is head of Department at local university hospital and has lots of colon surgery to his credit.

Interestingly enough he did mention that the "tumor/polyp???" had shrunk since he last looked at it and was about as big as a quarter size coin. It was low in the sig so he removed part of the rectum, lympds nodes and fatty tissue.

I sitting reading my " Lores diet" information and feel GREAT

[ASTEPHENS33]

Congradulations. I agree with the previous posters - its good that you were aggressive about the management of your sypmtons.

I think the having to wait for a procedure or getting the results is the hardest. I had a similiar situation - i.e., guarded optimism after a colon resection (a very large polyp was found after a routine colonoscopy), but it turned out 1 of 33 lymph nodes was cancerous. The cancerous polyp they removed had not gone through the colon wall, so the cancer had metasticized.

I ended up going to two oncologists and spoke to a few other doctors before finalizing the chemo I am doing. I am really glad I did. I took me a while to sort through even the right questions to ask, which, for me, included knowing the statistics on the different chemo regimes being offered and the side effect trade-offs. I ended up doing Xeloda - an oral form of 5FU.

Be sure to check in and let us know the bioposy results.

[Guest]

My "surgical" experience was great. I received wonderful nursing attention in the hospital etc. However, on release from hospital I was given no "home" instructions. I had to ask for info on the Res fibre diet - wouldn't have known to ask about it if I hadn't done my own computer research.

It has been 1 week since release and I'm feeling good (pain level is low). I'm experiening gas pains and yesterday I had a BM (small amount and skinny black poop ). My sister-in-law (nurse) told me to get some stool softeners --- please anyone out there who has gone through this give me some advice on what to expect and what to take to help me through the healing process.

Trying to call my Doc is frustrating (he is a very busy).

I've come to the conclusion that going directly to folks who have gone through surgery is the best way to get advice.

Thanks, Joy

[ASTEPHENS33]

Its so good that you are being aggressive about getting the information you need.

Getting my colon working again was the most challinging after surgery. My colon resection was November 3, 2005. My doctor prescribed and I took two 100mg of docusate (stool softener-sold at any drug store across the counter) twice a day. I was still constipated and for a week or two, he added milk of magnesia. (I believe it was 2T twice a day - whatever is on the bottle). This worked out for me. If the stool became too lose, I would cut back what I was taking. I am still doing 100mg of docusate daily. My doctor said I may need this for months.

I also added a serving a prunes daily, when the constipation was bad and now eat them almost daily, but a fewer amount. I still strain sometimes, but I'm not sure why as it comes out pretty easy.

I also had a hard time knowing when "I had to go". Its like the signals from down there to my brain just needed to be retrained. It'd be more that I would get stomach cramps and then know.

I also installed a toilet seat extender (also easily bought at a drugstore) that allowed me not to have sit so low to the seat, which helped my stomach muscles.

You can email directly if you want at tagunit@aol.com. Also, on my web blog, I wrote up a reasonable description of my post-op experience:
http://colon-cancer-journey.blog-city.com/

[joy]

This is crazy - I have the feeling that I have to go "all the time" - not cramps, not diarrhea(sp?) - just the overwhelming sensation that I have to GO! When I do go which is many, many times per day it is not painful and is only a small amount.

It is driving me crazy - I want to "live in the bathroom"!!

If I try and ignore the "urge" I start to get a panic sickness type of attack.

Anyone have the same problem????

[Guest]

Its so good that you are being aggressive about getting the information you need.

Getting my colon working again was the most challinging after surgery. My colon resection was November 3, 2005. My doctor prescribed and I took two 100mg of docusate (stool softener-sold at any drug store across the counter) twice a day. I was still constipated and for a week or two, he added milk of magnesia. (I believe it was 2T twice a day - whatever is on the bottle). This worked out for me. If the stool became too lose, I would cut back what I was taking. I am still doing 100mg of docusate daily. My doctor said I may need this for months.

I also added a serving a prunes daily, when the constipation was bad and now eat them almost daily, but a fewer amount. I still strain sometimes, but I'm not sure why as it comes out pretty easy.

I also had a hard time knowing when "I had to go". Its like the signals from down there to my brain just needed to be retrained. It'd be more that I would get stomach cramps and then know.

I also installed a toilet seat extender (also easily bought at a drugstore) that allowed me not to have sit so low to the seat, which helped my stomach muscles.

You can email directly if you want at tagunit@aol.com. Also, on my web blog, I wrote up a reasonable description of my post-op experience:
http://colon-cancer-journey.blog-city.com/