Had my 1st colonoscopy today - found a 5 cm mass & I'm terrified

[cecioboe]

Jim had stage 4 rectal cancer (that was very low) and with radiation to shrink it, chemo kill it, and a highly skilled surgeon, is cancer free for 4 years. Try not to freak out as there is always hope.

Best wishes, Ceci

[mmblz]

Just giving you a heads up you may be sore after that port insertion. I totally was blindsided by that, was thinking because it was a fairly small outpatient procedure it wouldn't be so bad, but I was crazy sore for days, like someone used my left shoulder area as a punching bag. After getting through the APR surgery with only needing Tylenol extra strength a few times, I was shocked how sore I was from that port.

Yup, I got really discouraged after surgery because I wasn't expecting it either. But after a couple of days it was fine and once healed I hardly notice it and was so happy to have it for infusions.

[AnnClare]

Y'all were so right about the post-op port surgery soreness. I was not expecting that! Thankfully I made it through without needing pain meds, not even OTC stuff. One thing I do notice, and I'm hoping this goes away, is that when I take a deep breath, I feel some tightness in my upper right pec region (port is on the left). The sensation sometimes radiates up into my neck (most noticeable there when I'm lying in bed at night and also if I bend over at the waist. When I kissed my pup last night at bedtime, it was like, "Geeze - THAT'S an uncomfortable sensation." I'm guessing this is all related to the manipulation that went on during surgery, since I wasn't having it before that time. It's just odd because it's on the opposite side of where the port is.

[Soccermom2boys]

Hey! Glad to hear you didn't need much in the way of meds after your port insertion. Yeah, I would say give it a good two to three weeks before you do truly forget that the port is there. I definitely felt odd twinges throughout the upper chest/neck area those first few weeks afterward and attributed it to the neck manipulation and sure enough now I feel "normal"--ha ha, as normal as one in our position can feel, right?! Because your chemo will attach to the port you will obviously feel the pull on it a bit, but not painful, just that you feel it more is all. While disconnect day for me can be the start of a tiring period, I just love the freedom from the pump (and I am fortunate my insurance pays for the small tennis ball sized one). One more thing to get used to, but we colorectal cancer people are just so adaptive!

[MHL888]

Hi AnnClare,

I also had my port put in on the left so the seatbelt wouldn't cross it when I drive (I'm in the UK).

I had the exact same pain you describe on the opposite side of the port; wierd huh?

No-one really paid me any notice when I described it, but good news is it went away on it's own over a few weeks. Hope it goes the same for you.

Only impact I had for the remaining year of port life was a limit to strength exercises with arms raises. Maybe I could have, but it felt needlessly risky.

FWIW, I was perfectly comfy doing press-ups (gently), and riding a road bike.

Cheers,

Micah

[AnnClare]

Soccermom & Micah ~ so glad to know I'm not alone in that odd, opposite side discomfort! When the nurse was about to begin my infusion yesterday, she asked if I was experiencing any pain, so I mentioned that. She looked at me as if I had two heads. "It's on the OPPOSITE side of your port? Hmm. That's strange. I don't know about that - we should call your surgeon and mention that first." So much for putting me at ease! Turns out they had to order an x-ray anyway because she couldn't get blood to draw from the port. X-ray showed placement was fine and after a 3 hour delay, we began.

I'm happy to say that the sensation is greatly diminished - guess it was like y'all said, all that manipulation they did during surgery. Who knows what the heck goes on while we're knocked out, right? Part of me would love to see video of it, but part of me would rather not know. I don't think I could handle it.

[Soccermom2boys]

At the end of the day, it's those little things that no one but those of us going through it can answer. They just can't know and then they can get you worked up that something is wrong because they just don't have first hand knowledge to say it's a normal feeling.

I agree, in some ways would be interesting to "see" what they do to us when we are out for these procedures, but then again, somethings are also best left a mystery I guess.

Glad to hear it is becoming less noticeable. I truly can forget I have the port unless I see myself in the mirror. Sounds like the week or so of discomfort is worth it as I have read other people's painful experiences with trying to do infusions in their arms. Still surreal all that has happened to us physically since we were diagnosed, huh? And yet we are still hanging in there.