Cyn wrote:On the weekend of November 3, my mother started experiencing pain in her lower left side. She thought it was a muscle pull or a hernia. A week later (on the 11th), she developed a fever and my dad was able to convince her to go to the hospital. They diagnosed her with diverticulitis with a perforation and admitted her to the hospital for treatment with antibiotics in the hope that her body would heal the perforation. She ended up developing an abscess, and they put in a drain. Then another lump showed up (we were told it was likely a mass of blood or something) and she eventually developed cellulitis (because the abscess drain had moved or something and it was leaking). On the 17th (after the doctor discovered she'd developed cellulitis) she was operated on and a portion of her colon was removed. She was given a temporary colostomy and we were told that they "got all the bad stuff out." At that point everyone still thought it was just diverticulitis. A few days later (the following Tuesday, November 21) she was told that the portion of colon they had removed tested positive for cancer. Two out of 13 nodes affected. Doctor told us figures like T4N1 (which we later deduced to mean Stage 3, but we don't know which subclass of stage or subclass of the T number). Doctor said all the margins were "clear" except for one area where it was very, very, very tiny 1mm. He told us today during her post-op appointment that it had not gotten into the abdominal wall.
She hasn't met with an oncologist yet (we're still waiting for the call to set up an appointment), but we understand that probably what will happen next is a PET scan and possible chemo/radiation.
I've learned more about colon cancer in the past week or so than I ever cared to learn in my whole life. And the more I learn the more I grow equally terrified and optimistic (if that makes any sense).
I found your forum after reading this blog post:
http://www.experienceproject.com/storie ... cer/112286Not sure what I hope to find here, but I guess ... I just need a place to vent and learn without stressing out the rest of my family. Especially my Mom.
I'm just so petrified for her.
Cyn, I'm so very sorry that you had to find us, but very glad you did. This phrase has become almost a motto here. <:- )
Did the surgeon who operated give you a copy of the pathology results? If not, you can ask for this. This will help because it may have more information than what they gave you, and if not you can post and/or look up the information to find a more specific answer. Also, don't be afraid to ask the doctors to be clearer. Some patients don't *want* the specifics, so not all doctors will default to giving you everything. There are many posts about staging on this site that you can refer to, but here are some basics. T, N and M make up the "staging" result. T = how far into the colon wall. N = how many nodes (so your mom would be a 2 vs. 1 for this I would think based on your earlier notes), and the M = "mets" or anywhere the cancer has spread to. I was T3N1M0 at staging. By most charts that puts me at stage IIIb, although by some charts is stage IIIa.
Usually with rectal cancer, they do chemo / radiation first to shrink the tumor prior to surgery. Since your mom has already had surgery with clean margins, it's possible she will not need radiation. That might also depend on what they find in the CT or PET scan. Again, from what I've learned this is usually done prior to surgery, so the cart has come a bit before the horse in your mom's case. If they did get it all in surgery, they'll probably (remember, I'm no doctor, I'm just stating what I've been told) want to do what's called "mop up chemo," which basically means that they want to kill of any stray cancer cells that might still be floating around in there before they can land anywhere and cause problems in the future. Standard is about 6 months. There are lots of different options when it comes to treatment too, so I would strongly encourage you and your mom to look into them so that you can take the doctor's recommendation(s), but still make the decisions on what is best for your family. For example, for me, taking an oral pill was much less invasive than going in for infusions since I work full time and am the primary insurance carrier for my family. Others note that having a pump is much better than taking lots of pills. So do some reading. For me, learning more was a way to get some of my power back after the cancer and my diagnosis had stolen it all away. Once treatment gets rolling and things go back to a somewhat normal routine, it gets easier. It's this early stuff with all its waiting and unknown that is the hardest.
So deep breaths, you've come to a safe place, and try to take it one day at a time. There are LOTS of survivors here, and they are making HUGE advancements in treatment all the time. We're here for you.
Hugs, smiles and prayers,
Tracy (aka WriterGirl - - as you can tell from my horrendously long post - - LOL)