The Colon Club

Hello this is my 1st time posting but have read a lot and learned a lot reading all the post. Had colon surgery 2 weeks ago to remove malignant tumor. All going well and have been diagonised with Stage 2 colon cancer with no lympe node involvement. Question is I was anemic before surgery around 9 and immediately after surgery ranged 8.9 to 9.2. Is there reason to be concerned if hemoglobin as dropped to 8.5 2 weeks after surgery?

Champ wrote:Hello this is my 1st time posting but have read a lot and learned a lot reading all the post. Had colon surgery 2 weeks ago to remove malignant tumor. All going well and have been diagonised with Stage 2 colon cancer with no lympe node involvement. Question is I was anemic before surgery around 9 and immediately after surgery ranged 8.9 to 9.2. Is there reason to be concerned if hemoglobin as dropped to 8.5 2 weeks after surgery?

Hi! Welcome to the forum.
I would say your hemoglobin is quite stable with these values.

Claudia

I doubt that it is anything to be worried about, but when you have a followup visit with your PCP, ask him or her what you can do to bring it up. If you don't have a visit scheduled, just call and ask him/her. Having low red blood cell count tends to sap your energy. I remember being seriously anemic a decade ago and I'd pant climbing a flight of stairs because there weren't enough red blood cells to carry oxygen. To some extent it just takes time, but you can help it along. Eat some rare steak a few times per week.

If you are going to have chemo, you definitely want to bring it up as much as you can before you start.

Thank you for the responses, I guess I am over optimistic that this anemia would go away quickly after surgery and I would feel better. The other question is the surgeon is not recommending chemo therapy as the benefit does not warrant the effects of chemo therapy and likely hood of reoccurrence is low.. However my PCP has referred me to a oncologist to get a 2nd opinion. I am a little hesitant as I like the idea of no chemo. On the other hand I don't want to overlook something and wish I had consulted with the oncologist.

What I know about my diagnosis is surgeon has told me: Stage 2 colon cancer tested 30 lymph nodes all negative and no spread to distant or surrounding organs. Once I get diagnosis in writing I will include in signature line.

Thansk Mike

Great that you have no node involvement!

Here, the surgical team at the hospital works cooperatively with a regional oncology practice. Your surgeon can offer an opinion regarding what is likely to happen, but it is the oncologist who will decide with you. The surgeon doesn't dictate the followup treatment any more than the oncologist tells the surgeon what technique to use in surgery. So the oncologist isn't a "second opinion." It's an essential part of your treatment. Good for your PCP for acting to make sure you see one.