New Diagnosis of colon cancer and Muir Torre syndrome

[NCMike12]

I am a 46 yr old male who has a family history of cancer on my moms side. My mother had 3 primary cancers and lived through the first two, even though her first was given a 10% chance after a glioblastoma brain tumor diagnosis in 1979 at the age of 39. They did surgery and max radiation which did put her in remission abd it never came back.

She had Uterine cancer 10 years later and had a hysterectomy which saved her life again.. No need for radiation or chemo.

After this last surgery, the amount of radiation she had from her brain cancer was taking its toll and she showed signs of dementia and we ended up having to put her in a nursing home down the street which was so hard.Roughly 10 years later, she was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer which took her life a year later.

Here my story begins where i have a couple skin lesions which i go to the dermo doctor, they cut them off and send them off and come back positive for Miurr Torre syndrom and they treat them like cancer and i go back and get those areas removed much larger.

They told me was positive for the syndrome and to go get a colonoscopy. I put it off for almost a year and then started getting ill, no energy, stomach cramping and started throwing up when working with my wife in our back yard. I am hard headed and she knew i had a week vacation coming up where we were staying home and she made an appt for me on my first day off and i showed positive for anemia. A week later, colonoscopy, a tumor in the colon up high and one in my rectum. Pet scan showed no spreading but a few lymph nodes showed signs of spread. I have appt next Monday at Levine Cancer in NC area close to Charlotte and just looking for some idea of what i am facing. I have never been out of work, crossed my 20 yr. Anniv. Last week and here i am getting ready for a long not-so-much vacation.... This has happened so fast and there are so many unknowns, my head is spinning.... And thanks in advance for any replies! And sorry so Long.... Just a little unsure and scared of what's ahead. Any experiences or advice Very welcome...... Thank You!

[NHMike]

The treatment regimens for colon and rectal cancer depend greatly on staging. I was Stage 3B and I've been in treatment for 13 months and it has felt like a marathon. You might be stage I or II where there is less treatment. The treatment for my stage and type was 28 days of chemo and radiation, surgery, six months of chemo, illeostomy reversal surgery. That gives you an idea of Stage 3B though 3A and 3C are similar or the same.

There is a huge amount of information to absorb and it's hard to do all at once but there are lots of people here that can answer specific questions from experience. But a lot depends on staging and this is done with a CT scan or MRI - so these should be scheduled soon. It's all very scary stuff though you've had some experience with them with your mother. Emotions may be all over the place as well.