2 days ago my husband (38) went to the ER for pain, bloating, 2 months of gradually increasing symptoms - all the usual suspects. 2 hours later they told him he had a 10cm mass in his upper left colon causing a blockage (unsure if it's in the splenic flexure or descending colon). Yesterday they operated and removed about 1-1.5 feet of his colon. The surgeon said it looked like cancer. It was an open partial colectomy, and we're very grateful that despite forgoing the usual prep she was able to close him up without a temporary colostomy. CT scans and surgical exam showed the mass had grown through the wall and adhered to some fat, but not into surrounding organs or other structures, and no sign of spread elsewhere. I'm desperately hoping when the lab work comes back the lymph nodes are clear.
I've spent 2 days with Dr Google and lots of medical studies, following every rabbit hole to its end. A lot of the good info I found was here. Thank you all for that.
I'm struggling with 3 things right now:
How reliable are the initial CT scans and surgical findings? Can we be reasonably confident it hasn't spread? Or am I just fooling myself thinking the surgeon might have got it all, and a specialist will cut the legs out from under me?
How much stock should I put in survival rates, given that they mostly refer to older patients and my husband is young and healthy?
We've been trying for a second kid for about a year. I'd assumed the problem was with me and my 39-year-old ovaries. Could the tumor have affected his fertility even before surgery and treatment? And is there any hope it will improve after surgery? I know we may bank sperm before he undergoes any chemo, but if it's poor quality then I'm not optimistic about our chances. It feels petty to think about that right now though, and I'm struggling with it. But I don't want this to be something cancer steals from us.
Mostly I just want him home and himself again. He's in so much pain right now from the surgery.