Postby johnmeissner » Wed Oct 04, 2006 10:28 am
Amy,
Congratulations on being a survivor! It sounds like you are on the way to getting better quite quickly. Good for you.
Doing research is a good thing. I was diagnosed at stage 1 on July 13th. Before surgery, which was performed on August 21st, I did quite a bit of research about colon cancer, it's effects and treatments. It helped me to understand what was going on and what to expect, pre and post surgery.
Being diagnosed at stage 1 was a very good thing for me. The surgeons went in, removed the affected site, in my case the sigmoid colon and also took care of some adhesions from a 1968 appendectomy, plus put my colon in it's proper place. (It apparently had been tucked up behind my spleen and ribs since birth.) Because of the extra work, my hospital stay lasted 10 days.
One thing I did prior to surgery, was to be as proactive as possible. I had extenuating circumstances that made having surgery done as quickly as possible imperative. I had to actually push and prod the clinic treating me into first scheduling me to see the surgeon, then getting surgery scheduled. It's never, in my opinion, a bad thing to become as involved as possible in your course of treatment.
Post surgery, I followed doctors and nurses instructions as best I could and asked questions whenever I had one. Knowing what's going on and what's coming up, is very helpful in dealing with any disease.
To answer your question, yes, there is a difference between acceptance and avoidance. When you accept what is happening to you, you can then get on with attacking and defeating the cancer in you. If you choose avoidance, it delays your treatment and gives the cancer more of a chance to become entrenched in your body. My advice is to first accept, then fight with everything you have. Research, talk to your doctors whenever possible and as often as necessary and come here and ask questions whenever you have one. There are many people here who know what you are going through and can be a great help.
It's not unusual to be scrared, nor is it a bad thing. Just don't let it get the best of you, okay? Good luck to you and God bless. Please visit often and let us know how you are doing. We are all behind you.