T1 N1 Rectal Cancer

[Supportivechild]

My mother had her MRI Pelvis completed today. According to the summary statement the results are
T1 N1
Not really sure what it means for her.

She will have a CT of her chest in a few days. She mentioned earlier today that these scans scare her the most because it determines her staging. I simply hope that these results don't break her because I need her to focus on fighting this.

For those that didnt read my last post. A 5cm mass was located during a colonoscopy on 12-13-19

[Punky44]

Sorry you find yourself here. It’s very scary in the beginning waiting for tests and staging.

This link helped me understand staging a little better:

https://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/col ... cer/stages.

It looks like right now she is a Stage III A.

Hoping for clear results on the chest CT!

[Supportivechild]

Sorry you find yourself here. It’s very scary in the beginning waiting for tests and staging.

This link helped me understand staging a little better:

https://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/col ... cer/stages.

It looks like right now she is a Stage III A.

Hoping for clear results on the chest CT!

Thank you for taking the time to respond. When she went to the ER in October 2019 she had a CT of her abdomen which the doctor says is reassuring. I sure hope for clear results with this next CT scan. We are trying to take it one step at a time. At her last appointment the doctor stated that she will need 5fu & radiation treatment prior to surgery. Will this possibly change staging prior to surgery?

Thanks again

[Supportivechild]

Sorry you find yourself here. It’s very scary in the beginning waiting for tests and staging.

This link helped me understand staging a little better:

https://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/col ... cer/stages.

It looks like right now she is a Stage III A.

Hoping for clear results on the chest CT!

Thank you for the response. The 2 suspicious lymph nodes is throwing me for a loop. I'm assuming the size 7x4 mm and 5x3 mm is what makes them suspicious. Can treatment change the staging once started? I'm making a nice list of questions to ask her oncologist when we see her again.

[Punky44]

Yes and no. The chemo/radiation she will receive before surgery is intended to shrink the tumor and the lymph nodes so ideally when you get to surgery, things will be much smaller or possibly not even there—they will then give you a final staging based on the pathology after the surgery but this is the “y” staging, meaning “after treatment.”

So in my mom’s case, she was a T3N2, which makes her an advanced Stage 3 patient, but with the treatments done prior to surgery, her final pathology was a yT1NO, meaning the chemo and radiation did its job.

[Supportivechild]

It's great to hear that the treatment did its job for your mom. My mother is currently getting a pet scan and then her chest ct afterwards so we're getting close.