New Member

[kellientulsa]

Hello,
I have read your stories and they are inspiring. I am coming for clarity I guess. I found on this past Thursday that the "routine" colonoscopy that I had last Monday was not so routine. The doctor told my husband that he removed a 14mm polp in the sigmoid colon and it did not appear to be cancer. However, the doctor called me after the pathologist called him and it is cancer. I am scheduled for a flex sig to "tattoo" the area for the surgeon. I have a referral in to see a surgeon and waiting on that call. I guess I am confused because I had a polyp but the report says tumor? Also, no other tests have been discussed or scheduled. Will the surgeon do that? I am copying some of my pathology so you can have more information. I am not asking for a diagnosis but any thoughts would greatly be appreciated. I am just overwhelmed by this. Also, can you tell me who actually stages the cancer because I was not given that information either.
Thank you so much!!

Diagnosis

Colon, sigmoid, polypectomy -

minimally invasive moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma;

arising within tubular villous adenoma with high-grade dysplasia;

negative for lymphovascular invasion;

polypectomy margin is positive for adenocarcinoma. (C18.7)

Tumor Site: Sigmoid colon

Specimen Integrity: Fragmented

Polyp Size: Greatest dimension: 1.5 cm

Polyp Configuration: Pedunculated with stalk

Size of Invasive Carcinoma: Greatest dimension: 0.7 cm

HISTOLOGIC TYPE: Adenocarcinoma

HISTOLOGIC GRADE: G2: Moderately differentiated

TUMOR EXTENSION: Tumor invades submucosa

MARGINS:

Deep Margin (stalk margin): Involved by invasive carcinoma

Mucosal Margin: Cannot be assessed

LYUMPHOVASCULAR INVASION: Not identified

TYPE OF POLYP IN WHICH INVASIVE CARCINOMA AROSE: Tubulovillous

adenoma

Microscopic Examination

The specimen contains a neoplasm composed of architecturally complex

glands lined by cytologically atypical cells. The epithelial cells

have enlarged nuclei, granular chromatin, and prominent nucleoli.

The atypical glands are surrounded by a desmoplastic stroma,

diagnostic of an invasive adenocarcinoma.

[margiej]

So sorry about your diagnosis. Your situation sounds a bit like mine. I had a routine colonoscopy and the doctor saw an irritated area that he thought was nothing.. Just inflammation from the prep. He took a biopsy and it turned out to be cancer. He was pretty certain we had caught it early and surgery was scheduled. I had a CT to rule out the possibility of any spread of the cancer. I think that you would probably want a scan, too. This was ordered by surgeon (who also did my colonoscopy). I had the colon prep two days before surgery and tattooing the day before surgery so everything was cleaned out for the surgery. It's a hungry few days since you can't eat much after surgery either. The staging happens after surgery. I expected to be Stage I but ended up as Stage 3 when three lymph nodes tested positive. I believe my staging was in the pathologist's final report.

I hope this is helpful. I know you are completely overwhelmed. The first few weeks are super hard but it gets better and you will get through it. 8 inches of my sigmoid colon was removed. I had a three day hospital stay and minimal pain. I know others will chime in with more thoughts and suggestions.

Sending you hugs
Margie

[kellientulsa]

Thanks Margie for sharing your experience. It does sound similar. A gastroenterologist did my colonoscopy and will do my tattooing. He didn't say anything about a CT or PET scan so I will definitely ask the surgeon when I meet with him. I was wondering how long I will stay in the hospital. 3 days does not sound too bad. I was expecting over a week.

Thanks!

[Jannine]

For surgery itself, I was only in the hospital 2 days, and one of those was me being stuck in the anaesthesia recovery area for 24 hours because they didn't have a room for me. I had no access to a bathroom or chair there, so they couldn't get me up and walking. (My surgery was emergency surgery rather than scheduled.) Their original estimate was that I would be there 3-5 days, but I was young and healthy aside from the cancer, and I recovered quickly.

[kellientulsa]

Thanks Jannine. That is encouraging. I meet with my surgeon tomorrow so hopefully I will be better informed. Did you have a bag after your surgery? I have had a doctor tell me that sometimes they do that for healing purposes?

[Jannine]

I was warned that I might need a temporary ostomy before surgery, but it turned out I did not need one. They also thought it was possible I might need a hysterectomy because it looked like my uterus might be affected. Fortunately neither of those was needed and the surgery went very well. Also my surgery was laparoscopic, which surely helped me recover quicker. I had 5 or 6 staples on my ~2" incision below my belly button, and they just glued the other 3 very small incisions shut.

[del]

That is a really horrible way to learn of your diagnosis! I would push for a CT and MRI as soon as possible. This is the first step necessary to deciding a plan for your treatment. 14mm is very small (probably the reason your GI thought it was fine) so hopefully it has been caught very early. Best wishes!