The biggest blunder I ever made........

CherylHutch said:

An interesting quote that seems appropriate
The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, answered "Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived."

Cheryl

that a beautiful quote cheryl
hi cheryl,

what a lovelly quote. that made my afternooon.

cheers,

Pete

how I wish I had acted sooner
Oh, how I wish I had acted sooner, myself. Even after I put it off so long myself, my doctor still acted like I wasn't a cancer risk (with no risk factors or family history at all of cancer & I was "too young" supposedly at "just" 40). So, even after I acted and went to the doctor, it was still another 5 months before I had a colonoscopy and was diagnosed as stage IV rectal cancer, with it already quite profusedly spread throughout my liver and both lungs.
But, as we say too- it's really no use bemoaning what has transpired and what cannot be changed. The only way others can benefit from my loss now is that I can spread the word to others to act on any/all symptoms and get checked out! My own brother still won't act, even 3-1/2 years after my stage IV diagnosis he still hasn't ever gone to the doctor to request a colonoscopy. His angle, he claims, is that his insurance is so bad that it pays for almost nothing so even if they found something, he could never pay for any treatment. I told him how there are ways he could be helped, especially as he is quite low income, but he won't listen. He is so concerned about me, but still won't act for himself. It really does concern me. Fortunately, my cancer genetics were tested and I was found to not have the family hereditary type, but I still know that he needs to be checked soon, as he has now just turned 40.

The thing that makes me the most frustrated with my whole situation & I've heard it from so many other people is that the doctor and nurse practitioner that I first saw blew it off & decided to not be proactive and to not take the "better safe than sorry" attitude. I definitely had a lot of blood, so my insurance paying for my colonoscopy was no problem- that wasn't the reason. I really think the doctor and nurse were just ignorant that colorectal cancer can really present itself in someone younger than their standard age of 50 to do colonoscopies & really just thought there was no reason other than hemmorhoids for my bleeding.
Now, in retrospect, I know that my many, many years of having digestive upset was due to my being gluten intolerant, which in turn caused irritable bowel. It is my hunch that because my colon and rectum were always irritated, that the polyp formed and then grew into a tumor and that is probably what caused my cancer. I had never really complained to my doctor until that point in time about my digestive problems. I had always been that way and my mom was that way too. Being quite ignorant about irritable bowel, colitis, etc., I just thought that was the way I was wired and that it was "normal" for me. I had years of diarrhea, which is why I really wasn't alerted, because there really wasn't a big change in my bowel function- they were functioning the way they had been for years, which was badly, but that was my normal.
I think word is getting out a lot more in the past couple of years to doctors- I know my family doctor has since said that she has seen several cases of colorectal cancer & in several people in their 30's', 40's, even a couple in their 20's. We know this to be true on the CSN board here- I would say most of us are under 50. I do wonder if we on the CSN board are a true representative of ages associated with this cancer- perhaps the older people mostly just aren't ones to go on an internet support group. Heck, my own mother is 67 and she just finally purchased a computer, so I know she would never go on a board like CSN if she were ever diagnosed with cancer. Hmmm...
Makes me think a lot...
But thinking doesn't help unless it is put into action- so now I'm a spokesperson everywhere I go for getting tested and checked out if there are ANY signs or possible symptoms. Better safe than sorry is my motto! Now if only my own brother would listen...

Hugs to all,
Lisa

coloCan said:

Some researchers and companies are trying to come up with
more comprehensive and prognostic ways of detecting CRC other than the pathology analysis that generally follows the snipping of tissue during the colonoscopy procedure,most revolving around blood tests and genetic/biologic markers which may also indicate potential likelihood of mets in lungs/liver in the future......

Again, guidelines concerning diet, nutrition , exercise and cancer, can be found at the ACS, AICR, NCI,and other cancer.orgs and .govs as well as the CRC-specific orgs (fightcolorectalcancer.org, formerly 3C)web sites and most provide free booklets, info.etc

One good book to read has been cited here before, "Anticancer: A New Way of Life" by Dr Servan-Schreiber, specifically the shiny,color pages in the middle,- page 9 of these for CRC- between pages 178-179 (if you don't want to read it all)

Anticancer book
Yes, I agree that "Anticancer: A New Way of Life" is a good must-read book for everyone! I know many people here would rather not think about the nutrition aspect of cancer & as I've said before, I don't believe that diet is what causes everyone's cancer. I do believe that it is the case for some, but for others it may have been stress, family genetics, chemical exposure, metal toxicity or "who knows what". Even with chemical exposure and metal toxicity, some people get cancer and others do not. Everyone's body has a different level of tolerance and sensitivity. I guess this could explain why someone who eats horribly, never exercises, smokes, is couch potato, etc. might end up living a long life and why someone who lives a very healthy lifestyle still might end up with cancer.
I guess with not knowing for sure what causes the cancer, my thoughts are that I want to try to do all I can and minimize the possiblilities of cancer. Since I already have stage IV cancer (as my husband likes to tell me "the cat is already out of the bag- so aren't your efforts of changing how you eat and taking all these herbs kind of pointless now?") No way, I say- I don't know if I can change my immune systems's ability to fight it off or at least keep it from spreading further, but I'm not going down without trying my best to do what I can to get rid of the beast! Of course, I'm still doing chemo and doing what my oncologist recommends, but for me that doesn't feel like enough (especially since after 3-1/2 years of chemo, I still have cancer in my liver and lungs) I feel desperate, I guess, so maybe prompted more than some others might feel, but desperate people do desperate things, and I want to live!!
Anyhow, the anticancer book mentioned does mostly focus on diet, but also talks about making lifestyle changes. Change is hard & I have resisted doing it for the past 3-1/2 years & now I'm kicking myself for not making changes sooner. Can't change what has already transpired, so I'm not going to beat myself up or feel guilty about what I've done or not done... I'm just going to move forward and do what I can- if I still succumb to cancer, well I'll get satisfaction now that no one will ever be able to say I didn't go down fighting till the end!
To... LIFE!!

Lisa