Waiting for results

Waiting is stressful. Most of us have been through it and are going through it.  One helpful thought is that most CRC is adenocarcinoma which is a slowly progressive disease process. A week or so, and in many cases a month or so makes little difference in the advancement especially during the early stages.

To answer your question: it depends entirely on where the procedure was done. Bigger hospitals have pathology in house and it can take as little as 1 hour to get urgent requested results. Smaller hospitals have to send it out to a lab and it will also depend on the prioroty the doc assigns to the request.  Distance from hospital to lab and back to the oncologist can also play a role.  The tissue must be delivered by a courier, but hopefully the results will be faxed instead of mailed back to the doctor.

It never hurts to call your oncologist's nurse and tell him/her that you are anxious. They may be able to ease your mind a little.  Dan