Rectal Cancer with mets to liver

jenalynet
jenalynet Member Posts: 361 Member
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hi,
I am new here and have been reading the messages for about a week now and decided to join in the discussions. First of all you are a courageous group of people and I have read some helpful things here. I am female age 53 soon to be 54 on Nov. 11th. The week of August 22nd I started noticing diareah with blood during bowel movements, I thought gee something I ate or virus. On September 7th I went to see my MD and had stool testing done and made appointment to have colonoscopy. Oct 12th was the earliest appointment I could get and the doctor could not completely finish the procedure because of a mass in my rectum. I had a ct scan and chest xray before leaving the hospital that day and Dr. Lake said he would call Dr. Browning and have them contact me for an appointment to have the mass removed. On Oct. 14th Dr. Brownings office called and scheduled an appointment for Nov. 2nd, 10 minutes later Dr. Lake called and said the chest xray was good but the ct scan showed multiple spots in my liver. On Nov. 2nd Dr. Browning examined me and said he felt it could be removed without needing a colostomy but he wants a endorectal ultrasound done first and may decide radiation before surgery. Before I left his office Nov. 2nd the secretary called a DR. Regan to schedule my appointment but I was told they would call me at home to make this appointment. I waited until friday afternoon and called them but received machine which said calls would be answered in the order they were received. I will try again this morning to see if I can get through. I think this is such long periods between appointments maybe because I am anxious to get something started..I live in Oregon USA and I have 2 grandaughters who I have custody of ages 10 and 11 who I have explained as much as I could to about my cancer so they know why I am going to these appointments. My husband is very supportive but he wonders why there are such long waits for appointments also. I told him I'm not the only one waiting..I am ready to fight this and my attitude is very good . I took care of my mother who had pancreas cancer so cancer is not new to my family. Sorry this is so long..Thanks for listening to me, maybe I just needed to vent at all this waiting around..Audrey

Comments

  • foxy
    foxy Member Posts: 188 Member
    #2
    Hi Audrey, just wanted to let you know that I had colon cancer and Liver mets 12 years ago and I am fine now. Never give up hope you CAN get over this-- just keep positive--- Virginia.
  • scouty
    scouty Member Posts: 1,965 Member
    #3
    Hi Audrey,

    I too had to wait for proper testing and appointments but can not complain today. I was freaking when it happened though. Being new to the board, read the other messages I posted today.

    Lisa P.
  • Moesimo
    Moesimo Member Posts: 1,072 Member
    #4
    Audrey,

    I am sorry that you are having such a tough times with appts. Keep calling those docs back.

    I copied and posted my response to Debra, (below)

    I am so sorry that you had to join our group. I was 46 when diagnosed with stage 3 rectal cancer 2 1/2 years ago. I have had chemo, radiation, surgery, a second surgery, more chemo and then a 3rd surgery. It was a rough 2 years with 11 hospital admissions. But my life went on and I didn't miss a beat. I was able to work full time through it all except when I was in the hospital. I have a great support system that includes my husband of 26 years. My daughter graduated from college 2 days after my last radiation treatment and went on to grad school and received her MBA. She is now engaged and we are planning an Aug. wedding. My oldest son graduated from high school 2 weeks after my last radiation treatment and is now a junior in college. My youngest son was 14 and a freshman in high school, he is now a senior and we are looking at colleges for him.

    There are many more survivors that will post. We are here for you. You will get through this.

    Maureen


    Keep us posted on hoe you are doing.
  • taraHK
    taraHK Member Posts: 1,952 Member
    #5
    Hi Audrey -- Warm welcome to this group. I am sorry you are having some frustration waiting for appointments. But it seems you are taking a very active role in your management, which is great. I was diagnosed with rectal cancer about 2.5 years ago. Just wanted to say that I think the endorectal ultrasound is a very good idea. It is very valuable in 'staging' the tumour, and allowing your doctors to recommend the most appropriate treatment plan. In my case, the ultrasound revealed my tumour was at least stage II (later turned out to be stage III). So I had the presurgical radiation. Wishing you all the best and please keep us posted.
    Tara
  • kangatoo
    kangatoo Member Posts: 2,105 Member
    #6
    taraHK said:

    Hi Audrey -- Warm welcome to this group. I am sorry you are having some frustration waiting for appointments. But it seems you are taking a very active role in your management, which is great. I was diagnosed with rectal cancer about 2.5 years ago. Just wanted to say that I think the endorectal ultrasound is a very good idea. It is very valuable in 'staging' the tumour, and allowing your doctors to recommend the most appropriate treatment plan. In my case, the ultrasound revealed my tumour was at least stage II (later turned out to be stage III). So I had the presurgical radiation. Wishing you all the best and please keep us posted.
    Tara

    Hi Audrey...nice to meet yah! Could have been under better circumstances but no matter..you are here with us all now and that is the important thing. No matter how hard things seem the pre-op testing and scheduling gets pretty longwinded at times but at the end of the day I am sure there are good reasons for it. It was almost 4 weeks to my surgery from initial dx-ing and luckily I had a great specialist who explained every step. Ask a lot of questions during the process Audrey. In this way you will hopefully be more prepaired.It is understandable your hubby is also anxious but time will reveal all the details..and hopefully some truthfull answers.
    Prior to my surgery for stge 2 sigmoid/descending colon cancer I had many tests including; CT, sigmoidoscopy, barium enema, ultrasound, ECG(stress test for heart), x-rays(lungs), and a heap of other stuff in the 4 weeks prior to surgery. Pretty harrowing stuff for someone who had never seen the inside of a hospital!
    We hope that everything goes smoothly for you and do understand your fears...it gets pretty emotional and draining.
    All the best from down under, Ross and Jen
  • mikew42
    mikew42 Member Posts: 114 Member
    #7
    Audrey,

    I am sorry you have to meet this wonderful group under such circumstances. I am also a Stage 4 and had mets to the liver. I am now one year NED (no evidence of disease). I also went through some anxiety at the pace of the medical system when I was initially diagnosed I just wanted to get the thing out and be done with it! It gets frustrating waiting for them while your ready to fight. However my doctor told me they just wanted to make sure of the course of treatment and that this tumor has probably been growing 5 or more years and waiting two more weeks wasn't going to change anything. Wasn't an easy answer at the time, but now looking back I am glad we waited. BTW - I also live in Oregon (Beaverton) and if you need someone to talk to locally, e-mail me through this site and I will send you my personal e-mail address. Take care, Mike
  • taunya
    taunya Member Posts: 390 Member
    #8
    Hi Audrey,
    Welcome to tthe group. I am sorry to hear that you are having a hard time getting your appointments scheduled. Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease so to speak. Keep pestering them until you get some answers. I wish you luck and hope you get it sorted out soon.
    Hugs,
    Taunya
  • jenalynet
    jenalynet Member Posts: 361 Member
    #9
    Thanks to everyone for your encouraging replies..They called Tuesday and told me the surgeons office forgot to fax a paper needed before an appointment can be made so I will probably hear back from them today..Thanks to everyone for being here and sharing their information etc... Audrey..Mike, I am in Banks Oregon and I may be e-mailing you.

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