Your biggest misconception

tootsie1
tootsie1 Member Posts: 5,044 Member
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
I was wondering about something-what was everyone's biggest misconception about cancer at the time of diagnosis? Mine was that, because I was diagnosed at Stage 1, I thought I would have one "courtesy call" type of visit to the oncologist, and that would be that. He'd confirm that, no, I didn't need chemo, slap me on the butt and send me on my way. Ha! I didn't realize that 2 1/2 years later I'd still be going in for bloodwork every few months and periodically being checked over by a very thorough oncologist. Or that i would have such repercussions from the surgery that I would be dealing with chronic pain.

Don't misunderstand, I know how very blessed and lucky I am. No complaints!

*hugs*
Gail
«13

Comments

  • RickMurtagh
    RickMurtagh Member Posts: 587 Member
    #2
    Biggest so far
    I HAD thought diarrhea without a colon would be much like diarrhea with a colon. Oh, I could not have been more wrong. I had dysentery once, even that was not as bad as what I now sometimes get.
  • msccolon
    msccolon Member Posts: 1,917 Member
    #3
    mine was the obvious one
    that I would be dead shortly, after all it was cancer. Thankfully that wasn't true, although I'd be lying if I didn't admit that sometimes I thought death might have been preferable to what I was experiencing!
    mary
  • lizzydavis
    lizzydavis Member Posts: 893
    #4
    msccolon said:

    mine was the obvious one
    that I would be dead shortly, after all it was cancer. Thankfully that wasn't true, although I'd be lying if I didn't admit that sometimes I thought death might have been preferable to what I was experiencing!
    mary

    I had no symptoms at all. How could I have cancer without sympt
    I had no symptoms at all. How could I have cancer without symptoms? I felt fine and had no problems. I went in for a routine colonoscopy. I wondered if the machines were malfunctioning.... Then I remembered a college friend died at the age of 54. She had colon cancer and it had already spread to her liver, lungs, back and leg.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #5
    This comment has been removed by the Moderator
  • vhtqm1
    vhtqm1 Member Posts: 107
    #6
    great question
    i honestly thought when initially diagnosed i had a year or maybe even a year and a half of the biggest battle of and for my life. i've learned this is an all out sprint all the time and never ever ever let your foot off the pedal but moreso nearly 3 years after diagnosis i'm still fighting this beast.the fight continues...i'm a little tired this evening so i hope this makes sense....hope all is well.

    ed
  • PhillieG
    PhillieG Member Posts: 4,866 Member
    #7
    Great question
    I think mine was how can I feel so great and have stage IV colon cancer?
    I thought at first I'd be dead soon, I did not think I'd still be in treatment 6 1/2 years later and feel pretty darn good most of the time.
  • KathiM
    KathiM Member Posts: 8,028 Member
    #8
    PhillieG said:

    Great question
    I think mine was how can I feel so great and have stage IV colon cancer?
    I thought at first I'd be dead soon, I did not think I'd still be in treatment 6 1/2 years later and feel pretty darn good most of the time.

    YEA!!!!!!
    And we are soooooooo glad you got THAT one wrong!!!!

    Hugs, Kathi
  • KathiM
    KathiM Member Posts: 8,028 Member
    #9
    I thought this was all there was...then I would go on...
    Didn't realize that my body was so greedy...needed not one, but two cancer fights!!!!

    I WILL say, I even fooled my docs...no one figured that a lump in my breast, which I'd had for years, could possibly be cancer. Thank the powers that be that PET scan for my rectal cancer found it!!!

    Hugs, Kathi
  • Joy1216
    Joy1216 Member Posts: 290 Member
    #10
    Misconception
    My biggest misconception right before being diagnosed with colon cancer was that all cancer patients underwent chemo and radiation. When I was diagnosed with Stage 1 cc after my first screening colonoscopy, I was surprised to find that a colon resection was all that I needed. A courtesy call type of visit to the oncologist just like you described is exactly what I did. He told me that the standard of care for Stage 1 cc was surgery, but no adjuvant chemo. He told me that I didn't need to come back.
    Joy
  • HollyID
    HollyID Member Posts: 946 Member
    #11
    MIne was kinda like Kathy's...
    I thought I'd be sick as a dog. I had the easiest time with my chemo. No nausea, no vomiting, no whatever.

    Now my mother on the other hand thought no women could get colon cancer. I laughed and told her that I won't ever get prostate cancer or testicular cancer. She was really shocked when I told her. :o)
  • AnneCan
    AnneCan Member Posts: 3,673 Member
    #12
    KathiM said:

    YEA!!!!!!
    And we are soooooooo glad you got THAT one wrong!!!!

    Hugs, Kathi

    For sure,
    Phil you truly are
    For sure,

    Phil you truly are an inspiration, especially when you say you feel good most of the time.
  • wifeandmom
    wifeandmom Member Posts: 31
    #13
    HollyID said:

    MIne was kinda like Kathy's...
    I thought I'd be sick as a dog. I had the easiest time with my chemo. No nausea, no vomiting, no whatever.

    Now my mother on the other hand thought no women could get colon cancer. I laughed and told her that I won't ever get prostate cancer or testicular cancer. She was really shocked when I told her. :o)

    That it would be hard but......
    I thought it would be hard (chemo, radiation, surgery, temp. ileostomy) but that everything would proceed without complications, delays, etc. Silly me! Developed a fistula, requiring a second ileostomy (after the first was reversed), interrupting adjuvant chemo, coming down with a postsurgical infection, landing me in the ICU at Hopkins, leading to opening my surgical wound, resulting in an open abdominal wound for over a month, catching strep from one of my children, interrupting my final chemo cycle ......... Now I've swung almost to the opposite, believing that anything that can add complications will. Though, in fairness, I also have to acknowledge the support from family and friends; having good insurance; possibly having a clean scan (still have to get the post-PET/CT MRI that my onc. wants though she says it has 'nothing to do with cancer.'). Still have to laugh (ruefully) at that initial misconception.........
  • christinecarl
    christinecarl Member Posts: 543 Member
    #14
    I thought I would be dead by now
    I had just watched my mom die from colon cancer 2 1/2 years before I found out about mine. She made it almost 2 years, so I have a few more months to go before I surpass that. But honestly colon cancer seemed like a death sentence to me, I still struggle with that, as do most I imagine. Colon cancer has killed 3 family members of mine and in pretty short order too.

    I also like many, thought chemo would be worse than it was. I only called in sick to work 2 times during the 6 months of chemo. It has made me realize how tough I am and has given me faith in myself that I did not have before. When I see people that have heard about my cancer but have not seen me since, they looked shocked, like they think I would look different. Nope I look the same, except for the scars (the ones on the outside), which most cannot see anyway.
  • geotina
    geotina Member Posts: 2,111 Member
    #15
    Biggest Misconception -
    George wasn't sick, how the heck could he have colon cancer and Stage IV on top of it. How did this happen. Next was chemo. I thought I would have to quit work to take care of him, he would be bed ridden, throwing up, bald, skin and bones. Next was the testing stuff, I had no idea what a CT scan was, CEA, mets but boy, you sure learn fast.

    Take care - Tina
  • hoya1973
    hoya1973 Member Posts: 37
    #16
    geotina said:

    Biggest Misconception -
    George wasn't sick, how the heck could he have colon cancer and Stage IV on top of it. How did this happen. Next was chemo. I thought I would have to quit work to take care of him, he would be bed ridden, throwing up, bald, skin and bones. Next was the testing stuff, I had no idea what a CT scan was, CEA, mets but boy, you sure learn fast.

    Take care - Tina

    Inspired by Phil
    My comments would resemble Phil's and I'm inspired by 6.5 years! I feel great but don't know what to expect. Stage IV April 19, 2010.
  • abmb
    abmb Member Posts: 311
    #17
    RickMurtagh said:

    Biggest so far
    I HAD thought diarrhea without a colon would be much like diarrhea with a colon. Oh, I could not have been more wrong. I had dysentery once, even that was not as bad as what I now sometimes get.

    diarhea
    my husband says that his poops are normal, as normal as they will ever be, still after every meal and as soon as he wakes in the morning. a year and a half after his colonectomy he has finally stopped taking immodium on a daily basis. I don't think he has taken one in about 2 weeks now. That is a plus! Take care. margaret
  • thready
    thready Member Posts: 474
    #18
    geotina said:

    Biggest Misconception -
    George wasn't sick, how the heck could he have colon cancer and Stage IV on top of it. How did this happen. Next was chemo. I thought I would have to quit work to take care of him, he would be bed ridden, throwing up, bald, skin and bones. Next was the testing stuff, I had no idea what a CT scan was, CEA, mets but boy, you sure learn fast.

    Take care - Tina

    Did not think I would have side effects
    I have always been one to sail through most adversities. I thought I would not have side effects etc Well, SURPRISE! I was so wrong. When I was about to finish I thought I would be back to my old self and going strong in just a couple of weeks, wrongo, still have a lot of fatigue etc. O.K. now I am learning that I really need to take care of me, not a lesson I have had any experience with. I have spent most of my life taking care of other people, so t his feels so strange and I can say I would rather take care of others-it is a lot easier!

    Jan
  • Patteee
    Patteee Member Posts: 945
    #19
    Me? I kept waiting for the
    Me? I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. The reality is the worse of all of this was hearing, "you have cancer". As hard as recovery has been, the surgeries, the chemo from h*ll- it was nothing compared to the 3 words at the beginning. Perhaps I expected it to be and then it wasn't I was relieved. I kept expecting to go back to the shock and horror of those 3 words, and I never did.
  • roxib
    roxib Member Posts: 1
    #20
    thready said:

    Did not think I would have side effects
    I have always been one to sail through most adversities. I thought I would not have side effects etc Well, SURPRISE! I was so wrong. When I was about to finish I thought I would be back to my old self and going strong in just a couple of weeks, wrongo, still have a lot of fatigue etc. O.K. now I am learning that I really need to take care of me, not a lesson I have had any experience with. I have spent most of my life taking care of other people, so t his feels so strange and I can say I would rather take care of others-it is a lot easier!

    Jan

    Biggest misconception
    Thready hit it right on the head for me. The side effects after chemo. Holy cow. I had Stage II T3 and chemo was optional. I chose to do it because of my age and other issues.
    I thought after chemo I would bounce right back...not so much.
  • ron50
    ron50 Member Posts: 1,723 Member
    #21
    A sad confession.
    Without trying to upset anyone I must confess that my ideas of cancer were way off the mark. At the time I was suffering severe long term depression and when I was dx with cancer my first thought was "Yeah that'd be right". My surgeon and onc were not very encouraging about my survival prospects due to the advanced nature and aggressiveness of my cancer. I thought about it and cosidered that hey perhaps this is perfect,an honorable way out,if I take all the treatment no one could say that I copped out and the effects on my family would be less than other avenues that I had considered.
    Well I got that wrong ,here I am nearly thirteen years later,the universe has no compassion or just doesn't care. Perhaps the secret of survival is not worrying about surviving. Ron.

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