Colorectal Cancer Seminar

grandma713
grandma713 Member Posts: 105
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hi Everyone, I went to a seminar here in Atlanta last night that was held at Piedmont Hospital. They gave a lot of good information about treatments, genetics etc. But one of the highlights of the night was a talk by Steve Bartkowski, the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback. He did a great job of talking about this from a patients perspective. I didnt know if any of you realized that he had rectal cancer last year and just 15 days ago, got "re-hooked" up as he called it.

The other item that I didnt realize was the connection between ovarian, uterine and colon cancer and the genetics of it. So if any of you get a chance to go to one of these, I say go. It was encouraging and very informative
Franny

Comments

  • kerry
    kerry Member Posts: 1,313 Member
    #2
    Hi Franny,

    Who sponsored this seminar? Do they do them around the country? It would certainly be interesting to attend one. More information, please.

    Thanks,

    Kerry
  • KathiM
    KathiM Member Posts: 8,028 Member
    #3
    Also there are studies on connect between breast and colorectal cancer. I happen to be one of those "lucky" people that got both. Non-metastatic, different kinds of cancer, both primary site.(I keep trying to find the list my name is on....burn it when I find it!!!!!)
    Hugs,
    Kathi
  • spongebob
    spongebob Member Posts: 2,565 Member
    #4
    Franny -

    You make a good point; HNPCC (aka Lynch Syndrome) tends to manifest itself in the digestive tract, reproductive organs and breasts in women, and the pancreas. My mom, who also has the HNPCC gene, has dealt with cancer in the uterus, bladder (x2) and colon. Nasty little bugger that gene...

    - SpongeBob
  • terril
    terril Member Posts: 296
    #5
    Hi Franny,
    I had a chance to attend a seminar in St. Louis this past summer on colon cancer. We had oncologists representing parts of the United States. The way I found out about this seminar was the hospital where I am being treated sent out a flyer in the mail. The seminar was excellent. If any of you have a chance to attend, go. The room was filled with people who had colon cancer or were family members. Thank God I had my uterus, tubes, and ovaries taken out. I had no choice; my colon cancer attacked these organs. Terri
  • kangatoo
    kangatoo Member Posts: 2,105 Member
    #6
    terril said:

    Hi Franny,
    I had a chance to attend a seminar in St. Louis this past summer on colon cancer. We had oncologists representing parts of the United States. The way I found out about this seminar was the hospital where I am being treated sent out a flyer in the mail. The seminar was excellent. If any of you have a chance to attend, go. The room was filled with people who had colon cancer or were family members. Thank God I had my uterus, tubes, and ovaries taken out. I had no choice; my colon cancer attacked these organs. Terri

    I have a solid feeling that cancer is more widespread than we are led to believe. Point of fact for us that are "in the know".
    Prior to getting cancer and the subsequent involvement in everything associated with it I was like the "average" person. ie; the big "C" was rarely discussed and if the subject ever came up it usually was over-ridden by another subject pretty quickly. Now, because of my cancer the subject does come up regularly...mainly because Jen and I are "open" about discussing it....not for sympathy, mind you but to highlight particularly the seriousness of dectecting bowel cancer early.
    The most enlightening thing we are finding is that "almost" everyone we talk to, be they family, friends or just aquaintances, knows of someone with cancer or who has passed from it.That is incredible!
    What I am trying to say here is that these seminars are a valuable tool to serve cancer. Being able to get people "outside" the circle of this disease to attend and benefit is the difficult part but hopefully media coverage will produce that desired effect.We need to get the word out that cancer needs to be discussed openly and not shunned by the general public.It is not until it has a "personal" impact that people really want to know.
    Has anyone heard of the term..."6 degrees of separation?"
    Here is a definition;(quote from Wikipedia Encyclepedia)
    "Six degrees of separation is the theory that anyone on earth can be connected to any other person on the planet through a chain of acquaintances that has no more than four intermediaries. The theory was first proposed in 1929 by the Hungarian writer Frigyes Karinthy in a short story called Chains. The concept is based on the idea that the number of acquaintances grows exponentially with the number of links in the chain, and so only a small number of links is required for the set of acquaintances to become the whole human population.

    By extension, the same term is often used to describe any other setting in which some form of link exists between individual entities in a large set. For example, "see also" links in a dictionary entry may point the reader to other entries in the same dictionary; after following only six such links, the reader could potentially get to any word in the dictionary that has a link to it. In this special case of a dictionary, it is sometimes called the six links rule."
    Now you might well ask why I posted this? All I am saying is that the subject of cancer is generally "taboo" in discussion...most people shy away from it...it hurts too much. But if we all can talk openly about it to those we know...without "earbashing of course" then word will travel quickly about things like screening for cancer and preventative measures.
    I like to think we can make a difference.
    cheers Ross and Jen
  • KathiM
    KathiM Member Posts: 8,028 Member
    #7
    kangatoo said:

    I have a solid feeling that cancer is more widespread than we are led to believe. Point of fact for us that are "in the know".
    Prior to getting cancer and the subsequent involvement in everything associated with it I was like the "average" person. ie; the big "C" was rarely discussed and if the subject ever came up it usually was over-ridden by another subject pretty quickly. Now, because of my cancer the subject does come up regularly...mainly because Jen and I are "open" about discussing it....not for sympathy, mind you but to highlight particularly the seriousness of dectecting bowel cancer early.
    The most enlightening thing we are finding is that "almost" everyone we talk to, be they family, friends or just aquaintances, knows of someone with cancer or who has passed from it.That is incredible!
    What I am trying to say here is that these seminars are a valuable tool to serve cancer. Being able to get people "outside" the circle of this disease to attend and benefit is the difficult part but hopefully media coverage will produce that desired effect.We need to get the word out that cancer needs to be discussed openly and not shunned by the general public.It is not until it has a "personal" impact that people really want to know.
    Has anyone heard of the term..."6 degrees of separation?"
    Here is a definition;(quote from Wikipedia Encyclepedia)
    "Six degrees of separation is the theory that anyone on earth can be connected to any other person on the planet through a chain of acquaintances that has no more than four intermediaries. The theory was first proposed in 1929 by the Hungarian writer Frigyes Karinthy in a short story called Chains. The concept is based on the idea that the number of acquaintances grows exponentially with the number of links in the chain, and so only a small number of links is required for the set of acquaintances to become the whole human population.

    By extension, the same term is often used to describe any other setting in which some form of link exists between individual entities in a large set. For example, "see also" links in a dictionary entry may point the reader to other entries in the same dictionary; after following only six such links, the reader could potentially get to any word in the dictionary that has a link to it. In this special case of a dictionary, it is sometimes called the six links rule."
    Now you might well ask why I posted this? All I am saying is that the subject of cancer is generally "taboo" in discussion...most people shy away from it...it hurts too much. But if we all can talk openly about it to those we know...without "earbashing of course" then word will travel quickly about things like screening for cancer and preventative measures.
    I like to think we can make a difference.
    cheers Ross and Jen

    I raise my glass, kanga.

    Hugs,
    Kathi
  • Betsydoglover
    Betsydoglover Member Posts: 1,248 Member
    #8
    kangatoo said:

    I have a solid feeling that cancer is more widespread than we are led to believe. Point of fact for us that are "in the know".
    Prior to getting cancer and the subsequent involvement in everything associated with it I was like the "average" person. ie; the big "C" was rarely discussed and if the subject ever came up it usually was over-ridden by another subject pretty quickly. Now, because of my cancer the subject does come up regularly...mainly because Jen and I are "open" about discussing it....not for sympathy, mind you but to highlight particularly the seriousness of dectecting bowel cancer early.
    The most enlightening thing we are finding is that "almost" everyone we talk to, be they family, friends or just aquaintances, knows of someone with cancer or who has passed from it.That is incredible!
    What I am trying to say here is that these seminars are a valuable tool to serve cancer. Being able to get people "outside" the circle of this disease to attend and benefit is the difficult part but hopefully media coverage will produce that desired effect.We need to get the word out that cancer needs to be discussed openly and not shunned by the general public.It is not until it has a "personal" impact that people really want to know.
    Has anyone heard of the term..."6 degrees of separation?"
    Here is a definition;(quote from Wikipedia Encyclepedia)
    "Six degrees of separation is the theory that anyone on earth can be connected to any other person on the planet through a chain of acquaintances that has no more than four intermediaries. The theory was first proposed in 1929 by the Hungarian writer Frigyes Karinthy in a short story called Chains. The concept is based on the idea that the number of acquaintances grows exponentially with the number of links in the chain, and so only a small number of links is required for the set of acquaintances to become the whole human population.

    By extension, the same term is often used to describe any other setting in which some form of link exists between individual entities in a large set. For example, "see also" links in a dictionary entry may point the reader to other entries in the same dictionary; after following only six such links, the reader could potentially get to any word in the dictionary that has a link to it. In this special case of a dictionary, it is sometimes called the six links rule."
    Now you might well ask why I posted this? All I am saying is that the subject of cancer is generally "taboo" in discussion...most people shy away from it...it hurts too much. But if we all can talk openly about it to those we know...without "earbashing of course" then word will travel quickly about things like screening for cancer and preventative measures.
    I like to think we can make a difference.
    cheers Ross and Jen

    Great post, Ross. I'm already responsible for 4 colonsocopies that I know about (my brother, sister-in-law, and 2 fellow managers at work.) Who knows - there may be more lurking out there. I don't badger folks about my cancer, but I don't shy away from conversations either. If I can help a few people to not go through what I did, then I feel good (and this is also more positive than beating myself up because if I had had a colonoscopy when I should have, I might not be in the situation I am in.)

    P.S. I wish colorectal cancer awareness could take off the way breast cancer awareness has. It really hasn't yet - March may have been national colorectal cancer awareness month, but I don't think too many people are aware. There are so many of us and I can't help but think that all the raised consciousness about breast cancer has actually helped fund the research and help with the treatment of that disease.

    Betsy
  • lfondots63
    lfondots63 Member Posts: 818 Member
    #9
    Hi everyone,

    I agree with Betsy that just being open about what we are going through can help other people. I try to talk about it at work so people understand that it is not a death sentence and have them be more aware that they need to get a colonoscopy. My manager is getting one and I hope that I am part of the reason.

    Lisa
  • NanD
    NanD Member Posts: 58
    #10
    I have just scheduled a DNC to remove a polyp from my uterus. I am a stage III c colon cancer survivor. CT's revealed an enlarged uterus one time, then large ovaries another time. Follow up ultrasound has not been too alarming-the ovaries seem cystic and have resolved for now, but the polyp is geting bigger. My oncologist just sent a letter to my OB saying get the polpyp out now... so for the first time I went to the uterine and ovarian web sites and I see why. YUCK-I am glad that my oncologist is a very proactive guy. I'll let y'all know-so far I'm assuming that if you get these uterine polyps early they aren't any more trouble than colon polyps we get in time. Anyone who wants to chime in about uterine polyps?

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