Another New Member
Not even sure what to ask or say. This is happening very quickly, just diagnosed out of the blue. Surgery coming up shortly, the whole thing will be less than 6 weeks. Right now just concerned about the surgery and recovery time, with finders crossed that it is not too far.
Comments
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Welcome.
Welcome. You'll find that this place is home to dozens of really cool, very supportive people. Most of us have been through at least some of what you will be experiencing so the availability of experienced advice is great here.
Do you have any specific questions about your surgery? If so, do you know at this point what form the surgery will take? This will help those with similar experience reply to your questions.
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Thank YouJohn212 said:Welcome.
Welcome. You'll find that this place is home to dozens of really cool, very supportive people. Most of us have been through at least some of what you will be experiencing so the availability of experienced advice is great here.
Do you have any specific questions about your surgery? If so, do you know at this point what form the surgery will take? This will help those with similar experience reply to your questions.
Ascending Colon resection. Hopefully the lymph nodes are clean, but some scans indicate activity in a couple (or more). At this point was told no chemo before surgery, which was a bit of a break along this whirlwind
Guess I am concerned about pain, and figure it is really going to stink for a few days.It is happening so fast, that part of me thinks it is not real. From what I have read and heard from people at the hospital, it is normal feelings. But all of this is really quite new.
Trying to keep laughing and figure I will start acclimating. Had opinions from a couple of surgeons, though of course part of me always thinks "Hey maybe a vitamin or something will knock this out and I do not need surgery, hold off a bit."But of course I know better than that and do try to assess the good stuff. The Docs think I should be okay, generally good prognosis. Maybe I can even miss chemo afterwards. They do not know for sure, but it looks like Stage II or III. Will know more after the surgery. Plus I am in NY area and have SK, figure they know what they are doing, and so far everyone I have met there have been incredibily supportive and kind.
Thanks for the welcome, and sorry for a bit disjointed train of thought on my end.
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disjointed....HaNewHere said:Thank You
Ascending Colon resection. Hopefully the lymph nodes are clean, but some scans indicate activity in a couple (or more). At this point was told no chemo before surgery, which was a bit of a break along this whirlwind
Guess I am concerned about pain, and figure it is really going to stink for a few days.It is happening so fast, that part of me thinks it is not real. From what I have read and heard from people at the hospital, it is normal feelings. But all of this is really quite new.
Trying to keep laughing and figure I will start acclimating. Had opinions from a couple of surgeons, though of course part of me always thinks "Hey maybe a vitamin or something will knock this out and I do not need surgery, hold off a bit."But of course I know better than that and do try to assess the good stuff. The Docs think I should be okay, generally good prognosis. Maybe I can even miss chemo afterwards. They do not know for sure, but it looks like Stage II or III. Will know more after the surgery. Plus I am in NY area and have SK, figure they know what they are doing, and so far everyone I have met there have been incredibily supportive and kind.
Thanks for the welcome, and sorry for a bit disjointed train of thought on my end.
Dearest New here......disjointed train of thought!!! haha you are the model of reason considering what you have just learned. I am very glad you came here to this forum.....it is a great place filled with lots of great experienced people.
So just very briefly.....I always think the beginning is one of the hardest times....so much to absorb and as you already have found....the wonder the disbelief of it all. No advice from me today....one step....baby step...glad you are booked for surgery....that always gets the ball rolling so to speak. So today Welcome and we will be anxious to learn more about you. When is your surgery?
maggie
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Welcome
The beginning of this journey is always most difficult not only trying to wrap your thoughts around the diagnosis but also figuring out where to go from here.
Some of our members have/continue to be treated at Sloan and have had good things to say about them
When is your surgery? Do you know specifically what the surgical plan is?
Hang with us, ask whatever you want and use us for your sounding board or weeping wall, whatever you need. Folks here are super supportive and have had a world of experience in fighting this disease.
Wishing you the best,
Marie who loves kitties
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Thank You Maggiemaglets said:disjointed....Ha
Dearest New here......disjointed train of thought!!! haha you are the model of reason considering what you have just learned. I am very glad you came here to this forum.....it is a great place filled with lots of great experienced people.
So just very briefly.....I always think the beginning is one of the hardest times....so much to absorb and as you already have found....the wonder the disbelief of it all. No advice from me today....one step....baby step...glad you are booked for surgery....that always gets the ball rolling so to speak. So today Welcome and we will be anxious to learn more about you. When is your surgery?
maggie
Thanks, I am trying to reason this all, but I am guessing I telling people here what they already know, reason does not quite fit 100%
The beginning probably is the hardest because of all the unknowns. I had a bit of it from the first call from the doc "Hey, we see something. You should go for a test." To the call almost immediately after the next test "Call me, now" Whoops. Then waiting for the biopsy results from the next thing after call me now.
From the time of the first "Call Me now" to the surgery will be under a month. Seems to be a 6 cm or so area, and the say colon cancer moves relatively slowly, but it would seem to be best to do this ASAP. Sort of having pre-seperation anxiety, coupled with "Oh man the pain is gonna suck for a bit."
Surgery is next week. Right now just trying to get all last minute things done, pieces of business cleared away and some of the "Worst case things." Still really have not told people. So weird about calling friends and family and say "Hey, what's up, guess what," and there is part of me who thinks, couple of days in the hospital (well 3-5 it sounds like), some time crashed out in front of the TV and I will be back and about. Did tell a ciouple of friends so far, just so they know and can be there to help my wife if she needs it.
The one thing that has been pretty obvious so far is that the support is there via the hospital and otherwise, which is why I got on this site. (Actually tried about 4 days ago, but email was not coming through, so tried with a new email today.)
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Thank youLovekitties said:Welcome
The beginning of this journey is always most difficult not only trying to wrap your thoughts around the diagnosis but also figuring out where to go from here.
Some of our members have/continue to be treated at Sloan and have had good things to say about them
When is your surgery? Do you know specifically what the surgical plan is?
Hang with us, ask whatever you want and use us for your sounding board or weeping wall, whatever you need. Folks here are super supportive and have had a world of experience in fighting this disease.
Wishing you the best,
Marie who loves kitties
As far as I know the plan is to remove the asecending colon and re-route the section out, plus grab lymph nodes to check things out. They figure the surgery is about 3 hours. The worst part will be getting me in there and getting the IV in to knock me out.
I have been impressed with Sloan so far, but the reputation does precede them. When I first heard the news, my first thought was "Sloan" I checked elsewhere, but they are the best there is as far as I know in this area and my understanding you would be hard pressed to find better, though there are equals, but I am fortunate to be close to them. I temper it with am I trying to convince myself, but I do not think it is that.
BTW, I am big animal fan and anyone who loves animals is okay dokey in my book.
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I Decided to Tell the WorldNewHere said:Thank You Maggie
Thanks, I am trying to reason this all, but I am guessing I telling people here what they already know, reason does not quite fit 100%
The beginning probably is the hardest because of all the unknowns. I had a bit of it from the first call from the doc "Hey, we see something. You should go for a test." To the call almost immediately after the next test "Call me, now" Whoops. Then waiting for the biopsy results from the next thing after call me now.
From the time of the first "Call Me now" to the surgery will be under a month. Seems to be a 6 cm or so area, and the say colon cancer moves relatively slowly, but it would seem to be best to do this ASAP. Sort of having pre-seperation anxiety, coupled with "Oh man the pain is gonna suck for a bit."
Surgery is next week. Right now just trying to get all last minute things done, pieces of business cleared away and some of the "Worst case things." Still really have not told people. So weird about calling friends and family and say "Hey, what's up, guess what," and there is part of me who thinks, couple of days in the hospital (well 3-5 it sounds like), some time crashed out in front of the TV and I will be back and about. Did tell a ciouple of friends so far, just so they know and can be there to help my wife if she needs it.
The one thing that has been pretty obvious so far is that the support is there via the hospital and otherwise, which is why I got on this site. (Actually tried about 4 days ago, but email was not coming through, so tried with a new email today.)
Like you, I hesitated to put out the word that I had been diagnosed with CRC. It took a while, but my wife finally convinced me to put something up on Facebook, which meant that just about everyone I knew would find out in one post. I was completely shocked at how many messages of support I got - even from people that I rarely ever "talked with" via social media. I found out about a few friends who had had similar diagnoses in the past, or who had fought other cancers, so now we have this other thing in common, too.
I vote for telling the world. Now's the time to reap some of the benefits of friendship that you've given to others in the past.
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Thanks againJohn212 said:I Decided to Tell the World
Like you, I hesitated to put out the word that I had been diagnosed with CRC. It took a while, but my wife finally convinced me to put something up on Facebook, which meant that just about everyone I knew would find out in one post. I was completely shocked at how many messages of support I got - even from people that I rarely ever "talked with" via social media. I found out about a few friends who had had similar diagnoses in the past, or who had fought other cancers, so now we have this other thing in common, too.
I vote for telling the world. Now's the time to reap some of the benefits of friendship that you've given to others in the past.
I started with a couple of friends and my brother. Usually I keep things close to the vest and do not want to impose. I am there for all my friends and I know they will be there for me...there are times where they want to smack me when I get around to telling them things after awhile.
I have a couple of good friends who I 'met" through the years via social media (and have met in real life subsequent to that), and started with them. Then a couple more. Some things going on (other family members are ill) and I am trying to shield them also.
But I have been moving towards your suggestion. Just taking time to get there. Hey, maybe I will postpone the surgery a bit and can work out my telling people issues
Okay, not really on the postpone part. Being able to speak with people here is a great thing, sort of the same club. I felt like that in the areas for testing - had to drink whatever they gave you and looked around to see who else was drinking.
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Dear Friend,
Yes, you are going through one of the toughest part of your treatment. Sounds pretty routine so far. Don't be afraid of the surgery. It's gonna be a great feeling to have the cancer out of your body.
It is recomended to take at least 400mg Cimetidine/Tagamet (over the counter) twice a day starting 1 week before the surgery and continue for at least 2 weeks after. By some medical literature this may reduce the risk of the cancer spreading during surgery. I and many other people here took it and believe it may help. But definitely tell your doctor if you decided to try.
All the best for you,
Laz
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Sloan certainly saved my life!NewHere said:Thank you
As far as I know the plan is to remove the asecending colon and re-route the section out, plus grab lymph nodes to check things out. They figure the surgery is about 3 hours. The worst part will be getting me in there and getting the IV in to knock me out.
I have been impressed with Sloan so far, but the reputation does precede them. When I first heard the news, my first thought was "Sloan" I checked elsewhere, but they are the best there is as far as I know in this area and my understanding you would be hard pressed to find better, though there are equals, but I am fortunate to be close to them. I temper it with am I trying to convince myself, but I do not think it is that.
BTW, I am big animal fan and anyone who loves animals is okay dokey in my book.
My surgeon there is Dr. Paty, and I adore him. He is very meticulous in removing only what needs to be removed; no random organ removal. I lost part of my sigmoid colon and part of my rt. colon, as I had metastatic appendix cancer that had seeded all over the place. Care was excellent, but try to have someone in the hospital with you whenever possible. Sometimes nursing is not as responsive as we'd like, and having a personal advocate really helps. Feel free to send me a personal message with any questions you may have.
(Oh, and I'm also an animal lover - grew up on a small farm, and now actively watching birds as I look out to the lake.)
Alice
Metastatic Mucinous Appendix Cancer dx'd 4/2007
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OperationNewHere said:Thank you
As far as I know the plan is to remove the asecending colon and re-route the section out, plus grab lymph nodes to check things out. They figure the surgery is about 3 hours. The worst part will be getting me in there and getting the IV in to knock me out.
I have been impressed with Sloan so far, but the reputation does precede them. When I first heard the news, my first thought was "Sloan" I checked elsewhere, but they are the best there is as far as I know in this area and my understanding you would be hard pressed to find better, though there are equals, but I am fortunate to be close to them. I temper it with am I trying to convince myself, but I do not think it is that.
BTW, I am big animal fan and anyone who loves animals is okay dokey in my book.
The hospital stay for your upcomming operation is only a few days. They manage your pain and tell you to walk as much as you can.
The walking will hurry the recovery. Good Luck Don't be afraid!!
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I definitely get the goingNewHere said:Thanks again
I started with a couple of friends and my brother. Usually I keep things close to the vest and do not want to impose. I am there for all my friends and I know they will be there for me...there are times where they want to smack me when I get around to telling them things after awhile.
I have a couple of good friends who I 'met" through the years via social media (and have met in real life subsequent to that), and started with them. Then a couple more. Some things going on (other family members are ill) and I am trying to shield them also.
But I have been moving towards your suggestion. Just taking time to get there. Hey, maybe I will postpone the surgery a bit and can work out my telling people issues
Okay, not really on the postpone part. Being able to speak with people here is a great thing, sort of the same club. I felt like that in the areas for testing - had to drink whatever they gave you and looked around to see who else was drinking.
I definitely get the going slowly impulse. In fact, when I did get around to posting about my diagnosis on Facebook, I said that I'd been invited by the hospital to do a several-days long review of their food service. As I'm one of those insufferable people who likes to post photographs of interesting meals, it was a jokey way to open up the subject. A couple days later, I posted a pic of one of my hospital meals, though I still wish I'd posted a picture of my IV bag and called it "dinner."
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Best of luckNewHere said:Thank you
As far as I know the plan is to remove the asecending colon and re-route the section out, plus grab lymph nodes to check things out. They figure the surgery is about 3 hours. The worst part will be getting me in there and getting the IV in to knock me out.
I have been impressed with Sloan so far, but the reputation does precede them. When I first heard the news, my first thought was "Sloan" I checked elsewhere, but they are the best there is as far as I know in this area and my understanding you would be hard pressed to find better, though there are equals, but I am fortunate to be close to them. I temper it with am I trying to convince myself, but I do not think it is that.
BTW, I am big animal fan and anyone who loves animals is okay dokey in my book.
With the operation and ongoing treatments. I ve been here so long I have forgotten what most of that was like. Wishing you well Ron.
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Surgery stage IV
Hello !!! I had a similar surgery January 2nd. 2015........ They removed a tumor the size of a grapefruit from my sigmoid colon and were able to re-connect me. This was done at UPENN.
It does hurt but they give you medicine to control pain, you need to really start walking as soon as they tell you even if it hurts, walking helps healing and also helps getting things working properly inside. I was in the hospital for 5 days. So I had the surgery 5 weeks ago and I am doing my normal life (well if ther is anything normal ha,ha,ha).......
I wish you all the best and have faith that things will go well, positive thinking...........
xoxo
Pilar
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I was where you are now
2 years ago. It's scary as heck because there's so much unknown. You're in good hands at Sloan, trust what they say and follow their advice. I did the Tagamet thing, I figured it couldn't hurt. There is some pain with the surgery but it's manageable, mine was laporoscopic and the doc gave me the morphine pump right after. Start walking and you'll heal faster. Every stage is curable! Allow yourself a little freak out if you're a III or IV but don't stay there! Get busy with getting better! Breathe a huge sigh of relief if you're a I or a II, it's still cancer but caught early and very treatable. I suggest telling everyone you know, I personally am responsible for 9 friends getting colonoscopies. This disease needs public awareness and education, plus the support you will get helps with your survival. That's right, there's an emotional/spiritual/psychological component to your healing. Your staging will determine your chemo, that's where this board really helps because we've all done it. I love my doctors and nurses but frankly they just don't know what it's like because they've only read and heard about it second hand. Touch base with us after you've had your surgery, we're all pulling for you and wish you the best of luck, go get 'em friend! You can do this!
Easyflip/Richard
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Best luck with surgery and
Best luck with surgery and have a speedy recovery.
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Welcome
So sorry you find yourself in this situation. SK has an excellent reputation.
Life Extension Foundation (LEF) web site has several articles under their 'Health Topics' which contain useful information for Colon Cancer, Cancer Surgery, Cancer Adjuvant Therapy, etc. I learned of it from another board member here when I was first diagnosed (stage IV).
If you decide to have chemo, there are supplements you can take that may help the chemo work better. LEF articles describe those.
Here is the link. http://www.lef.org/Protocols
I agree with the other board members on Tagamet to reduce 'seeding' possibility and walking early and often after surgery.
Beating Cancer with Nutrition by Patrick Quillan was the first book I read after diagnosis. Highly recommend to everyone, even folks without cancer.
Best of luck and blessings to you.
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Thanksabrub said:Sloan certainly saved my life!
My surgeon there is Dr. Paty, and I adore him. He is very meticulous in removing only what needs to be removed; no random organ removal. I lost part of my sigmoid colon and part of my rt. colon, as I had metastatic appendix cancer that had seeded all over the place. Care was excellent, but try to have someone in the hospital with you whenever possible. Sometimes nursing is not as responsive as we'd like, and having a personal advocate really helps. Feel free to send me a personal message with any questions you may have.
(Oh, and I'm also an animal lover - grew up on a small farm, and now actively watching birds as I look out to the lake.)
Alice
Metastatic Mucinous Appendix Cancer dx'd 4/2007
Sorry for the delay, did not see rplies (getting used to the board format.)
Surgery is scheduled tomorrow, this moved fast (from discovery to surgery).
I am now hoping to get good pathology report in the next few days.
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Starting To Get Anxiousdanker said:Operation
The hospital stay for your upcomming operation is only a few days. They manage your pain and tell you to walk as much as you can.
The walking will hurry the recovery. Good Luck Don't be afraid!!
The other day some anxiousness set in, maybe a bit of fear
THey said I will have a morphine drip, so I am bringing some music, New Age and Pink Floyd, to go with it They mentioend they want me up and walking ASAP. They think I may actually be able to go home by Saturday in time for Vaeltine's Day.
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