Father newly diagnosed and we need direction

Elinkinhoker

Hello!  My father was diagnosed with colorectal cancer after a colonoscopy about 6 week ago. 

They sent him for CT scan to check for additional masses in the abdomen but it looked clear  

No bloodwork was performed  

he was then referred to a surgeon who specializes in colon surgery and 3 weeks ago he had a colonectomy and resection and 20 lymph nodes were removed. The surgeon was uneasy with the way everything looked so he performed an ileostomy which we hope is only temporary.

The mass was constricting the colon and had grown through the wall of the intestine and attached to the pelvic wall.  Three of the lymph nodes were positive for cancer.

He is hopefully getting the staples in his abdomen removed and the peg out of his stoma friday.  healing is slow.

 

He hasn't been seen by an oncologist yet and the surgeon said he doesn't want to refer him until after his next surgery to reverse the ileostomy is done and healed.  That is in about 10 weeks.  

is this normal? I feel like he should have some blood work done and we should know his stage and treatment or something ... anything really  

can someone help point me in the right direction 

 

 

 

 

 

Trubrit

Welcome

I am sorry that your dad has been diagnosed, but alas, life throws these curve balls now and again - or again and again. 

1st off, your dad is the patient, it is his body, and if he wants to see an Oncologist sooner, that is his choice and not the surgeons.

I certainly haven't heard of anyone being asked to wait 10 plus weeks, before seeing an Oncologist, but I can't say if it is normal or not; it just is'nt something I've come across.

 

I wish your dad the best, as he moves forward on his journey.   And stick with us, we will help you through as well.

Tru 

Real Tar Heel

To this date, two and a half

To this date, two and a half years after diagnosis, there has been no official "staging" of my cancer from the doctors. At one point I they used the term oligometastatic but was probably with the expectation that wasn't likely to stick. I would not worry about staging, but you can look things up yourself and match what you know about his cancer to what is out there. TBH the scans showed nothing but the tumors they removed with surgery he is in a relatively good place. If the healing goes well he should do well for himself, and there may not be a need for further treatment. A large part of dealing with the disease is waiting. Unfortunately anxiety can build while we sit there. Try to find some positive outcomes and what could be good rather than what could be bad.

SnapDragon2

Uhm. bloodwork up front is

Uhm. bloodwork up front is very important right now.

 to include CEA, ca19-9, inflammatory markers, CRP, LDH ect.

It tells a big part of the picture.  Demand complete bloodwork before anything else is done.

SandiaBuddy

Surgery

Surgery is an enormous stress on the body and it does not strike me as odd that no other treatment is planned for the immediate future--but we all have different perspectives.  If your dad feels uncomfortable, he should seek information and explanations from his treating physicians.  As you will hear repeated here often, it is essential that the patient be his own advocate.

abita

I am not sure if I am

I am not sure if I am following, but there is a period of time that one must not be on chemo before and after surgery. I stopped chemo for 3 weeks I think before my liver resection and when I got my pre-bloodwork for surgery my immune system wasn't good enough. A few days later, on the day of my surgery, it was just barely high enough. And then post is I can't remember how long, but they have to give body time to heal.

I don't know if that is relevant to the issue you are pointing out. I was hospitalized because my primary tumor perforated my colon, then had mets removed from liver after some chemo, so my story doesn't fit yours exactly.