Stage 1 with some risky attributes

EasternDawn

Hi gang

after experiencing symptoms and having a colonoscopy at 51 , I discovered that I had one polyp in the sigmoid colon which was too large for the GI doc to remove.

After an amazingly easy resection a month ago, I recently saw an oncologist. She indicated that even though I am stage one, I have at least one risky attribute in the tumor that they removed. She indicated that it had extended within the colon wall and it had intermediate budding. On the good side, 31 of my lymph nodes were removed and all were clear.

In everything that I’ve read , the standard of care is to just watch but she’s recommending I consider the newest circulating DNA test and asked me how I felt about chemotherapy.

Knowing I’ll have a recipe to make ( assuming insurance even covers this test) I feel some info is missing. Also i’ve read a lot about different attributes and risk factors and when asked about more biomarker tests ( all I know is I’m MMR) she’s saying type one doesn’t qualify for additional testing . It has me wondering why she would recommend the Signatera test then…

So…for those of you who are fortunate enough to be diagnosed with stage one , what were the factors that you considered if and when chemo was brought up in your conversations. I’ve been all over the Internet and it seems like a controversial area as far as treatment goes. I’m interested in what if any considerations you and your oncologist discussed when you were deciding on chemo or if it even came up.

I want to be aggressive, but I also don’t want to subject my body needlessly. My mom is in the battle with breast cancer at 74 and that brings with it its own challenges in caregiving.

Trubrit

Hello EasterDawn. I am sorry you have found yourself here, on the forum nobody wants to join.

You have a hard decision to make. I can't give you advice as requested, as I started off Stage III and got bumped up to Stage IV when it spread, but IF I were Stage I, I think I would hie myself off to another Oncologist, and get a second, and sometimes a third opinion.

The forum runs slow, so you may not get replies as fast as you need, or would like (gone are the days when we would have 100 plus posts a day). You may also want to do a search, here on the forum, to see what members in the past, have done. I am trying to rack my brains to come up with any former member who started as Stage I. If I do come up with a name, I will pop back on and search for them.

I hope other members will be on soon, and give you more advice. Until then, I wish you all the best, as you move forward. You are obviously a wise woman (hoping I got that right), as you are already making great decisions.

I also wish the best for your mum.

Tru

EasternDawn

https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1711503#Comment_1711503

Thanks so much. I’m getting a second opinion for sure since all my research confirms it’s kind of a new space. 💪