Where were you when you found out you had ColoRectal cancer?

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  • plh4gail
    plh4gail Member Posts: 1,238 Member
    #42
    June 18, 2010
    When I was doing pre ops for colonoscopy for my symptoms, my Nurse was going over questions and asked me how long I'd had cancer. She was reading off the H&P from my GI Doctors office visit a couple of days prior when he did an exam in his office. I said "I have cancer?" Her eyes teared up and she flipped the chart around for me to read, as there was nothing she could do or say at this point to take it back. My daughter, 25 was there also. Later I asked my Dr about knowing and not mentioning it and he said at that time of my exam he didn't tell me he felt the tumor and knew what it was. He said he didn't tell me at that time because he knew it would make it very difficult for the upcoming prep that was necessary for diagnosis. I think he was right about that, it was hard enough as it was. I felt very sorry for the Nurse.
  • lauragb
    lauragb Member Posts: 370 Member
    #43
    So many
    So many stories...............I had a colonscopy at age 48 because I had been having bowel clustering issues. The test came up clear so to me that was that. I continued to have symptoms for the next five years. At four and a half years though, the bleeding started. I finally went to see a colorectal surgeon who had been advertised in our paper as being new at a medical center in another town, (having no colorectal surgeons in our town).
    I wavered between thinking I had internal hemmorhoids to recognizing something was really wrong. The colorectal doctor could feel the mass during the digital exam. He told me he thought it was cancer and scheduled a colonoscopy and endoscopic ultrasound for the following Monday. He was very kind but I felt like I had entered a nightmare. He even gave he his cell phone number in case I needed to talk to him over the weekend. I had an hour and a half drive home by myself which was very difficult. I just kept trying to focus and breathe to get home. The colonoscopy confirmed his suspicions. As soon as he said, rectal mass, I knew it was cancer though.

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