Sweet Husband Just Diagnosed with stage 3C

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Sunnydeecat
Sunnydeecat Member Posts: 16
in Colorectal Cancer #1

My DH just turned 38 last month. He had been having some issues for a few months and started losing weight. I scheduled him an appointment with the PCP as we thought maybe he had diverticulitis or something along those line. He was scheduled for a colonoscop. during the colonoscopy they were unable to complete as there was a mass too large to complete the test.I was told about the mass and was informed it was most likely cancer. From there we were walked over to radiology he had a CT scan and then walked over to surgery. Was told they did not want to wait for the biopsy results and he was scheduled for surgery the next morning. Surgery went well, a mass the size of a baseball was removed As well as a foot of his colon. The colon connected together and he has had no issues So far regarding the surgery. Tuesday will make 2 weeks since all of this happened. Had follow up with the surgeon this week. Was informed from the biopsy the lymph nodes had cancer cells in 14/18 of them.  this coming up week we will have an MRI on the liver since the CT scan showed something And will have the consult with the radiation doctor and the oncologis, possiable the PET scan as well. DH is super positive and we are ready for the fight. i don't guess I have any questions at this time, but just wanted to say you all for the info you have shared. I have read many of the post as I prepare to help my wonderful, sweet husband beat this. I admit I am struggling on the inside, but try hard to not let him see me as he is so positive and ready to fight. We gave this to God and we have wonderful family support, no children. Praying it is no where else. 

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  • SandiaBuddy
    SandiaBuddy Member Posts: 1,381 Member
    #2
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    Welcome

    Welcome to the forum and sorry for your difficult circumstances.  I am sure you will face challenges ahead and the members are here to provide support and information that may not be available elsewhere.

  • NHMike
    NHMike Member Posts: 213 Member
    #3
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    Sorry you and your husband

    Sorry you and your husband have to deal with this and at a relatively young age. I am glad to hear that his medical team acted quickly in removing the large tumor as it must have been incredibly uncomfortable. It sounds like you are dealing with this well in outlook and taking on the cancer.

  • Trubrit
    Trubrit Member Posts: 5,796 Member
    edited August 2017 #4
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    On the ball

    It really sounds like you have a great medical team, moving forward fast and efficiently. 

    Welcome to the forum.  I am happy to hear that our posts help, and will continue to help both you and your husband. Its important to know that we are here for the caregivers as much as we are for the patient. 

    Continue being positive and working together to get through this. 

    And yes, you're going to experience all kinds of emotions. Roll with them. No shame in feeling any emotion, just don't let them linger on and bring you down. 

    Tru

  • desnee2029
    desnee2029 Member Posts: 28
    edited August 2017 #5
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    Weicome

    This a a path no one would chose.  My dear husband had surgery for a colon tumor as well.  He has mets to his liver and has has his first Chemo therapy.  Two wks till next one.  He will not get on the forum but it has been great for me in more ways than one........You will get so much support and info here.  Prayers and positive thoughts sent your way.

     

  • Annabelle41415
    Annabelle41415 Member Posts: 6,742 Member
    #6
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    Sorry

    Welcome to the boards and I'm sure this is the last place you planned on joining.  Your husband sounds like he is in good hands.  Once they find out all that is going on with his tests they will refer him to an onologist and they will determine a regimine that he will follow for treatment.  My prayers are with this board daily.  Wishing you the best for both of you going forward.  Please continue to post on this board as we are a wealth of information and can help you and your husband get through this.

    Kim

  • Sunnydeecat
    Sunnydeecat Member Posts: 16
    #7
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    Thank you! Just reading post

    Thank you! Just reading post and knowing there is a safe place to come to discuss, vent and give / receive encouragement is wonderful. I have been reading so many post and have started taking notes to get as prepared as I can. I realize there is no way to truly be as prepared as we need to be. the information/tips have been great you all have posted over the years and will help save a little time moving forward. Also getting an idea of what to expect during chemo/ radiation, I am praying will help me be stronger for DH. We are blessed to have had the medical team we have. We are expected to see the oncologist this week. The port Was placed during surgery last week...so DH says he is ready to roll!   Desnee, your post actually gave me the idea to start posting and stop lurking. I am so sorry for all who are enduring this. We should know what we are fully dealing with after this week. When we left the hospital, we felt so hopeful as they were calling this a high stage 2 or low 3, but did say we wouldn't know until the biopsy came back. We then we were told the news and it was bumped to a stage 3c. Praying we don't get the final news that it's stage 4...I've never been a fan of roller coasters.

    Thank you all for your encouragemen, information and support.

  • JanJan63
    JanJan63 Member Posts: 2,478 Member
    #8
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    Welcome and I'm sorry you're

    Welcome and I'm sorry you're here. Yes, this is a great place to come for support and help. I wish I'd found it sooner than I did, I'd have felt a lot more able to cope with things and more confident. So much better than struggling through bad/old/poor information on line.

    Take care and I hope you guys get some good news.

    Jan

  • darcher
    darcher Member Posts: 304 Member
    #9
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    The size of a baseball.  That

    The size of a baseball.  That's huge and lucky they caught it when they did.  I'm a stage 3 as well diagnosed since mid June.  Regardless the tumor size it brings a whole laundry list of things to deal with not the least of which is going to be his mental state, yours too.  This is one strange disease that can bring out the worst in people and sometimes the best.  It depends on who it is and the circumstances. With everything happening as quick as it is you're lucky in that the answers are coming very quick.  Be prepared, this is going to get rough on both of you and the analogy of roller coaster is very spot on.   

  • PamRav
    PamRav Member Posts: 348 Member
    #10
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    Welcome

    and sorry for your husbands diagnosis.  Sounds like things are moving quickly, it's hard to wrap your head around all this I am sure. Lots of wonderful helpful, supportive people on this site.  You're in a good safe place.    Please be sure to take good care of yourself, youll need to be strong to be supportive.  

     

  • Woodytele
    Woodytele Member Posts: 163
    #11
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    Story is familiar

    your husbands story is almost exact to mine, it's a battle, take it day by day, try to stay positive. 

  • plsletitrain
    plsletitrain Member Posts: 252 Member
    #12
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    Stay strong

    More than anything, your husband will need a very strong emotional support.  You'll be the one to provide that and everything else will follow.   He'll be able to breeze through chemo especially that he's positive and he's got a very supportive wife.  And yeah, try not to show you're weakened.

     

     God bless us all! 

  • Sunnydeecat
    Sunnydeecat Member Posts: 16
    #13
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    Thank you all. I am sorry for

    Thank you all. I am sorry for all of you enduring this also. So far Rich and I both have talked about a wonderful peaceful feeling we've had the past few days. I am still scared of losing my best friend, but we are both feeling peaceful and certainly have been keeping up the humor. We have laughed so much the last few days and it's odd how this has just rocked our world, but we haven't laughed Over such silly things since we were first dating I'd say- not that we didn't have fun before, it's just the simple things now. I feel blessed we have some great support from family, I have a great flexibility job that will cover us if he is unable to return to work, but he has at least 9 months of sick & vacation time and his job is very much behind him, we have great insurance coverage. So many things we don't have to worry about for at least now. Depending on how bad things get, I know all of that can change, but at least for now we can just focus on him and getting him well. Tomorrow starts the first of at least 3 appointments for the week. Radiation consult in the morning, Wednesday MRI of the liver and Thursday meet with the oncologist. Not sure if we will have the PET scan this week or not. Hoping to know when chemo /radiation starts. Rich says he wants to get started. Oh and since being discharged from the surgery a week and a half ago, he has gained a few pounds. Prior he just kept losing and losing over the past few months. Thanks all!

  • SandiaBuddy
    SandiaBuddy Member Posts: 1,381 Member
    edited August 2017 #14
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    Moments

    Sunny: I think it is important to enjoy each moment.  In truth, all any of us has are moments.  The diagnosis changes so much, some for the better and some for the worse.  But you have no choice in the matter, only to make the best of what comes and to enjoy the good things you have.  No matter what, there will be many days ahead.  I hope you will make the best of each one of them.

  • darcher
    darcher Member Posts: 304 Member
    #15
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    It's great you have the

    It's great you have the support you do.  More than likely what your husband will end up facing is survivor's guilt.  As strange as that may seem it 's what most stage 3's ultimately end up with. 

     Give a lot of hugs and reassurances that you'll get through it together.  The chemo/rad is going to take a toll and he'll likely feel miserable. It's like a hangover every day.  If you're scanning the internet looking for answers and so forth avoid the sites claiming miracles or other nonsense.  Some of them are quite convincing and unless you have a medical background or know someone who does they can fool a lot of people.  It's unbeleivable the lack of ethics those people have putting people's lives at risk just to steal money.  Follow your doctors orders.  That's the best and only way to go.     

  • Canadian Sandy
    Canadian Sandy Member Posts: 784 Member
    #16
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    SandiaBuddy said:

    Moments

    Sunny: I think it is important to enjoy each moment.  In truth, all any of us has are moments.  The diagnosis changes so much, some for the better and some for the worse.  But you have no choice in the matter, only to make the best of what comes and to enjoy the good things you have.  No matter what, there will be many days ahead.  I hope you will make the best of each one of them.

    Well said Sandia. That sums

    Well said Sandia. That sums it up.

  • SandiaBuddy
    SandiaBuddy Member Posts: 1,381 Member
    #17
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    darcher said:

    It's great you have the

    It's great you have the support you do.  More than likely what your husband will end up facing is survivor's guilt.  As strange as that may seem it 's what most stage 3's ultimately end up with. 

     Give a lot of hugs and reassurances that you'll get through it together.  The chemo/rad is going to take a toll and he'll likely feel miserable. It's like a hangover every day.  If you're scanning the internet looking for answers and so forth avoid the sites claiming miracles or other nonsense.  Some of them are quite convincing and unless you have a medical background or know someone who does they can fool a lot of people.  It's unbeleivable the lack of ethics those people have putting people's lives at risk just to steal money.  Follow your doctors orders.  That's the best and only way to go.     

    Doctors

    DArcher:  I guess there is varying quality in doctors and perhaps some are lucky to have great ones, but I have found my doctors to be limited to focusing on medication and giving no lifestyle/supplement advice.  I think an essential element of the "adjuvant" therapy is to adopt diet and lifestyle choices that optimize the odds of survival, and my doctors have ignored this entirely.  Statistically, I believe, the lifestyle choices can provide a better benefit than chemo.  So I would certainly recommend listening to doctors; but, I would also recommend researching and making personal decisions about non-chemo strategies that can help.

  • darcher
    darcher Member Posts: 304 Member
    #18
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    I agree SanidaBuddy.  In my

    I agree SanidaBuddy.  In my case, the hospital and doctors do what they can and the informaiton provided in print form is where the lifestyle, dietary, and other support information was.  The doctors themselves focused on doing tests, the drugs, procedures and all the rest.  I think they expect us to read through all the paraphernalia we were given, which we should.  I admit, the first couple weeks I tried to pretend none of it was real and had a big stack of hospital "stuff" on the table. It took a little work but eventually I broke down and started reading it to get the rest of the story.

  • Sunnydeecat
    Sunnydeecat Member Posts: 16
    #19
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    Had the consultation with

    Had the consultation with radiation oncologist and then MRI this morning. The surgeon just called and informed us that Rich has a place on liver about 2cm & they want to biospy the liver to determine if its cancer. Rich has a PET scan on Tuesday and we see the oncologist in the morning. So praying we get some good new at some point, but I guess the fact we are moving quickly is some good news at least. 

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