Shifting my attention slightly

Thanks, No Time. I remain optimistic. I've had such good luck (everything is relative with cancer!) and I feel so well. I am just gobsmacked about this. One tumor marker, CEA, was negative so there's that. And I had a NED CT in March. It's just that this coming on top of my darling's issue is just heartbreaking. I had a panic attack on last night after delivering the news to family, but I am chipper today and back doing battle with the medical juggernaut (Them: "Hmmmm. I've never heard of that before. You want to schedule a second surgical consult? You already have an appointment with one of our excellent surgeons." Me: "Yes, please." Them: "You'll be contacted by the practice manager.") Gimme a break!

And so it goes. Yes, I will come back with news. Thanks again for your kind words.

Best wishes, Oldbeauty

Thank you, Forherself. That's my hope as well. Yes, I think we all here are mindful of the need to keep up with screening exams for all the cancer enemies out there. Thank you for your kind message. Best wishes, Oldbeauty

Thank you for your kind words, Corby.

Best wishes, Oldbeauty

Thank you, cmb. It's good to see you back. I am certain I was told after my lung resection 3 years ago that genomic analysis confirmed I did not have Lynch. You either do or you do not, I believe. What has me puzzled is the microsatellite and mmr status. I had thought these were rooted in your genes and not in the tumor morphology (or whatever the proper term is), but I guess I have something to learn. The pathology addendum that had the results for msi and mmr simply has boilerplate that the results indicate further investigation is warranted relative to Lynch. We'll see. Tomorrow is the CT and the next day is the surgical consult. I am disheartened by this turn of events but I remain hopeful it is early stage and easily resected. Best wishes to you, Oldbeauty

Thank you, cmb. Yes, cancer is a devil. Mutate and survive. I am not knowlegeable but I am aware that this tumor's msi/mmr status may make it more likely I am a candidate for immumutherapy treatment. I am concerned about further chemo bc I believe the platin drugs are used. I cannot accept any worsening of my neuropathy, for fear it would knock me off my feet. My desire is to be a helpmate to my husband as he falters with his movement disorder. If we both become too compromised, we're in a real pickle. Best wishes, Oldbeauty

Thank you, Denise for your warm good wishes. I had my first surgical consult yesterday. CT showed no spread of disease. Strangely, the report didn't even mention the colon mass, no measurement, no nothing. I guess the reader took the reason for the scan literally...rule in/out metastatic disease. I continue to shake my head at what I experience as a wide disparity in the quality of radiology reports. But the surgeon was thorough, and presented his plan. He would take my entire ascending colon and re-attach the remains of the ileocecal valve to the transverse colon. He would begin lapaoscopically but may have to open me up if my bowels have drifted down to settle in the area previously occupied by my uterus and/or if he encounters radiation damage. This is going to be the most major surgery I've had, and I will be in the hospital for about a week. He does not expect me to need a temporary or permanent ostomy, thank goodness. And he will sample lymph nodes in an area he showed me. He also talked about redirecting the vasculature in there, cutting off blood supply to the nodes closest to the the tumor. He said everything follows from the pathology that will take a week to process after surgery. We are looking for depth of penetration, and more certitude about this Lynch issue. And whether adjuvant therapy like chemo/immunotherapy is indicated. He pointed out that I'd also had a breast biopsy done, and it may be that I have a genetic pre-disposition to Lynch while family history and genomic analysis might not indicate that possibility. Confusing, but I will follow his direction and consult his colleague for genetic counseling.

I am glad I made an appointment for a second surgical opinion. On reflection, I realized I spent way too much time on my medical history with the first consult, and I have lots of follow up questions about the actual surgery itself, and my functional staus afterward (frequent visits to the toilet and looses stools...whoopee!). Now that I know what I'm facing, I'm heading over to the colon cancer board to see what insight/advice I can gather there. And hubby and I are going out to a nice meal next week to early-celebrate our mutual 70th birthdays which will fall during a time when I willl be on a restricted diet. We are relieved this appears manageable and we can continue to soldier on together to get through his diagnostic journey. Like my mother always said, "Old age ain't for sissies!" One step at a time.

What a way to ring out the year! Best wishes to all the ladies here. Oldbeauty