Stage 1 Local Rec. update and thanks

keff
keff Member Posts: 4
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Thanks so much to Patrusha, SpongeBob, Babs211, Kanort and Vinny3 for the support when we found out about Mom's recurrence. You guys helped so much. It has been a wild month, but all the news is good. Mom had a PET scan to look for spread and luckily it just showed one small nodule in the pelvic area; however, it could not pinpoint the spot and estimated that it might be in the ureter. The surgeon thought that was highly unlikely as we knew the biopsy from the colonoscopy showed cancer in Mom's surgical site and she thought for sure that must be the spot the scan was picking up, but to be safe she decided on a full open surgery instead of a hand assisted lap like last time so they could get a good look and have a urologist present to examine the entire area during the colon resection. We didn't wait for a second pathology report after getting the positive PET scan result. The resection went fine- they only took out about 2 inches of colon this time. The surgeon said she could not even see the cancer in the colon with the naked eye. Two days later we got surprising great news from the pathologist. He called the surgeon and said he had been over and over the piece of colon they took out of Mom and there was no cancer anywhere. It turned out the PET scan was a false positive because scar tissue from the last surgery had caused Mom's ureter to become attached to her colon (something fixed during the surgery) and the PET scan was picking up the scar tissue and inflammation caused by it in the area and mistaking it for cancer. It looks like they caught it so early and there was such a small area of cancerous cells that the biopsy during the colonoscopy got them all. Assuming the cancer was there (and we didn't go through all this because of some horrible pathologist's error), she still would have needed the resection to get the area out to make sure the cells don't come back. I suspect SpongeBob was probably right that if the cancer cells were there they may have been left over from last time, whether it was not a clear margin or whether something got touched and a cancer cell left behind during the surgery. In any event, she is now out of the hospital and cancer free! Hopefully this time she will stay that way. She needs no further treatment and it is just a matter of getting her recovered from the surgery. Thanks again for all your support, and I wish each of you the best.

Comments

  • spongebob
    spongebob Member Posts: 2,565 Member
    Great news, Keff! Thanks for sharing.

    - SpongeBob
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  • lfondots63
    lfondots63 Member Posts: 818 Member
    Hi Keff,

    So glad for the good news about mom. Will be sending her healing vibes that she is up and "running" soon from the surgery. I'm glad that it sounds they caught it early (if there was anything there like you said). Hugs to you and your family and keep us informed.

    Lisa F.
  • KathiM
    KathiM Member Posts: 8,028 Member
    keff,
    WOW! Great news! The earlier the better, in regards to the beast!!!!!

    NAKED HAPPY DANCE!!!!

    Hugs, kathi
  • kerry
    kerry Member Posts: 1,313 Member
    Wonderful news!!

    Kerry
  • vinny3
    vinny3 Member Posts: 928 Member
    Keff, that's great to hear. Thanks for keeping us informed.
    ****
  • Kanort
    Kanort Member Posts: 1,272 Member
    Keff,

    Great news. Your mom is blessed. I hope she is healing well and will be out and about soon.

    Hugs,

    Kay
  • Patrusha
    Patrusha Member Posts: 487
    Yeah!!!! I am so glad it worked out for your mom.