Everything for a reason?

Kathryn_in_MN
Kathryn_in_MN Member Posts: 1,252 Member
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
I got the call from my younger brother today, as he was leaving his colonoscopy. In his words he was a "little loopy." It was funny because I could hear the medication wearing off as we talked, but he sounded drunk when he first called.

They did find one small polyp and removed it. They will biopsy, but suspect it is not cancerous. But, one day it could have been. Maybe, just maybe, I got cancer to save my brother and sister and my own children from ever having this dx. My brother is only 45. That polyp could have been a big tumor like mine a few years down the road - not dx'd due to no screening till age 50.

Our mother has had at least one polyp removed at each colonoscopy (all the type that can turn to cancer later). She had her first scope at age 50. My paternal grandmother died at age 56 of liver cancer. But I have a high suspicion that it was colon cancer - just not detected till it metastized to the liver.

Now we are on my sister's case to get in for her scope too. She's been holding out. She is only 44, but waiting till age 50 would not be in her best interest. "But I haven't had any troubles with my colon." I keep explaining that by the time you KNOW you have troubles, it is too late - you have cancer that will need to be treated. It is so hard to get this point across. But it is my mission. If my battle with cancer serves the purpose of keeping my siblings and children from having that battle, it is well worth it to me!

Comments

  • tootsie1
    tootsie1 Member Posts: 5,044 Member
    #2
    Thought the same thing
    Kathryn,

    I've had some very similar thoughts. I'm glad your brother is okay, and I hope that sister will get in there and have the colonoscopy.

    *hugs*
    Gail
  • amyboston
    amyboston Member Posts: 91
    #3
    Everything for a reason too
    I was just diagnosed with stage IIB colon cancer. I had a colonoscopy scheduled for a year 1/2 before this one. I could not find someone to give me a ride home, and since I am vision impaired and use public transportation, the hospital wouldn't release me without someone to drive me home. So I didn't get the colonoscopy earlier.

    When my symptoms got worse a few months ago, I scheduled a colonoscopy this time and found someone through a time sharing organization to give me the ride home.

    After my diagnosis, the doctor said that the cancer would be inoperable if I had waited
    another 6 months, so I am grateful to God that I finally got one and had a ride home.

    Still, I feel this great sense of anger. Because the hospital didn't offer any suggestions when I called over a year and 1/2 ago to schedule one. They didn't say to contact the hospital's social worker or anything.

    I don't know whether my anger is usual or not, but I am mad that I have cancer. And I hope that some good comes out of my experience.

    I am scheduled for surgery on Nov 13th. And I am hoping and praying that everything will be allright.

    BTW - I am new to this discussion, I have a good surgeon and a wonderful GP.
    I have my faith.


    Amy
  • just4Brooks
    just4Brooks Member Posts: 980 Member
    #4
    You saved one
    Good job Kathryn, If you can just same one person from cancer job well done. I tell everyone to get checked BEFORE age 50. I'm 46 with stage 3. NO FAMILY HISTORY
  • kristasplace
    kristasplace Member Posts: 957 Member
    #5
    You're so right, Kathryn!
    Everything is for a reason, and maybe even more than one reason.

    My Mother could not get her insurance to approve a colonoscopy even though she was sixty years old. It wasn't until my diagnosis that they approved it, and then they found SEVEN polyps! All cancer-free, thank God. Eventually, those may have become cancer. They found seven more the following year.

    My aunt also went in for a colonoscopy the same year i was diagnosed (my Mother's sister), and they found eight polyps in her, and one was ugly, and suspected to be cancer. Thank God it wasn't.

    We got my brother in last year, and they found the beginnings of a polyp.

    NO one in my family should ever get this cancer as a result of mine, and it's one of the many blessings i've found in my cancer. To me it's definitely worth all the suffering i've gone through.

    Hugs,
    Krista
  • kristasplace
    kristasplace Member Posts: 957 Member
    #6
    kristasplace said:

    You're so right, Kathryn!
    Everything is for a reason, and maybe even more than one reason.

    My Mother could not get her insurance to approve a colonoscopy even though she was sixty years old. It wasn't until my diagnosis that they approved it, and then they found SEVEN polyps! All cancer-free, thank God. Eventually, those may have become cancer. They found seven more the following year.

    My aunt also went in for a colonoscopy the same year i was diagnosed (my Mother's sister), and they found eight polyps in her, and one was ugly, and suspected to be cancer. Thank God it wasn't.

    We got my brother in last year, and they found the beginnings of a polyp.

    NO one in my family should ever get this cancer as a result of mine, and it's one of the many blessings i've found in my cancer. To me it's definitely worth all the suffering i've gone through.

    Hugs,
    Krista

    Welcome Amy!
    Welcome to the board, Amy!

    Be prepared to become more angry at the hospitals and doctors! It is very important that you learn to become your own advocate, because believe me, things will get by you. I was very angry at my doctors because of some very simple items they could have told me about that would've saved me months, maybe even years of suffering. I learned these things on my own out of desperation, and it infuriated me that my doctors were so complacent. I have since figured out that doctors don't know everything, and even simple things you'd think they should know, doesn't mean they do.

    Do your research. If you feel a doctor isn't telling you everything, don't be shy to request your medical records, or to ask for second and even third opinions. Every hospital has patient advocates that can help you in many ways.

    Good luck with it, and keep us posted on your progress!

    Hugs,
    Krista
  • AceSFO
    AceSFO Member Posts: 229
    #7
    Little Sis
    Hey Kathryn,

    She's your little sis, so kick her butt! Make her go - Tell her some of the stories from here if it'll light a candle under her. John's for instance (johnsfo).
    He was diagnosed as stage 3 a few days after his 49th birthday. They told him if he had gotten scoped in his early 40s it would have been a different story - the tumor had likely been there for at least 6 years. And he had no family history of any kind of cancer.
    It must feel good though having gotten your brother to go and having nipped that one in the bud.

    Hope your weekend is going well,
    Adrian

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