I was thinking again!

laurie83833
laurie83833 Member Posts: 63
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
I was looking back at Dennys inital CT's at diagnosis for CRC. and it is noted that several small subcentimeter liver lesions showed up.

Now when we initally went in to discuss with the surgeon about the colon operatation. They did mention a that a couple were seen on the CT scan but not to worry as it is common for almost everyone to have soem subcentimeter leisions to show up on their liver could be liver cysts, or spots.

BUT then also at the same time those same surgeons discussing the colon tumor and what the operation was going to be like was..and they pulled up the scans etc as they were decribing to us... (which is good since we have no clue as to what it all means)

Oh your a perfect example of someone who came in early its a small tumer wish everyone came in for there colonsocpy when you did. Looks like it is contained within the wall of the colon the location of the tumor is in the perfect spot for surgery etc. It is a small tumor. We feel it was caught really early.

We left there feeling releived. Only to find out that when the actual surgery took place the tumor was larger then they told us and ended up being a T4a tumor. Stage IIB

After the surgery and we spoke with the ONC for the first time and he went over the results of the sugery and the tumor etc.. the ONC said that the tumor did show had some marginal serosal involement which was veiwable on the CT scan so it was known it was a deep tumor at the time of the CT scan.

So now I feel like when we initally spoke with the surgens pre-op appointment they were not being honest with us and only telling us what we wanted to hear. I wonder if they were not being honest about the subcentimeter liver lesions?

Is it really common for everyone to have some small liver spots or leisions?

His CT will be done scan this Mid September..he just had his follow up colonoscopy which came out fine.

I guess we will know in September about the leisions. I do wish they (Surgeons) would have been more upfront with us in the first place instead of acting like it was no big deal.. which by there attitudes seemed like we see this all the time and it nothing at all to worry about..

Am I worring about the leisions for nothing?

Comments

  • WinneyPooh
    WinneyPooh Member Posts: 318
    #2
    Stop over thinking
    Al lot of times it is hard to tell what is exactally going on until they get in there and look. You need to have complete confidence in your surgeon and i think you need to talk to him about your fears, if you don't feel good about the answers talk to another sergeon, They are people just like us and they want you to have all the information, and so talking about your fears will help and they will understand.

    Good luck
    Live, Love, Play
    Winnie
  • laurie83833
    laurie83833 Member Posts: 63
    #3
    WinneyPooh said:

    Stop over thinking
    Al lot of times it is hard to tell what is exactally going on until they get in there and look. You need to have complete confidence in your surgeon and i think you need to talk to him about your fears, if you don't feel good about the answers talk to another sergeon, They are people just like us and they want you to have all the information, and so talking about your fears will help and they will understand.

    Good luck
    Live, Love, Play
    Winnie

    I'll try...
    K I will try not to think about it. I guess won't know anything until the follow up yearly CT scan this September..

    I guess I just wanted to know if subcentimeter liver leisions are a common thing even in people without cancer.

    Thing is he is being treated at the VA as that is the only medical insurance we have - so not like we can run and get second opionions at any time etc.. as we have no other insurance to fall back on.

    Half the time at his appointments I have to tell the Dr.s what the tests and his diagnosis was.. Good thing I ordered copies of all his hospital and medical records for at home. I swear I have looked up every single word in his hospital records and paths reports to find out the meaning if I didn't know. I think I have been more on top of it then the Dr.s. :)

    I guess I should stop worrying it's just so hard to not worry constantly!

    Thanks Winnie I will try not and think about it.. as hard as that might be!
  • Lovekitties
    Lovekitties Member Posts: 3,364 Member
    #4
    laurie83833 said:

    I'll try...
    K I will try not to think about it. I guess won't know anything until the follow up yearly CT scan this September..

    I guess I just wanted to know if subcentimeter liver leisions are a common thing even in people without cancer.

    Thing is he is being treated at the VA as that is the only medical insurance we have - so not like we can run and get second opionions at any time etc.. as we have no other insurance to fall back on.

    Half the time at his appointments I have to tell the Dr.s what the tests and his diagnosis was.. Good thing I ordered copies of all his hospital and medical records for at home. I swear I have looked up every single word in his hospital records and paths reports to find out the meaning if I didn't know. I think I have been more on top of it then the Dr.s. :)

    I guess I should stop worrying it's just so hard to not worry constantly!

    Thanks Winnie I will try not and think about it.. as hard as that might be!

    In your shoes I guess I
    In your shoes I guess I would make a follow-up appt. with doc who sounds like he sugar coated the news.

    Clear the air with him. Make sure he understands you want to know the real deal and not bits and pieces at a time.

    I don't know about the liver spots, but I wonder about waiting a full year to see if there is any thing there to be concerned about.

    Since you don't have the option of doc shopping, make sure the one you do have knows you want to deal in the facts...all the facts.

    Good luck and hope the news from here on out is all good.

    Marie who loves kitties
  • PGLGreg
    PGLGreg Member Posts: 731
    #5
    Of course I can't say how
    Of course I can't say how common it is to have liver spots show up on a scan which turn out to have no significance. But I did. The CT scan after my colonoscopy that revealed a rectal tumor also showed a liver spot. So before my surgery, an ultrasound was done to try to clarify the status of that spot. The ultrasound result suggested just a cyst -- that was 4 years ago -- and I guess that was right. It hasn't changed its appearance for over 4 years now.

    --Greg
  • John23
    John23 Member Posts: 2,122 Member
    #6
    Laurie -


    Re:
    "Is it really common for everyone to have some small liver spots or leisions?"

    Yes, fairly common. Everyone drinks and takes one drug or another,
    and the liver takes a beating taking out the toxins... You can't fall
    down and not get a scraped knee all the time.

    The spots could be granular, or fat, maybe a McDonalds fry...
    If the surgeon says "don't worry", get back to living life, and
    enjoy it while you can. Cancer takes time to grow, and they
    can't go chopping into organs and bodies when it could be
    absolutely nothing important.

    You're scared right now, and like the rest of us, you're worried
    about "tomorrow". I have to tell ya', tomorrow's going to be
    here anyway..... maybe for me, maybe not, and there's not a whole
    helluva lot I can do about it anyway. After tomorrow, I might have
    yet another tomorrow to worry about....

    And the funny thing is Laurie, that if you stop worrying, those
    tomorrows usually come and go anyway.

    Think good health.

    John

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