New to this board mom just diagnosed

calabria03
calabria03 Member Posts: 13
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
I am new to this board but not to cancer I was dx this January with breast cancer. This board has been very helpful. My mom was just dx with colon cancer. I don't have much info as of yet. She had a colonoscopy a couple days ago they removed one polyp but the other one was to big to remove so they took a sample. From what my sister has told me the Doc said their was just a little cancer in the big one. What does a little cancer mean exactly? Do they already know it hasn't spread? I am going to the hospital to see her in the morning and hoping I get a chance to see the Doctor and get a copy of her path report. If you all have questions I should ask the Doctor I would appreciate it.

Comments

  • okthen
    okthen Member Posts: 232
    #2
    Welcome calabria03! I am
    Welcome calabria03! I am fairly new here too, my husband is the fighter/survivor of colorectal cancer, but he's not much for computers.
    I have learned so much here and received so much support, I know that you will too. (o:
    Your Moms situation reminds me of my husbands...in May of 09 he had "almost cancer" that was found after a colonoscopy, Doc #1 recommended a resection because of the size and position of the tumor. Doc #2 removed the tumor through 2nd colonoscopy and told him he should probably have another procedure to "scoop" out the site. My husband opted not to. A year later he was diagnosed stage 3, same place. I am not trying to scare you, just want to share that even a "little bit of cancer" is serious, in my opinion.
    It sounds like it's early, thank god, so I hope and pray for your mother that all is taken care of with little trouble for her.
    I hope you are doing okay also, I am sorry about your diagnosis in January. Sounds like a lot of stress for you and your family all at once. Stay strong!
    Chriss
  • Lori-S
    Lori-S Member Posts: 1,277 Member
    #3
    Calabria
    I'm sorry that you and your mother are having to deal with both of your diagnoses. It's a lot of stress indeed.

    Just to start I would ask the doctor:
    Have they done any scans and if so how do they look? Liver, Lungs, Lymph nodes as well as abdominal scans?
    What did the path report say?
    What are they going to do about the tumor that was left behind?
    Do they know how far the tumor had grown into the colon?
    What is the next step?

    Just to let you know, finding a little cancer can mean different things. For example, my oncologist said that my largest tumor had grown so rapidly that it had actually outgrown it's blood supply and had become necrotic in places which meant that not all of the tumor would have shown as being cancerous as it was already dead in places. Because of the lack of blood supply, the tumor had branched out in other areas where it still had blood supply and grown in those areas to make up for the dead areas. So, if I had only had just the dead portion of my tumor biopsied, they would not have had a accurate account of my cancer at all. The extent of my tumor wasn't even realized with CT scans. It wasn't until they actually got inside to remove it that they realized the extent of the growth. And since my tumor had grown out of the colon all along the outer colon wall, and into the small bowel, if I had only had a colonscopy and a partial biopsy who knows what would have happened. So, make sure that the doctors take care to really get a good look at what is going on especially with her larger tumor. You really want to know what is going on with that one.
  • AnneCan
    AnneCan Member Posts: 3,673 Member
    #4
    Welcome
    You will find this group is very lively, helpful + compassionate. I am sorry for your mother's + your diagnoses. I have never heard "a little cancer", so I am not helpful there but it sure sounds better than "a lot of cancer".
  • herdizziness
    herdizziness Member Posts: 3,624 Member
    #5
    Little Cancer
    I wish I could be helpful that your Mom's oncologist said "a little cancer", but I don't know anything about a "little" cancer. You have cancer or you don't.
    I assuming that the oncologist means it's only in the colon? That it's caught early?
    Those questions above you need to ask.
    Also get her tumor marker (CEA count)so you have something to go by. From what I understand (I'm new at this, was dx in Feb of this year) CEA counts are good markers for some people and not so good for others.
    Take a pad of paper and a pen, write down what your mother's onc says at the next appt. so that you can remember what was said, it's so easy to forget or misunderstand later.
    I wish I could be of more help.
    Winter Marie
  • Lori-S
    Lori-S Member Posts: 1,277 Member
    #6
    herdizziness said:

    Little Cancer
    I wish I could be helpful that your Mom's oncologist said "a little cancer", but I don't know anything about a "little" cancer. You have cancer or you don't.
    I assuming that the oncologist means it's only in the colon? That it's caught early?
    Those questions above you need to ask.
    Also get her tumor marker (CEA count)so you have something to go by. From what I understand (I'm new at this, was dx in Feb of this year) CEA counts are good markers for some people and not so good for others.
    Take a pad of paper and a pen, write down what your mother's onc says at the next appt. so that you can remember what was said, it's so easy to forget or misunderstand later.
    I wish I could be of more help.
    Winter Marie

    Oh YES!!!
    Thanks Winter Marie, good call!

    Definitely make sure that they get her CEA count BEFORE any surgery or chemo treatments and if she has surgery (which I would expect to remove the tumor left behind) make sure that they do it again after surgery so that she has a good baseline CEA for future reference. The number should be higher before surgery and drop after surgery (in a perfect world - which we know this isn't). The CEA is a cancer marker that is used in specific cancers but, definitely with colon cancer. While it is a good marker for some people it is not for others but, you won't know if it is for her unless she has a baseline to work from. The CEA is taken by a simple blood draw and can be run with her other blood work. They may have already done one. Make sure to ask.

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