My Corner of the Web
This site has been quiet the last few years for a number of reasons. The key reason was that I was diagnosed with Colorectal cancer on March 27th, 2014 after my very first colonoscopy. Here I will document my cancer journey with the hope that someone may find my battle useful in diagnosing and treating their own conditions. Here is a photo of the tumor:
I will find and post my other colonoscopy pictures here after I scan them. I was having some symptoms (blood in the stool) and I went to my family physician about it in February and he said that even though I was a bit young (48 and 1/2) that I should go ahead and get a colonoscopy. Of course, I figured it was hemorrhoids. Nope... the diagnosis was that there was a tumor about 20 cm in (at the juncture of the anus and colon) and a cancerous polyp a bit further in. The simple rule here is that if you have any symptoms or any family history, you need to get a colonoscopy immediately! The actual procedure is a breeze ... I have now had a follow-on colonoscopy and slept through both of them. The preparation is harder than the procedure. To prep you need to "clean out the colon". That means about a gallon of a yellow liquid (that you can mix in some flavor packets or crystal light) the night before (actually 3/4 the night before a 1/4 the morning of). Basically you drink a glass of the liquid every ten minutes. Not really a big deal... people on the internet make more of it than it really is... you also have to keep it in perspective. It is very important to FULLY clean out the colon so the Doctor can see any and all polyps or tumors. The doctor doing the colonoscopy can snip off polyps they find during the procedure so it is VERY important not to skip or skimp on cleaning out your colon. Truly I cannot stress this enough:
EARLY DETECTION IS YOUR BEST DEFENSE!!!
So, after the diagnosis and more importantly the results of the biopsy that confirmed the tumor was malignant, I had to assemble my "team" of doctors ... a surgeon, a radiologist and an oncologist. Before taking an action, the first step is to "stage" your cancer to determine how advanced it is. This is probably the MOST important part because all of your actions must be based on what "stage" your cancer is in. It is very important to get the best and most precise "staging" of your cancer. You must be your own advocate related to that - I actually pushed to get an additional test (type of ultrasound) to more accurately determine my cancer's stage. The most common staging is the TNM system - where T is tumor size, N is lymph node invason and M is metastasis (see: Cancer Staging). For example, my TNM "score" was T3 N0 M0. This score will then translate into a "stage", like stage 1, stage 2 up to stage 4. I had a Stage 2 cancer.
More soon...