Guest guest Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 Jinny, Sorry to hear about your mother-in-law. You just made my decision easier for me. I will be calling tomorrow to schedule mine. You'd think I would have gone by now with my own mother having it twice. She had just passed her first 5 yrs and was considered cancer free then she got it again in her remaining breast. She survived it both times though and when she passed away in 2001 it was from resp. failure. My father's sister also had it and she is about to make 5 yrs of being cancer free. Sadly breast cancer runs in my family just as Colon Cancer does only Colon Cancer took my brother who I adored and 2 very special uncles. Dianne Jinny wrote: Dianne, My mother in law is going to have a mascetomy <sp?> next Wednesday. The lump is massive. She didn't keep her mammo appt and didn't reschedule for six years... it's massive. I RAN to the mammo last Monday and came out clean. Jinny thebirdlover@... Owned by Junior Lee (Scarlet macaw) Cleo (Severe macaw) Peanut (CAG) Olivia, Sweetie, Papaya, Kiwi, Elmo Apple and Chester (quakers) Oliver, Irma and ie (nandays) STILL looking for that special Greenwing needing a home! -- Re: Hello, I'm new Jinny, My story was exactly the same as yours. I had a low blood count for many years that the dr said was " just anemia. " I took him at his word because I figured he was a dr and knew more than me. I was 37 at the time. Luckily for me he retired and I had to go to another hematologist so I chose the dr my mother was using for her Breast Cancer. As soon as he saw how low my blood count was he ordered the fecal occult bllod test which was also positive. I was scheduled for a colonoscopy the next week and I had several precancerous " polyps removed. The dr said if I had continued to ignore my symptoms and the other dr didn't retire I would have eventually ended up with Colon Cancer. Thankfully I was one of the lucky ones. Right after my colonoscopy my brother was telling me he had the same symptoms I was having...low blood count, tired, achy and he had a pain between his shoulders that ran around to his stomach. Finally we got him to go to the dr and he had the colonoscopy done but the dr found a large mass in his colon which was cancer. He was operated on in 11/93 and was diagnosed with Stage 4 Colon Cancer with Metasis to the Liver. A year later my adored big brother was gone. Good luck to you. Dianne Jinny wrote: I just joined this group yesterday and perhaps I'm jumping the gun, but after routine testing for a long overdue physical, the results came back that there is blood in my stool. All six samples had blood, so I failed the test positively. I need to have a colon scope test, which I hear is nothing these days because they knock you out. The worst part about it is the pre-op. Well, the first thing I did when I came home, was pick up my copy of the Merck manual and looked up my particular symptoms and unfortunately, color cancer has what I'm going through and have been going through for almost two years now. It said the first sign of color cancer is blood in the stool. It must be tested because you can't see the blood--which is true in my case. Fatique and tiredness is another symptom, though I think that's pretty normal for an active lifestyle. Who isn't tired these days?? Yet another warning sign is anemia. I am anemic. Is any of this sounding familiar to any of you? In regards to age and gender--I'm almost 48 and a white female. Jinny thebirdlover@... Owned by Junior Lee (Scarlet macaw) Cleo (Severe macaw) Peanut (CAG) Olivia, Sweetie, Papaya, Kiwi, Elmo Apple and Chester (quakers) Oliver, Irma and ie (nandays) STILL looking for that special Greenwing needing a home! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 > I know I shouldn't jump to conclusions but it is hard not to. Doc > said I have iron deficiency anemia due to probably a loss of blood > somewhere. That is the part that worries me. That's why he went > ahead and scheduled a colonscopy even though I am not 50 yet. Well it's better to be safe and find out for sure. I certainly hope your test results are happy news. Cheri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 > I know I shouldn't jump to conclusions but it is hard not to. Doc > said I have iron deficiency anemia due to probably a loss of blood > somewhere. That is the part that worries me. That's why he went > ahead and scheduled a colonscopy even though I am not 50 yet. Well it's better to be safe and find out for sure. I certainly hope your test results are happy news. Cheri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 > I know I shouldn't jump to conclusions but it is hard not to. Doc > said I have iron deficiency anemia due to probably a loss of blood > somewhere. That is the part that worries me. That's why he went > ahead and scheduled a colonscopy even though I am not 50 yet. Well it's better to be safe and find out for sure. I certainly hope your test results are happy news. Cheri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 ok, I'm lost, maybe dense, what do you do with the pillow? ~~Dianna Jinny wrote:Dianne, I forgot to mention they came out with a pillow now you can buy for $5.00 and it makes the mammo much easier to handle. I'm no longer afraid to have a mammogram because of the use of the pillow. Jinny thebirdlover@... Owned by Junior Lee (Scarlet macaw) Cleo (Severe macaw) Peanut (CAG) Olivia, Sweetie, Papaya, Kiwi, Elmo Apple and Chester (quakers) Oliver, Irma and ie (nandays) STILL looking for that special Greenwing needing a home! -- Re: Hello, I'm new Jinny, My story was exactly the same as yours. I had a low blood count for many years that the dr said was " just anemia. " I took him at his word because I figured he was a dr and knew more than me. I was 37 at the time. Luckily for me he retired and I had to go to another hematologist so I chose the dr my mother was using for her Breast Cancer. As soon as he saw how low my blood count was he ordered the fecal occult bllod test which was also positive. I was scheduled for a colonoscopy the next week and I had several precancerous " polyps removed. The dr said if I had continued to ignore my symptoms and the other dr didn't retire I would have eventually ended up with Colon Cancer. Thankfully I was one of the lucky ones. Right after my colonoscopy my brother was telling me he had the same symptoms I was having...low blood count, tired, achy and he had a pain between his shoulders that ran around to his stomach. Finally we got him to go to the dr and he had the colonoscopy done but the dr found a large mass in his colon which was cancer. He was operated on in 11/93 and was diagnosed with Stage 4 Colon Cancer with Metasis to the Liver. A year later my adored big brother was gone. Good luck to you. Dianne Jinny wrote: I just joined this group yesterday and perhaps I'm jumping the gun, but after routine testing for a long overdue physical, the results came back that there is blood in my stool. All six samples had blood, so I failed the test positively. I need to have a colon scope test, which I hear is nothing these days because they knock you out. The worst part about it is the pre-op. Well, the first thing I did when I came home, was pick up my copy of the Merck manual and looked up my particular symptoms and unfortunately, color cancer has what I'm going through and have been going through for almost two years now. It said the first sign of color cancer is blood in the stool. It must be tested because you can't see the blood--which is true in my case. Fatique and tiredness is another symptom, though I think that's pretty normal for an active lifestyle. Who isn't tired these days?? Yet another warning sign is anemia. I am anemic. Is any of this sounding familiar to any of you? In regards to age and gender--I'm almost 48 and a white female. Jinny thebirdlover@... Owned by Junior Lee (Scarlet macaw) Cleo (Severe macaw) Peanut (CAG) Olivia, Sweetie, Papaya, Kiwi, Elmo Apple and Chester (quakers) Oliver, Irma and ie (nandays) STILL looking for that special Greenwing needing a home! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 ok, I'm lost, maybe dense, what do you do with the pillow? ~~Dianna Jinny wrote:Dianne, I forgot to mention they came out with a pillow now you can buy for $5.00 and it makes the mammo much easier to handle. I'm no longer afraid to have a mammogram because of the use of the pillow. Jinny thebirdlover@... Owned by Junior Lee (Scarlet macaw) Cleo (Severe macaw) Peanut (CAG) Olivia, Sweetie, Papaya, Kiwi, Elmo Apple and Chester (quakers) Oliver, Irma and ie (nandays) STILL looking for that special Greenwing needing a home! -- Re: Hello, I'm new Jinny, My story was exactly the same as yours. I had a low blood count for many years that the dr said was " just anemia. " I took him at his word because I figured he was a dr and knew more than me. I was 37 at the time. Luckily for me he retired and I had to go to another hematologist so I chose the dr my mother was using for her Breast Cancer. As soon as he saw how low my blood count was he ordered the fecal occult bllod test which was also positive. I was scheduled for a colonoscopy the next week and I had several precancerous " polyps removed. The dr said if I had continued to ignore my symptoms and the other dr didn't retire I would have eventually ended up with Colon Cancer. Thankfully I was one of the lucky ones. Right after my colonoscopy my brother was telling me he had the same symptoms I was having...low blood count, tired, achy and he had a pain between his shoulders that ran around to his stomach. Finally we got him to go to the dr and he had the colonoscopy done but the dr found a large mass in his colon which was cancer. He was operated on in 11/93 and was diagnosed with Stage 4 Colon Cancer with Metasis to the Liver. A year later my adored big brother was gone. Good luck to you. Dianne Jinny wrote: I just joined this group yesterday and perhaps I'm jumping the gun, but after routine testing for a long overdue physical, the results came back that there is blood in my stool. All six samples had blood, so I failed the test positively. I need to have a colon scope test, which I hear is nothing these days because they knock you out. The worst part about it is the pre-op. Well, the first thing I did when I came home, was pick up my copy of the Merck manual and looked up my particular symptoms and unfortunately, color cancer has what I'm going through and have been going through for almost two years now. It said the first sign of color cancer is blood in the stool. It must be tested because you can't see the blood--which is true in my case. Fatique and tiredness is another symptom, though I think that's pretty normal for an active lifestyle. Who isn't tired these days?? Yet another warning sign is anemia. I am anemic. Is any of this sounding familiar to any of you? In regards to age and gender--I'm almost 48 and a white female. Jinny thebirdlover@... Owned by Junior Lee (Scarlet macaw) Cleo (Severe macaw) Peanut (CAG) Olivia, Sweetie, Papaya, Kiwi, Elmo Apple and Chester (quakers) Oliver, Irma and ie (nandays) STILL looking for that special Greenwing needing a home! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 ok, I'm lost, maybe dense, what do you do with the pillow? ~~Dianna Jinny wrote:Dianne, I forgot to mention they came out with a pillow now you can buy for $5.00 and it makes the mammo much easier to handle. I'm no longer afraid to have a mammogram because of the use of the pillow. Jinny thebirdlover@... Owned by Junior Lee (Scarlet macaw) Cleo (Severe macaw) Peanut (CAG) Olivia, Sweetie, Papaya, Kiwi, Elmo Apple and Chester (quakers) Oliver, Irma and ie (nandays) STILL looking for that special Greenwing needing a home! -- Re: Hello, I'm new Jinny, My story was exactly the same as yours. I had a low blood count for many years that the dr said was " just anemia. " I took him at his word because I figured he was a dr and knew more than me. I was 37 at the time. Luckily for me he retired and I had to go to another hematologist so I chose the dr my mother was using for her Breast Cancer. As soon as he saw how low my blood count was he ordered the fecal occult bllod test which was also positive. I was scheduled for a colonoscopy the next week and I had several precancerous " polyps removed. The dr said if I had continued to ignore my symptoms and the other dr didn't retire I would have eventually ended up with Colon Cancer. Thankfully I was one of the lucky ones. Right after my colonoscopy my brother was telling me he had the same symptoms I was having...low blood count, tired, achy and he had a pain between his shoulders that ran around to his stomach. Finally we got him to go to the dr and he had the colonoscopy done but the dr found a large mass in his colon which was cancer. He was operated on in 11/93 and was diagnosed with Stage 4 Colon Cancer with Metasis to the Liver. A year later my adored big brother was gone. Good luck to you. Dianne Jinny wrote: I just joined this group yesterday and perhaps I'm jumping the gun, but after routine testing for a long overdue physical, the results came back that there is blood in my stool. All six samples had blood, so I failed the test positively. I need to have a colon scope test, which I hear is nothing these days because they knock you out. The worst part about it is the pre-op. Well, the first thing I did when I came home, was pick up my copy of the Merck manual and looked up my particular symptoms and unfortunately, color cancer has what I'm going through and have been going through for almost two years now. It said the first sign of color cancer is blood in the stool. It must be tested because you can't see the blood--which is true in my case. Fatique and tiredness is another symptom, though I think that's pretty normal for an active lifestyle. Who isn't tired these days?? Yet another warning sign is anemia. I am anemic. Is any of this sounding familiar to any of you? In regards to age and gender--I'm almost 48 and a white female. Jinny thebirdlover@... Owned by Junior Lee (Scarlet macaw) Cleo (Severe macaw) Peanut (CAG) Olivia, Sweetie, Papaya, Kiwi, Elmo Apple and Chester (quakers) Oliver, Irma and ie (nandays) STILL looking for that special Greenwing needing a home! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 3, 2004 Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 I thought breast cancer was not hereditary. Unfortunately, the stats for breast cancer are 1 in every 10 women, which is very high. I don't understand why it's so high. The good news is, if you catch it in time, you have an 85% chance of living. My mother-in-law did not keep her mammogram appointment and then decided to completely ignore it because she had other more pressing things on her mind. I think all of us have had this attitude towards testing at one time or another. She is living proof that you MUST go for testing; regardless of how unpleasant it is, and that's exactly why I m going for the colonoscopy. Now she's telling us that after a complete mastectomy, if the cancer hasn't spread to the lymph nodes, she won't need chemo or radiation therapy... and this frustrates me because she is STILL putting her head in the sand! This is a terribly stressful time for my husband and me. I almost feel like it's my fault I need to be tested for colon cancer--it's just the wrong time, but common sense tells me there isn't a right time. Just because there are problems now, I still need to be tested. Jinny thebirdlover@... Owned by Junior Lee (Scarlet macaw) Cleo (Severe macaw) Peanut (CAG) Olivia, Sweetie, Papaya, Kiwi, Elmo Apple and Chester (quakers) Oliver, Irma and ie (nandays) STILL looking for that special Greenwing needing a home! -- Re: Hello, I'm new Jinny, My story was exactly the same as yours. I had a low blood count for many years that the dr said was " just anemia. " I took him at his word because I figured he was a dr and knew more than me. I was 37 at the time. Luckily for me he retired and I had to go to another hematologist so I chose the dr my mother was using for her Breast Cancer. As soon as he saw how low my blood count was he ordered the fecal occult bllod test which was also positive. I was scheduled for a colonoscopy the next week and I had several precancerous " polyps removed. The dr said if I had continued to ignore my symptoms and the other dr didn't retire I would have eventually ended up with Colon Cancer. Thankfully I was one of the lucky ones. Right after my colonoscopy my brother was telling me he had the same symptoms I was having...low blood count, tired, achy and he had a pain between his shoulders that ran around to his stomach. Finally we got him to go to the dr and he had the colonoscopy done but the dr found a large mass in his colon which was cancer. He was operated on in 11/93 and was diagnosed with Stage 4 Colon Cancer with Metasis to the Liver. A year later my adored big brother was gone. Good luck to you. Dianne Jinny wrote: I just joined this group yesterday and perhaps I'm jumping the gun, but after routine testing for a long overdue physical, the results came back that there is blood in my stool. All six samples had blood, so I failed the test positively. I need to have a colon scope test, which I hear is nothing these days because they knock you out. The worst part about it is the pre-op. Well, the first thing I did when I came home, was pick up my copy of the Merck manual and looked up my particular symptoms and unfortunately, color cancer has what I'm going through and have been going through for almost two years now. It said the first sign of color cancer is blood in the stool. It must be tested because you can't see the blood--which is true in my case. Fatique and tiredness is another symptom, though I think that's pretty normal for an active lifestyle. Who isn't tired these days?? Yet another warning sign is anemia. I am anemic. Is any of this sounding familiar to any of you? In regards to age and gender--I'm almost 48 and a white female. Jinny thebirdlover@... Owned by Junior Lee (Scarlet macaw) Cleo (Severe macaw) Peanut (CAG) Olivia, Sweetie, Papaya, Kiwi, Elmo Apple and Chester (quakers) Oliver, Irma and ie (nandays) STILL looking for that special Greenwing needing a home! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 3, 2004 Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 Kathy, I'm glad you will be taking your daughter to the GI dr. Let's pray everything is ok and it is something simple. Hopefully she won't have to wait too long for an appointment. Dianne Kathy wrote: Yep after everybody's comments I decided I'm going to call next week It will probably be awhile before she gets in (there is only one gastro in town) but I'll report back when we know anything. Kathy Re: Hello, I'm new Jinny, My story was exactly the same as yours. I had a low blood count for many years that the dr said was " just anemia. " I took him at his word because I figured he was a dr and knew more than me. I was 37 at the time. Luckily for me he retired and I had to go to another hematologist so I chose the dr my mother was using for her Breast Cancer. As soon as he saw how low my blood count was he ordered the fecal occult bllod test which was also positive. I was scheduled for a colonoscopy the next week and I had several precancerous " polyps removed. The dr said if I had continued to ignore my symptoms and the other dr didn't retire I would have eventually ended up with Colon Cancer. Thankfully I was one of the lucky ones. Right after my colonoscopy my brother was telling me he had the same symptoms I was having...low blood count, tired, achy and he had a pain between his shoulders that ran around to his stomach. Finally we got him to go to the dr and he had the colonoscopy done but the dr found a large mass in his colon which was cancer. He was operated on in 11/93 and was diagnosed with Stage 4 Colon Cancer with Metasis to the Liver. A year later my adored big brother was gone. Good luck to you. Dianne Jinny wrote: I just joined this group yesterday and perhaps I'm jumping the gun, but after routine testing for a long overdue physical, the results came back that there is blood in my stool. All six samples had blood, so I failed the test positively. I need to have a colon scope test, which I hear is nothing these days because they knock you out. The worst part about it is the pre-op. Well, the first thing I did when I came home, was pick up my copy of the Merck manual and looked up my particular symptoms and unfortunately, color cancer has what I'm going through and have been going through for almost two years now. It said the first sign of color cancer is blood in the stool. It must be tested because you can't see the blood--which is true in my case. Fatique and tiredness is another symptom, though I think that's pretty normal for an active lifestyle. Who isn't tired these days?? Yet another warning sign is anemia. I am anemic. Is any of this sounding familiar to any of you? In regards to age and gender--I'm almost 48 and a white female. Jinny thebirdlover@... Owned by Junior Lee (Scarlet macaw) Cleo (Severe macaw) Peanut (CAG) Olivia, Sweetie, Papaya, Kiwi, Elmo Apple and Chester (quakers) Oliver, Irma and ie (nandays) STILL looking for that special Greenwing needing a home! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 3, 2004 Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 Kathy, I'm glad you will be taking your daughter to the GI dr. Let's pray everything is ok and it is something simple. Hopefully she won't have to wait too long for an appointment. Dianne Kathy wrote: Yep after everybody's comments I decided I'm going to call next week It will probably be awhile before she gets in (there is only one gastro in town) but I'll report back when we know anything. Kathy Re: Hello, I'm new Jinny, My story was exactly the same as yours. I had a low blood count for many years that the dr said was " just anemia. " I took him at his word because I figured he was a dr and knew more than me. I was 37 at the time. Luckily for me he retired and I had to go to another hematologist so I chose the dr my mother was using for her Breast Cancer. As soon as he saw how low my blood count was he ordered the fecal occult bllod test which was also positive. I was scheduled for a colonoscopy the next week and I had several precancerous " polyps removed. The dr said if I had continued to ignore my symptoms and the other dr didn't retire I would have eventually ended up with Colon Cancer. Thankfully I was one of the lucky ones. Right after my colonoscopy my brother was telling me he had the same symptoms I was having...low blood count, tired, achy and he had a pain between his shoulders that ran around to his stomach. Finally we got him to go to the dr and he had the colonoscopy done but the dr found a large mass in his colon which was cancer. He was operated on in 11/93 and was diagnosed with Stage 4 Colon Cancer with Metasis to the Liver. A year later my adored big brother was gone. Good luck to you. Dianne Jinny wrote: I just joined this group yesterday and perhaps I'm jumping the gun, but after routine testing for a long overdue physical, the results came back that there is blood in my stool. All six samples had blood, so I failed the test positively. I need to have a colon scope test, which I hear is nothing these days because they knock you out. The worst part about it is the pre-op. Well, the first thing I did when I came home, was pick up my copy of the Merck manual and looked up my particular symptoms and unfortunately, color cancer has what I'm going through and have been going through for almost two years now. It said the first sign of color cancer is blood in the stool. It must be tested because you can't see the blood--which is true in my case. Fatique and tiredness is another symptom, though I think that's pretty normal for an active lifestyle. Who isn't tired these days?? Yet another warning sign is anemia. I am anemic. Is any of this sounding familiar to any of you? In regards to age and gender--I'm almost 48 and a white female. Jinny thebirdlover@... Owned by Junior Lee (Scarlet macaw) Cleo (Severe macaw) Peanut (CAG) Olivia, Sweetie, Papaya, Kiwi, Elmo Apple and Chester (quakers) Oliver, Irma and ie (nandays) STILL looking for that special Greenwing needing a home! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 3, 2004 Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 > Hi Cheri, > > That's what I was thinking too. Is there anything they can do for it? > > Kathy Actually, Nexium helped me, which is usually prescribed for acid reflux. I don't know if there are other meds available, but it sure is worth looking into. I know how miserable your daughter is. Cheri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 3, 2004 Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 > Hi Cheri, > > That's what I was thinking too. Is there anything they can do for it? > > Kathy Actually, Nexium helped me, which is usually prescribed for acid reflux. I don't know if there are other meds available, but it sure is worth looking into. I know how miserable your daughter is. Cheri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 3, 2004 Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 > Hi Cheri, > > That's what I was thinking too. Is there anything they can do for it? > > Kathy Actually, Nexium helped me, which is usually prescribed for acid reflux. I don't know if there are other meds available, but it sure is worth looking into. I know how miserable your daughter is. Cheri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 3, 2004 Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 > I thought breast cancer was not hereditary. Unfortunately, the stats for > breast cancer are 1 in every 10 women, which is very high. I don't > understand why it's so high. The good news is, if you catch it in time, you > have an 85% chance of living. The cancer is not hereditary, but the tendancy to get breast cancer is. Two of my aunts have had it, and a first cousin, so I was very careful to get mammograms every six months. Now I have colon cancer, so go figure! > > Now she's telling us that after a complete mastectomy, if the cancer hasn't > spread to the lymph nodes, she won't need chemo or radiation therapy... and > this frustrates me because she is STILL putting her head in the sand! Are you sure she isn't repeating what she heard from her doctor? Maybe she will let you go with her to the doctor so you can hear it yourself? Or maybe she can give the doctor permission to discuss her case with you or your husband. Cheri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 3, 2004 Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 > I thought breast cancer was not hereditary. Unfortunately, the stats for > breast cancer are 1 in every 10 women, which is very high. I don't > understand why it's so high. The good news is, if you catch it in time, you > have an 85% chance of living. The cancer is not hereditary, but the tendancy to get breast cancer is. Two of my aunts have had it, and a first cousin, so I was very careful to get mammograms every six months. Now I have colon cancer, so go figure! > > Now she's telling us that after a complete mastectomy, if the cancer hasn't > spread to the lymph nodes, she won't need chemo or radiation therapy... and > this frustrates me because she is STILL putting her head in the sand! Are you sure she isn't repeating what she heard from her doctor? Maybe she will let you go with her to the doctor so you can hear it yourself? Or maybe she can give the doctor permission to discuss her case with you or your husband. Cheri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 3, 2004 Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 > I thought breast cancer was not hereditary. Unfortunately, the stats for > breast cancer are 1 in every 10 women, which is very high. I don't > understand why it's so high. The good news is, if you catch it in time, you > have an 85% chance of living. The cancer is not hereditary, but the tendancy to get breast cancer is. Two of my aunts have had it, and a first cousin, so I was very careful to get mammograms every six months. Now I have colon cancer, so go figure! > > Now she's telling us that after a complete mastectomy, if the cancer hasn't > spread to the lymph nodes, she won't need chemo or radiation therapy... and > this frustrates me because she is STILL putting her head in the sand! Are you sure she isn't repeating what she heard from her doctor? Maybe she will let you go with her to the doctor so you can hear it yourself? Or maybe she can give the doctor permission to discuss her case with you or your husband. Cheri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 3, 2004 Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 > How long have you known that you have colon cancer? What were the signs? I had a colonoscopy in the middle of June that came back clear. Then 2 weeks later I started having some low grade pain in my lower right abdomen. Because of the colonoscopy, the doctors tested me for everything else first - kidney stones, appendix, diverticulitis. Nothing was helping so they sent me for a cat scan and a surgeon to read the results. The surgeon still wasn't clear on what he was seeing, so he sent me for another cat scan two weeks later. My PCP thought that the cat scan showed an abscess and admitted me to the hospital, but that night the surgeon came in and said he did not think it was an abscess, it was a mass with mets to the liver and the omentum. I spent 7 days in the hospital confirming that diagnosis (liver biopsy and surgery to have a port placed) and then 3 more days getting the first dose of chemo. I feel lucky because most people do not have any symptoms. Because I had some pain, it was caught early, even though I am Stage IV. It is not in my lungs or lymph nodes, it is all centralized and the mets to my liver are on the very tip of the liver. If I had no symptoms, it would have 5 more years before I had another colonoscopy and I'm sure it would have been too late. I'm very hopeful that I can beat this. Cheri - cancer survivor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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