Newly Diagnosed

Hi, My Mom, who is the hero of my life, was accidently diagnosed with diffuse signet cell adenocarcinoma of the stomach. She had an appointment for a colonoscopy (we have family history of pancreas and colon cancer and she has had some benign pollyps removed in the past). She had some intermittent hunger  and heartburn feelings the last month- 2 months and thought she maybe had the beginnings of an ulcer. She had one a long time ago.So she asked if they could do the endoscopy at the same time and they found a clean colon and a stomach ulcer with some cancer cells which were biopsied etc. The next step is the barium and CAT scan in 2 days. I am so worried. I want to be strong for her and in front of her but I am not ready to be without her. Has anyone elses cancer been found this way? I'd like to hear your story. thanks to you all who are so brave and I pray for your recoveries. Ellen

Dear Ellen, We found out that my husband had cancer because of severe anemia...turned out that the tumor was bleeding. Other than that, he really didn't have other symptoms. Most people have told us that they only had heartburn leading up to their diagnosis. Those first few weeks after he was diagnosed were the hardest for us. The whirlwind of scans...CT scans, Ultrasounds, meeting doctors and being scared of the unknown was so hard. Once he had the surgery and started treatment we finally felt that we were actually doing something to beat the cancer away. Hans was stage III with significant lymph node involvement. In a few weeks we will go for Hans' PET/CT scan for his three year checkup. He is super busy now working full time shooting a cooking show for Georgia Public Television that will air this winter. We've always joked that the irony of a Chef with stomach cancer wasn't lost on us...we have a pretty goofy sense of humor in this house. He is back to all of his hobbies now as well as real work. He doesn't always feel good and he has a hard time eating, but life is still sweet because he is here with us beating all of those statistics! My thoughts are with you and your mom, please continue to update us here! Amy

Thank you so very much for your message, so hopeful and positive! My Mom goes for her CT scan tomorrow so we will know soon I hope, what stage hers is.What treatment center/ hospital did Hans go to and how long after his diagnosis did he have surgery? Unfortunately the 4th of July is Friday which may delay things but I guess we must just go with the flow right now. Prayers and very best wishes to you and your Husband and I hope his scans are GREAT! Ellen

Dear Ellen, It took over a month from the time he was diagnosed until he finally had surgery. He was officially diagnosed on July 12th, 2005 and he had the surgery August 18th. We hated waiting so long, but all of the doctors that we saw kept trying to calm us down and soothe our nerves by telling us that a month wouldn't make a difference. I'm pretty sure that I rolled my eyes at many a talented and well-meaning doctor. We live in Atlanta, Georgia where we have a fabulous Oncologist at Piedmont Hospital, but we travelled to MD Anderson hospital in Houston, Texas for Hans' surgery. We also have an Oncologist at MD Anderson who communicates everything with our Atlanta Doctor. Hans had his Chemo/Radiation here in Atlanta using the Doctor's orders from Houston. It seems complicated, but really the Doctors communicated with each other and already knew everything happening which spared us from trying to explain things to them. Our Atlanta Oncologist explained to us that with Stomach Cancer we really needed an Surgeon that had seen and done this surgery a number of times. MD Anderson fit that bill and we had two surgeons that worked on Hans. We still go back and have follow ups with his Thoracic Surgeon, Dr. Wayne Hofstetter in Houston...we don't even really need to see him anymore, but credit him with making a huge impact on our life and love checking in with him and his talented nurses. These people have been through so much with us as we lived in the hospital for 8 weeks after the first surgery. Hans had complications and needed a second surgery for an internal leak. You will meet so many angels on this journey. I once broke down asking the nurses and doctors how in the world can they work with cancer every single day and stay sane. They all hugged me and said that it wasn't easy, but that what they do means so much because of the lives that they touch. Truly great people. My prayers and positive thoughts are with you and your Mom during those scans and the waiting for results (hardest part!). Best, Amy

Hi Amy, My Mom had her scan today and now we wait, some more. Her CEA test of her blood came back 1.7 which I am very excited about. My Mom is considering Anderson in Houston, she lives in Florida, I in NY.She could also go to Sloan Kettering and stay with me. I guess she will make her decision when we get more answers. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the time you have taken to write , if I could I would HUG you right now. It somehow helps to not feel like you 're alone. I don't know why but it does. So one day , I will remember and pay it forward!! All good things to you and Hans, I will keep you posted. Ellen

Hi, Well hopefully tomorrow we find out what the CAT scan results are . And more hopefully the report won't be bad. The waiting is so awful. I'm trying not to play different scenarios in my head. My Mom is keeping busy , her friends are absolutely wonderful. I'll keep you posted and thanks for just listening. Ellen

Well My Mom's CAT scan came back with no sign of the stomach lesions (but I know that sometimes ct scans don't pick up on small ones etc..) and even though it said in the impressions: saw no metastasis etc. what worries me is that she had a small lesion on her liver but he reported that it was a small cyst and two masses on the kidneys which he felt also were cysts(?) and that none of them lit up (no hot spots). Her CEA was 1.7 in her blood.What worries me is that if the stomach adenocarcinoma didn't show up how do I trust the other findings? So...next comes another endosopy  and PET scan. and then some more torturous waiting.Then what place do we choose to go to? She is thinking she wants to go to University of Miami Sylvester Cancer Center,she lives in Fla, I in NY , she could stay with me and go to Sloan Kett or go to the very famous MD Anderson in Texas.How did any of you choose a center? Anyone know of a place in Florida that had good results? Any info is so much appreciated. Wish I could do more. Thanks so much. Ellen

I first went to Penn State Hershey Med. but then switched to Cancer Treatment Center in Philadelphia.  They have great doctors there and a super caring staff, from the nurses to the drivers and the cafeteria workers.

We decided which hospital to go to based on the National Cancer Institute's recomendations.  The top ones were Sloan Ket., New York, MD Anderson and CTCA in Phila.  We chose to check out CTCA and liked their approach to my cancer.  I felt very much like I wasn't alone in this battle.

CTCA is building new hospitals in Atlanta and Phoenix soon too.

Andrea

 

On 7/11/2008 ANDI68 wrote:

I first went to Penn State Hershey Med. but then switched to Cancer Treatment Center in Philadelphia.  They have great doctors there and a super caring staff, from the nurses to the drivers and the cafeteria workers.

We decided which hospital to go to based on the National Cancer Institute's recomendations.  The top ones were Sloan Ket., New York, MD Anderson and CTCA in Phila.  We chose to check out CTCA and liked their approach to my cancer.  I felt very much like I wasn't alone in this battle.

CTCA is building new hospitals in Atlanta and Phoenix soon too.

Andrea

Andrea

I went to the CTCA in Zion IL and had the same type of experience as you did in Philly.  The doctors, nurses, technicians, and even cafeteria people were outstanding.  It means a lot when you are going through this.

Diana

Hi Andrea and Diana, I know ,CTCA is a place I would choose because at one time I was being worked up for ovarian cancer (they thought at first it was a complicated cyst but after several other tests it was just a regular simple cyst) I was looking at places and CTCA in Philly was the one I would ve picked. I love that they do a lot with positive energy etc.. I work in a hospital and I see such a difference in people's recovery when they think positively etcc. Anyway, unfortunately the same problem exists with CTCA, none are close to my MOm. She is thinking of University of Miami, Sylvester Cancer Center. I'll keep you posted. Thanks so much for taking time to respond and prayers and good health to both of you!!! Ellen

PS: Hi Andrea, forgive me , I am relatively new to this site and so I copied and pasted this from the response to you and Diana on the other subject I posted , which I now see I've repeated myself several times. The worrying apparently has fogged up my brain a bit!! I will now copy and paste this to Diana and repeat myself some more! LOL. My best wishes to you, Ellen