New to this

Hi all,

I'm new here, newly diagnosed and caught in such a whirlwind. I'm a 38 year old mother of two. I had some bleeding so I went for colonoscopy. Had a malignant tumor. Dr thinks he got it all but I need to have segmental resection surgery to be sure. Dr says prognosis is good. I guess I'm lucky to have had symptoms, from what I read most don't.

Cat scan Monday to make sure it didn't spread, Dr Tuesday, Preop Thursday, Surgery Monday. What a whole new world!!

I have lots of family and friends around to help with kids and am very lucky in that regards. It's weird to be the one.

Dear Jan (?),

Welcome!!  Hope this turns out to be an "Independence Day" to remember... for all the right reasons!  You'll find answers to questions, fears, and random thoughts from those who are in your situation or are standing with a loved one going through what you're facing.  Thank God you found out early on and can take it from here.  Know you are in my thoughts and prayers.  Let us know how things are going.

Hi Jan,

 Sorry to hear about your diagnosis.  I remember my first couple of days after diagnosis and how fast the medical community moves when things get serious.  Hopefully you did catch it very early and are lucky. 

Have you had a chance to interview and research your surgeon?  Is he/she a board-certified colorectal specialist? How many colectomies have they done?  Etc.  Also given that you don't have a large tumor to remove, do they plan to do your colectomy laparoscopically?  I would highly recommend the scope.  I had my surgery in 2007 and I was out of the hospital in 3 days and mostly recovered in 2 weeks.  My scars are very minimal.  Open surgery will probably leave you with an 8 inch scar, but sometimes it can't be avoided.  It usually takes about 7 days to get out of the hospital if you have the open procedure.

Jack

On 7/6/2009 mrready wrote:

Hi Jan,

 Sorry to hear about your diagnosis.  I remember my first couple of days after diagnosis and how fast the medical community moves when things get serious.  Hopefully you did catch it very early and are lucky. 

Have you had a chance to interview and research your surgeon?  Is he/she a board-certified colorectal specialist? How many colectomies have they done?  Etc.  Also given that you don't have a large tumor to remove, do they plan to do your colectomy laparoscopically?  I would highly recommend the scope.  I had my surgery in 2007 and I was out of the hospital in 3 days and mostly recovered in 2 weeks.  My scars are very minimal.  Open surgery will probably leave you with an 8 inch scar, but sometimes it can't be avoided.  It usually takes about 7 days to get out of the hospital if you have the open procedure.

Jack

Hi Jack, I am going into surgery early tomorrow. It is very comforting to hear your recovery time.I've spent the day downing that awful prep drink and thinking if I'm having trouble with this I guess I'm in for a pretty rude awakening for all that lies ahead.:)

 I am having laproscopic assisted surgery. I have a wonderful surgeon and a great hospital. He meets all the criteria you listed. It's amazing how fast I'm learning the talk.Just trying to get through surgery and praying it hasn't spread to the lymph nodes.I can't tell you how nice it is to hear from someone whose been there. Thank you.

Hi Jack,

Just wanted to thank you again for your post right before my surgery. It went very well, and my lymph nodes are clear! I am doing very well, and see my Dr on Tuesday. It really helped having that 2 week visual going into this. I know everyone is different, but I'm 2 weeks tomorrow and feeling very good. Not quite the same yet but further along than I could have imagined pre surgery.

Thanks again

Jan