Nervous and anxious

My husband and I were informed this wednesday that he has bowel cancer, a tumor the size of 20cent coin.  Today we checked into hospital and being operated on tomorrow, with removal of half of his bowel.

I, we are very shocked, angry,.....only 37 years old.  Starting to read up and prepare for the next week.

 

 We understand how you both must feel, its natural, and its no comfort to say that you have joined the journey with thousands and thousands of others, and we are all your friends and here to help and support you, so first know that you are  not alone in your situation as cancer strikes the young and the old. We all hate it,

  Second thing you must have a winners mentality and refuse to allow this hated disease dictate your life and know your Husband can beat this if you  both stay, strong and very positive. Always be proactive and dont be scared to ask Drs every thing about Husbands treatment.

   We are all with you and our prayers are with you.....

                    God Bless   You and Yours

Please ensure your doctors do a CEA test before he goes for surgery.  CEA is you don't know, is a marker in the blood that is typically high when the cancer is active (i.e., before surgery) and then typically drops after the colon has been ressected.  My husband who has low CEA scores since his operation last March 2009, never had a CEA benchmark test taken before his operation.  As a result, we are not 100% sure if his very low CEA scores are reflective of his disease control or not.  Indeed, although it is rare, some people's CEA rates can be very low even with widespread metastatic disease happening.  And we're not sure if my husband is one such person.  So, instead, we rely on his PET/CT scans -- the gold standard for determining if the chemo is working -- that are taken every three months.  But between you and me, the low CEA score is nice.  I just wish we had something to compare it to.

Good luck with the surgery and don't hesitate to ask questions of the doctors and oncologists.   And if they come back with a Stage IV cancer diagnosis -- which we all pray will not be the case -- remember that there are lots of five year survivors of colon cancer walking around today, enjoying their life to the fullest, and taking things one-day-at-a-time.  

Paula Jean   

I understand your frustration and anger, but please try to be strong and positive.  I was diagnosed with B cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in January 2008 and now I have been in remission for a year. I am a single mother of two, a full-time employee and part time student.  I was able to continue work and school. It was not easy, but I had all my family, friends and co-workers support. There were good days and bad days (few days after I had chemo). My doctor recommended that I continue working. I thought that my doctor was crazy, I had cancer and she wanted me to work, but believe me it was a good decision because it kept my mind occupied.  At school I was able to enroll in the disabled students program. You need to be strong and positive so you can help your husband deal with his cancer. I will pray for you and your husband.

I can imagine your shock and anger. My husband was diagnosed last summer with Stage 3C colon cancer. Give yourself time to be angry and cry but then accept what has happened (there really isn't anything you can do to change it) and move forward to the task of fighting the cancer. You have to have a positive attitude to do this. It isn't easy and there will be many times when you'll fall apart but be strong. Your husband needs you more than ever and YOU can be what gets him through. My husband and I tried to control the roller coaster by being up and down at the same time. Accept that he controls this though. If he's upbeat, then you be upbeat too. When he's down, you be the strong one. You won't regret it. Get yourself a support group/person that you can talk to. This is an excellent place to start. I would be happy to listen anytime as would everyone who is on this site. God Bless and keep you and your family in his embrace!