Before we can go forward, we need to look back. Way back. They believe I have Lynch Syndrome (being confirmed at Duke University) a form of hereditary colon cancer which was one of the many things my surgeon said on our second meeting that I had never heard of before.
This whole journey started at my general physician's office. I call her my horse doctor. She tells me like it is whether I am ready to hear it or not. On this day, it was supposed to be just a follow up on some medication changes. When I first got there, the receptionist handed me a health checklist to update. I hesitated to add that I had blood in my stool for the last 4-6 weeks (miracle #1). Even though, I have had two children...therefore, I have hemorrhoids, I recorded the blood anyway. As my doctor went over ALL of the info on that sheet, she ordered another x-ray of my foot (bone spurs), asked in depth questions about how my hip is doing (bursitis & tendinitis) and then she froze. She turned at me and peered over her reading glasses with her steel blue eyes. "Does your family have a history of colon cancer?" She froze waiting for my response. I froze and was speechless. I had read a bit online about some of the things that could be causing the blood in my stool. Since it was bright red, it was almost certainly there because of the reason above, not cancer. But, it was still hard to hear a doctor say those words.
A family history! HA! My dad's family has struggled with just about every cancer on the planet. I have watched wonder family and friends struggle with the diagnosis and treatment of this invader. But, I am young. Only 42, there is no way I have colon cancer! But, after I made a call to my mom and then to my dad, I realized this might be more serious than I first thought. There is colon cancer on both sides. Grandmother, uncles - too close to ignore.
My Dr. immediately scheduled me for a colonoscopy the next Tuesday (Miracle #2). I was bummed because that meant I had to leave the conference that is one of my highlights of my year at VA Beach to be back in time for the procedure.
Most people say they don't remember anything. Well, even though I am a non-violent person....I swatted a nurse. The surgeon came out and told me that they found a polyp and removed it and found another spot he was concerned about because he could not lift it up to see what was behind it. Since I was so feisty in the procedure, he was unable to finish and was scheduled for a barium study (hate the word enema!) to make sure the right side of the colon was clear. He said the tumor was small and hard. He was thinking he would want to take it out.
No comments:
Post a Comment