But I have made some friends here (even if I don't get to talk to them as much as I like), and I thought I should finally fess up and share.
Starting in October I started to have abdominal pains. When I had a day and night where the pain never went away, I went to the ED. The CT showed some swelling/inflammation. This led to one of those dreaded "colonoscopy" procedures...lol In late December the Colonoscopy revealed that I had a Neuroendicrine Carcinoid Tumor on the valve between the Large and Small Intestine. On the the 22nd of January, I had a small portion of my small and large intestine removed and sewn back together. They also removed lymph nodes. The tumor was about the size of a ping pong ball. Not going to break any records...LOL but it is a pretty decent size for the intestines. Pathology has shown that 11 of the 19 lymph nodes taken have tested positive for cancer. I have spent the past month recovering and in many ways I am still recovering...No energy, still some pain...get tired physically very quickly...not allowed to lift anything...etc., etc.
Now that is the bad and scary news...
How about some good news...The good news is that This is not what you would consider "colon cancer". This is a VERY rare tumor and it is VERY slow growing. I will not need chemotherapy as it does not respond in the same way to chemo as other cancers. I probably had this for years. The surgeons feel that they have removed more lymph nodes than needed and they have removed ALL of the cancer. I should be Cancer free. As far as it coming back, being very slow growing and because of it's rarity, we are probably talking 10-20 years, IF at all. In speaking with the surgeon on followup, I am feeling good about the prognosis. We have set up appointments with an oncologist. My first meeting went very well and I feel better about the prognosis. We are setting up the baseline scans. and I will have to be scanned every 6 months for a time and once a year after.
This is the scary part. It is possible the cancer has spread to an area where the original CT's did not look. I will have my baseline scans shortly. They will be more comprehensive. and IF the cancer spread to somewhere else, depending on the location, I will need chemo. Now while that is scary...The nature of this cancer makes this scenario pretty unlikely. After my talks with the Surgeon and oncologists, I think I am feeling over 90% that I am done and and cancer free. There is always just that "little bit" that hangs there until we can have definitive confirmation from the scans.
Like I said...I don't want to make to big of a deal about this. As far as cancers go...I think I am getting off pretty easy. I just felt some of you would want to know. I do appreciate any and all well wishes and prayers. They really have helped me get through the past month. But I am not trying to elicit them...I have received much from this group of people and am very thankful to have you. I look forward to many more years and I think I am getting close to becoming more involved as I was before...I need to get out of that lurker status....LOL