Cancer

 It's been 3 weeks since I had a colonoscopy and the doctor said "we found a mass that we believe is malignant, we are going to set you up for a CT and an oncologist appointment". I knew when he wanted appointments set up before getting the biopsy back that he was pretty sure about what he saw. 

My colonoscopy was June 30th, the call came on July 2nd to confirm that yes it was cancer, but the abdomen scan came back to show that no other masses were present. After two nights of very little sleep, the knowledge that it appeared to be contained to one spot, helped me sleep again and relax a little. We told the boys about the cancer and there were some tears, but we believe that it's a very curable cancer and let them know that too.

I've had an oncology appointment, another CT scan to make sure my lungs were clear, an MRI to try to determine exact location and see if any lymph nodes are involved, and an appointment with a surgeon. The MRI was inconclusive about the lymph nodes. I will have to wait until surgery on August 13th to get final staging and determine if any lymph nodes appear to be involved. I'm feeling very optimistic about the outcome of all of this. Depending on results from surgery, we'll make a treatment plan after that - chemo is likely, but not guaranteed.

You learn you have cancer and you want to attack it and get it out as fast as you can, but that's not exactly how things go. The part that gives me comfort is that I had signs (blood when I wiped after a bowel movement, sorry TMI) since last summer (I don't recommend waiting and if you ever have this symptom and think - oh, it's red blood (not dried), so it's harmless (like I did), still get it checked out), so I don't think its growing or spreading at a fast rate - so 3 more weeks to wait for it to come out are probably not going to make a difference (per the surgeon, not just me). 

Prayers and positive vibes appreciated.