Cancer Diary: Another Delayed Diagnosis, Another Frightening Edict -- and More on the Signs of (Colorectal) Cancer
54-year old Jason Maman put off checking out the reasons for his stomach pain for a year. It turned out to be stage 3 colon cancer. Read the article here.
This is a bit different from the delayed diagnosis described in last week's (May 13) Cancer Diary blog post. In that case, the patient knew something was wrong; it took too long for doctors to take her seriously and to get an accurate diagnosis.
Carl, too, put off getting a diagnosis for something he thought was just stomach pain. He consulted "wisely" (right?) with our daughter who had had her gall bladder removed years earlier when he thought it might be his gall bladder. He decided to just monitor it for a while and see if it got worse. He adapted his food intake for gall bladder management. It did not work. To his defense, this occurred as covid was winding down, and doctors in our area were not seeing patients in their offices, just telehealth -- and his long-term doctor had left when the pandemic started to help out in New York where there were lots of cases, compared to our area where cases were rare. So, weeks later, when he fell, he did not connect the pain with the fall, but the hospital did. Tests showed cancer fully metastasized in four organs and no sign of its origin, which an oncologist a few weeks later hypothesized was likely in the GI tract, stomach or colon. (Carl had skipped his colonoscopy, another bad decision.)
In contrast, here are the signs experienced by four patients that allowed the early detection of their colon cancer. Note the importance: the number of patients under 45 is growing, while colon cancer tests (colonoscopies) are generally recommended to begin at around 50. My older son, approaching his mid-40s, was spooked by his father's death and asked his doctor for a colonoscopy early (good decision). His doctor agreed (another good decision). The result: a few pre-cancerous polyps that were easily removed and a plan to continue colonoscopies every 5 years rather than every 10. (Polyps grow slowly, and therefore there is time to nip colon cancer in the bud.)
Neither Carl's DNA nor the DNA of our son showed any markers for cancer, but there you go. There are many reasons for cancer, and both environment and diet (which they shared) also played a role. My last colonoscopy (I shared the environment and diet) had some polyps, including pre-cancerous, so my doctor has also put me on a more frequent re-do (7 years instead of 10). He also says that colonoscopies are usually not done after age 75 so I can choose not to have the next one. Are you kidding???? I asked him. Anyway, it is planned for a few years hence. I lost a husband to colon cancer; I have a niece struggling with it (and winning -- early diagnosis), and my son is being closely monitored because he is clearly at risk. No, I do not plan to lose me; the doctor will do that colonoscopy when the time comes!
And finally, some advice from a colorectal doctor: I'm A Colorectal Cancer Doctor. Here Are 5 Things I'd Never Do.
For other Cancer Diary posts, click HERE.
Blog editor's note: As a memorial to Carl, and simply because it is truly needed, MSI Press is now hosting a web page, Carl's Cancer Compendium, as a one-stop starting point for all things cancer, to make it easier for those with cancer to find answers to questions that can otherwise take hours to track down on the Internet and/or from professionals. The CCC is expanded and updated weekly. As part of this effort, each week, on Monday, this blog will carry an informative, cancer-related story -- and be open to guest posts: Cancer Diary.
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