Dad diagnosed today

Hi John,

Sorry to hear about your Dad. It will have been a huge shock to you all to hear of his diagnosis. He did the right thing going to the doctor as soon as he did - so many people put off going to the doctor. Now that he has been diagnosed it will be a whirlwind of tests, scans, appointments - so it's good that he's in the system. I know it's only natural to think the worst when you hear of the diagnosis, but so many people now survive cancer. I was diagnosed in 2012 at stage 3, and after surgery and chemoradiotherapy I returned to work in January 2013.

Let us know how things go on Monday - and remember, we're all here to support you.

(((((((((((( u ))))))))))))))

Linda :-)

Thanks Linda.

Its great to have people to talk to.

Glad to hear you've had a positive outcome from your cancer.

x

Hi John,

Im sorry to hear about your dad's diagnosis.  It is often as stressful for the family as it is for the person with cancer when they receive the diagnosis.

Once he has had his scan the hospital will discuss his case at the weekly team meeting and decide what they feel is the best treatment to offer your him.  

The initial waiting for results and for treatment to begin is often the worse time but once he has been given his treatment plan you will find that things will soon be underway.

I was diagnosed in 2011, had surgery followed by chemotherapy and for me the support and positive attitude of my family and friends helped me get through things.

I also found the local cancer charity centre (which is situated in the grounds of the hospital I attend) very supportive and informative and you may find that there is one at your dad's hospital- some hospitals have a Maggies Centre.  

Your dad will also be appointed a Caner Specialist Nurse or Key Worked and it is always useful to have their telephone contact number as they will answer questions or give you information when you are worried about anything.

You will find that there are lots of lovely people on this site who are always here to help and support you and your family through this.

Be there for your dad when he needs to talk and try, if you can, to be positive as more and more people are surviving cancer and more treatments are becoming available all the time.

Best wishes

Lynne

Hi John.

I can understand just how worried you are right now but my best advice is to take it one day at a time. 

I assume that your Dad had a colonoscopy which showed the tumour? The CT scan will just provide more information as to where the tumour is and that will be useful for possible future surgery.

Let me tell you about my own cancer.  I knew something was wrong because I was getting niggly pains in the area of my left ovary. I had also spotted blood in my poo and then the poo test which arrived on my 62nd birthday confirmed that something was wrong. 

My doctor did a digital examination and said it could be piles but she also fast tracked me to the hospital where I had a colonoscopy just 2 weeks later. A tumour was found and the examination was halted because of the pain I was in.  I then had a CT scan and a horrible barium enema. 

All the results showed that I did have cancer of the colon and I was then scheduled for surgery on November 19th.......just weeks away from my first hospital visit. 

I was one of the lucky ones because my tumour was removed along with 37 lymph nodes. My tumour was the size of a very large orange but my surgeon told me he had got the lot. All of my lymph nodes were clear as well which was fantastic news. 

I was stage 3....which is better then stage 4 for which I am grateful. I have also since found out that they removed my ovary and fallopian tube and a lot of the peritonium wall as well.  BUT.......I am still here almost 2 years later and I haven't had to have chemo. 

I am living a normal life and I am cancer free (tongue in cheek). None of us know whats around the corner so none of us can ever say we are cancer free. I had to have a big scan because they thought they had seen something. Turns out is is probably just scar tissue but some young blood picked up on something in my lung which gave me a few months of frenzied terror because it would have been lung cancer and not connected to colon cancer. 

Thankfully it's nothing!  I don't have lung cancer but now I'm going to be having scans of my lungs for a while to come. Not a problem really because if my small thing on my lung does grow then I can have it removed immediately so I've got a head start on those that don't have scans.

Anyhow John.......it is very scary and very worrying and the thoughts of big surgery isn't nice but if it gets rid of the tumour then it's worth it......I am the walking proof of that. I proudly show off my scars ( I had the full zip operation) because it's hard to spot. Just a very thin silvery line and a bit of a lopsided belly button.  

I hope that this has helped you a little bit and I wish your Dad well for his surgery which he will probably have to have. I don't have any regrets of having to have surgery because it saved my life. 

I am wishing you and your Dad well anyhow......and welcome to the boards. 

I have just been diagnosed with a 50mm rectal tumour , waiting for scans , very worrying time

id just like to know if 50mm is bad or not 

any thoughts anyone? I think this was the original posts question also

thanks all 

Hi . No the size of the tumour is not a guide to how bad things are and 50mm is not excessively big. Your scans will show how far the tumour has spread into the Bowel wall and the consultant will give you an approximate staging from that information - a final staging will be advised by the path lab after the tumour has been removed and sent off for testing.

My original tumour was 40mm but shrunk to 10mm after chemoradiotherapy. 

Hooe you get your scans through soon

Take care

Karen x

Thanks karen

so is it all complete for you now? Hope your well again