A couple starter questions:
What is Colorectal Cancer? It's basically colon cancer, which is an adenocarcinoma cell, and can be in the colon or rectum. In my case, the primary tumor was in the rectum and not the colon, it can be called rectal cancer. I find I don't like calling it that, and generally describe myself as having colon, or colorectal cancer. Mainly out of embarassment, which is probably stupid, but maybe I can redeem myself a little by posting here. It's the same thing that Farrah Fawcett had and is a colon cancer, it's just the location that defines the term.
What does Stage IV mean? Cancer has four recognized stages (actually a relative of mine was diagnosed with Stage 0 Breast Cancer, which is the first I heard of Stage 0, and I take it to be a preliminary stage, but don't really know). Anyway, Stages I, II, and III describe different extents of the cancer, but it's always localized. Stage IV is a different animal; the cancer has entered the bloodstream and has metastasized or has spread, and can now travel to different parts of the body and set up shop. Colon cancer typically spreads to the liver; mine is unusual in that mine spread to the lungs.
If it has spread to your lungs, does that mean you have lung cancer? No, what I have is a colorectal (adenocarcinoma) that has metastasized (spread) into the lungs, but it's a different beast than an actual lung cancer, and is treated differently.
What treatment did I receive? When I was originally diagnosed, I was considered Stage III. I had a large tumor in my inner rectal area. I received chemotherapy and radiation to shrink the tumor - this was for about 3 months. Then I had surgery. It was pretty extensive; there was a delay between the radiation and the surgery and apparently the body keeps cooking after radiation, so there was more tissue to be removed than originally expected. Interesting trivia: I don't have an asshole anymore (one less in the world!). I was given a permanent colostomy that diverted my colon from going into the rectal area, and since that part of the body is now unused, it was sewn up. After that I was put on another 3 months of chemo. Then we thought we were clear, but two or three years later I was rediagnosed at Stage IV. I'll save that part for the questions.
Does it suck to have a colonoscopy? No! Maybe it did 20 years ago, but now it's basically painless and not embarassing (you get a sedative and a mild amnesiac, so you don't remember a thing). I got the colonoscopy because I had had a lot of rectal bleeding going on and was embarassed to get looked at because I didn't want a doctor poking a finger in my ass; in retrospect that was grossly stupid. I had bright red blood and assumed it was a hemmorhoid (because bright red means near the exit, internal would be darker), although I had far more blood than any hemmorhoid should give. Still, I was embarassed and refused to see a doctor, although I ultimately went in because of leg pain (I can explain all this if someone asks). Had I addressed the bleeding issue early on we would have caught the tumor much earler, I wouldn't have needed such extensive surgery, and I wouldn't have a colostomy and my original treatments likely would have taken care of it all. Instead I was pigheaded about it, bled for probably over a year, and paid the price for being a prideful dumb shit about it.
Who am I? Because it's medical and private I don't really have a good way to offer creds or proof, short of opening up my whole medical file. I decided to post anyway because if someone else is facing any issues here then hopefully it will help them. As a quick snapshot, though, I was 46 when diagnosed originally, I'm a white male living in New England, could stand to lose 40 pounds, but otherwise in decent health (cancer aside). I don't smoke. I used to drink, but not any more. There's probably no way to ever pin down the "cause" of the cancer, but I'm sure all the additives and crap in the food I grew up with didn't help. I'm the first generation of people who were fed artificial preservatives and things like that since early on (as opposed to my parents who grew up in the 1920's and 1930's+ and mainly had natural foods during their childhood.
Got a question? Ask away.
