<p>I have a good friend who is turning 46 tomorrow, has 2 young sons (15 and 9) and who was just diagnosed with colorectal cancer. There is zero history of any cancer in her family. Currently tests upon tests are being done to ensure it has not spread elsewhere, and she is going to undergo chemotherapy. She has been ill since early summer 2012, and finally(!) went to her doctor this week.</p>
<p>My research online shows that this is the #1 form of cancer. That’s quite stunning to me. </p>
<p>I’m (naturally) worried for her, and have already spoken to her and the boys letting them all know, in no uncertain terms, I am available for anything at any time. We have been friends for 16 years. </p>
<p>Anyone here have any stories to share? Am I being too overly concerned? 46 sounds so young to me (I’m 54).</p>
<p>I know regular screening would not have helped her, since she is under 50, but I would urge EVERYONE to get screened the second they turn 50. I went 9 days after my 50th birthday. Absolutely no history of colon cancer or ANY kind of cancer in my family. But the doctor found a large polyp. The biopsy was negative, but he said the polyp was the kind that would have kept growing and had a high chance of becoming cancerous. I will have to go back for colonoscopies fairly regularly. I really think this screening may have saved my life. I mention it to other people and they’ll say, “Oh, I’m 60 but just haven’t gotten around to it…” PEOPLE, use some common sense!</p>
<p>I am in my 40’s but was having a weird sensation in my stomach that I mentioned to my OBGYN during my annual exam and he sent me for a colonoscopy - he’s a smart man. I had several polyps that were removed, and I have had no problems since and a clear f/u colonoscopy.</p>
<p>One thing I didn’t know was that if someone in your family (parents, grandp’s, or sibling) has had polyps, your risk for them goes way up. So, I’m posting this just to share that information in case it might help someone.</p>
<p>OP, I’m sorry for your friend. Hopefully it has not spread and she can get through the chemo fairly well. It’s nice that you are watching out for her.</p>
<p>Well, I’ll be honest. I haven’t had a colonoscopy either. But guess what…I’m setting my appointment first thing tomorrow morning. I know it’s important, but it is one of those screenings that I (and likely most everyone else) would rather avoid.</p>
<p>I just tell people - “What’s worse, a little inconvenience and discomfort or a cancer diagnosis?” A friend of mine had a brother who waited until he was 52 to get his first colonscopy. He had a cancerous polyp and didn’t make it. The doctor said that if he’d come in when he was 50, he would have had a much better chance of survival.</p>
<p>what is the stage? it is the most important factor in the prognosis. If it is operable, then the outcome could be very positive. good luck to your friend. </p>
<p>ps, i lost my father to the caner originated in the GI two years ago. The origin was never found. By the time the cancer diagnosis was made, it was too late to treat it. He passed away within 3 months.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Friend (not a close, close friend, so the details are vague) was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer early fall of 2010. During the summer of 2010 she had had some bleeding and mild GI issues, which is why she went to see a doctor. She had no other symptoms. She was in her late thirties at the time. She is adopted, so does not know her family history. She had surgery and chemo/radiation (I don’t know the details) and anfollow up surgery over the next year. She is still alive, looks and feels great, and has gone back to work after a year off. </p></li>
<li><p>My 64 year old brother was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer late summer of 2012. He has had radiation, surgery, and is in the middle of chemo now. He is doing well. He is a very odd duck, somewhat estranged from the rest of the family, so I don’t know a lot of the details. I DO, however, know that he hadn’t seen a doctor for 30 years, and is very lucky that his symptoms were troubling enough that he saw someone before it had progressed to stage 4. We have no family history. My parents had had clear colonoscopies throughout the last decades of their lives. My sister and I had both had our first colonoscopies within the last couple of years, and neither of us had polyps.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I do not know what stage, in fact I don’t even know if she knows. She just learned on Thursday, immediately after the colonoscopy. Does it take a bit of time to find out? </p>
<p>I do know she said the doctor knew right away that it was malignant.</p>
<p>I don’t want to bombard her with too many questions. :)</p>
<p>Dear “just”,
I just 2 Fridays ago finished chemotherapy treatments. I had a colorectal tumor. It required surgery first, then recovery from surgery, then 6 months of chemotherapy, one treatment every 2 weeks, twelve treatments in all. This afternoon we are going with a few friends to an ice cream parlor to have a banana split. One of the odd side-effects of the treatment, possible inability to eat or drink anything cold, makes you feel as if your throat is closed.</p>
<p>I was lucky in that the cancer was not detected anywhere else, but have a catscan and a colonoscopy coming up around a year from first diagnosis. If you or your friend would like you can p.m. me, the fear in the beginning, of the unknown, can be disheartening.
Best of luck to her, I hope she has as good a result as I have had.</p>
<p>P.S.- I was 59 at the time of my first colonoscopy that discovered the tumor, turns out a colonoscopy is not the thing to be afraid of. The doctors all told me that having no family history is common. The ages of the people I saw in the hospital during recovery ranged in age from 19 to at least 75, men and women.</p>
<p>OP, thank you for being a good friend. no, don’t ask for details if she doesn’t want to share. Do offer to take on some of the day to day household chores , such as picking up kids, home cooked meal, etc. She is luck to have you.</p>
<p>OP, she probably does not know what stage it is. They will likely test some lymph nodes nearest to the site where the found the cancer to see if any is detected in them. They will also probably do a CT scan - possibly whole body - to see if they can detect it in other organs. That often takes at least a week if not more. </p>
<p>“J” - Good stories to share. My dad was diagnosed in August of 1988. The location of his cancer necessitated a colostomy. Dad just passed away in December at the ripe old age of 85. Never had a reoccurrence. His sister had been diagnosed about two years before he was, and she too lived until her mid 80’s. Another brother also lived for at least fifteen years after his diagnosis. Neither his sister nor his brother died of cancer. </p>
<p>I agree with others that you do NOT want to ask questions, just listen to what your friend wants to share. People who asked if you had symptoms, etc. make the person very uncomfortable if in fact they DID ignore something.</p>
<p>Another reminder to keep on top of any symptoms. Bleeding is never normal… until all tests and your Doctor say it is. I had bleeding which I thought was due to heavy exercise, it was a polyp, it was cancerous, but it was found so early it was removed without surgery.</p>
<p>One near and dear to me was just diagnosed with a stage III rectal cancer. He had symptoms he ignored, and he had put off his screening colonoscopy at age 50, almost a year ago. He has just undergone removal of the cancer with a few nodes. He will have chemo and radiation, but the oncologists have told him he has high odds for a complete cure. I echo those above; just schedule the screening test, right at age 50–and earlier if you have a family history.</p>
<p>My sister-in-law passed way from colon cancer at age 46. Despite of the fact that she was very thin and complained of bloating and her GYN did not find anything wrong after giving her a complete physical.Several months later, she went for another consult with a different physician and this time they found a tumor, size of a fist in her pelvic area. First diagnosis was ovarian cancer, started chemo.
By chance my brother was talking to a friend who was a pathologist at Stanford and he offered to present the case including biopsy reports, pathology slides etc at the Grand Rounds. Second diagnosis, the tumor was colon cancer not ovarian.</p>
<p>Because of the missed and mistaken diagnosis, the correct treatment was delayed for several months. It was a horror show.
Colon cancer is a slow-growing cancer and if detected early enough, the prognosis is good. But who knew to have a colonoscopy in your late 30s without prior family history?</p>
<p>I’m so sorry. This is always hard.<br>
My grandmother was diagnosed and treated in her early 60s, and she lived to be 94, dying of heart trouble 20 years ago. And treatments have definitely improved since then.</p>
<p>Your friend is lucky to have you. It’s true that too many questions can be intrusive, but you probably will be able to tell if she wants to talk. Asking, “How are you feeling?” and “Can I come by with lattes for us and a visit,” would certainly always be welcome.
As a cancer patient myself, my only advice would be to try to treat her as you always have. While she will be going through a lot, she is still interested in the things she always has been interested in, including you and your family, so don’t feel that you can’t share in the way you always have, even if your issues seem minor compared to her health issue. The last thing she will want is to be thought of as “your friend with cancer.” She’s still the same person she always was.</p>
<p>DH was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer August of 2007 at age 46. He had radiation, then surgery, then 6 months of chemo. It was a tough year, but he has been clear ever since. If you ever met him, you’d never know he had ever been through anything like that.</p>
<p>We didn’t find out what stage his cancer was for at least a week or so if memory serves. His GI doc did tell us as soon as the colonoscopy was finished that he was sure the tumor was cancer, and he was certainly correct.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your thoughts, stories and advice. I will certainly be there for her and the boys. The eldest was born the day I moved into Orange County from Los Angeles, 4 months after a new job and commuting, and meeting her. He is my “precious welcome to the neighborhood present” and I adore the youngest as well. I know she is being scheduled for a bazillion tests coming up. I made the boys put my # in their phones. Yes, the day-to-day stuff is what I think most would need and appreciate. Not having to be concerned with making bills on time, grocery shopping, getting the kids to the dentist, school, homework, etc. I am a great organizer, and am nurturing, so will be an asset there. And with others I am quite calm and can approach things intellectually while still being warm and comforting. My D would say “really? you?” - but yes, really. Me. ;)</p>
<p>“Just” a mom, what really REALLY helped us was the outreach committee at our daughters’ school. They recruited and organized volunteers who brought us meals or gave our daughters a ride to school or soccer practice, or what have you. At first I hesitated to accept the help because I am big on self reliance, but as we were living part time near M.D. Anderson in Houston and part time in Dallas, this help was invaluable. I can never thank these wonderful people enough for what they did for our family. </p>
<p>If you can spearhead something like this for your friend, it will be a great help and comfort to her.</p>