Colon Cancer, how much does it cost in America?

**Terry** · 11-25-2009, 10:13 AM

Today's my last Radiation day, the 28th time I've been zapped.
Then I get a 4-6 week break before surgery.
So I guess that means around the first of the year for that.

By the way, how many of you guys have gone in for your standard colonoscopy?
Either do a two hour visit for a routine procedure, or wait until it's something serious.
You normally do these at 50, and then every five years.
It's easy and keeps you running well.
Wait, like I did, and you're into this stuff for a year.

28 days of radiation will slow you down.
When I did a 5K run with Cathy, I was getting kind of tired.
Now it will be interesting to see what it's like to ski between the radiation and the surgery.
Skiing after the surgery will be interesting too.
So what happens if I fall on my side with the little bag?
Does that mean I will need to carry an extra shirt in my back pack?
I get the bag for six months, and then they take it out.
I will still have some time left in Summer I guess after it's removed.
I went out dancing last Thursday and Sunday.
I couldn't dance as long as I normally dance.
I'm looking forward to getting that all back though.
Fun Stuff.

**FloridaOrange** · 11-25-2009, 10:42 AM

It looks like you have the right frame of mind, keep it up. Dance, hike and whatever as much as you can - it beats staying inside and brooding all day.

10+ years until my first colonoscopy......hopefully.

**Cookie** · 11-25-2009, 12:38 PM

It's okay to brood too Terry, I know you didn't mean anything by it Matt, but so many times people don't understand that never had to battle the beast & it can put more stress on that person. It is okay to be sad & be holed up, or mad or depressed too, it's all part of it.

**JAR8832** · 11-27-2009, 08:46 AM

Try to keep things in perspective. If you had been around just 100 years ago instead of today, even if your last name was Carnegie or Rockefeller, all doctors could do for you is pump you full of morphine and watch you die.

**Terry** · 11-27-2009, 09:35 AM

Try to keep things in perspective.

Jar8832,
The procedure I'm up for was invented 20 years ago in Russia.
It's a nice little staple gun for connecting the colon back together again.
So twenty years ago, I would have been SOL.

Yeah, both Cookie and I would have had some worse times if this had happened sooner in this time period.

It doesn't really help much to think we would have died that much sooner though.

Cookie and I are just trying to get as much as out of this life as we can now.
I'm expecting to go another 40 years or so after this.
I didn't even know I had Cancer until two months ago.

Are you suggesting we just suck it up, get it over with and free up hospital staff and rooms for healthier people.
Those without problems?

I stil more then hold my own against healthy people.

**JAR8832** · 11-27-2009, 03:22 PM

Sorry if that came out wrong. I wasn't questioning anyone's character, I was simply addressing the original topic. God speed in you recovery!

**Terry** · 12-02-2009, 09:28 AM

Sorry if that came out wrong. I wasn't questioning anyone's character

Jar,
That's what my son thought when he read your post.
Dang, a guy gets kind of sensitive when he goes through this.

Two months ago, the doctor draws a picture of a bag hanging out of my side, and I'm like,
No way I'm wanting a bag there for six months.
He just smiled and said we could talk about it later.

Okay, six weeks of Chemo and Radiation, and trying to use the bathroom with raw and tender intestines, and dude, I think I'm okay with the bag idea now.
The last couple of weeks, I've been using pain pills at night to sleep.
That's new too.
Not like it's enough to sleep all night, but I do sleep now.

**FloridaOrange** · 12-02-2009, 09:33 AM

Originally Posted by Terry

I've been using pain pills at night to sleep.
That's new too.
Not like it's enough to sleep all night, but I do sleep now.

Definitely not on the same level but the last time I whacked my back out (L1-L2 and L4-L5 herniated in two different directions) my doctor gave me Vicoden and said that will help with the pain and let you sleep. I asked him if he ever herniated his discs...his answer was no. I told him the meds make the pain tolerable but they don't make it go away.

He went back and gave me another prescription.

Hope things are going as well as they can Terry.

**Hillbilly Man** · 12-02-2009, 05:02 PM

Hi there Terry,

I wanna Appollogize that I didn't make it by sooner to wish ya well.

I been holed up in the basemint makin shine since the corn harvest an bin neeglecktin my E-Mails.
Today I seen won from Redwood sayin you wuz ailin.

I'm a gonna send yur dokter some o my best corn licker fer him ta sip on when he duz yer operasun so hez got a good steady hand and duz a good job o patchin ya up.

Me an the missus will say a few words for this Sunday when we gits dressed up in ar Sunday gone ta meetin clothes and goes on down ta the church.

Yer friend,
Hillbilly Man

PS Yer scared Redwood strait. In hiz E-Mail he done toll me that he quit smokin an he made an appointmint ta see on o them dokters that has wun o them there see snake gizmos wich he shuddah done 3 years ago wen he turned 50.

**Terry** · 12-02-2009, 05:17 PM

PS Yer scared Redwood strait. In hiz E-Mail he done toll me that he quit smokin an he made an appointmint ta see on o them dokters that has wun o them there see snake gizmos wich he shuddah done 3 years ago wen he turned 50.

Thanks Hillbilly man,
I'm glad Redwood is checking with the snake gizmo.

I'm about a year away from the corn liker though,
My intestines are pretty sensitive right now.
I get to drink things like Gatorade and jello mix, haven't had the jello mix, but it's on my okay list.
One cup of coffee, that's not on my list.
I sneak in a glass of wine every so often.
Nothing with carbonation though.

**Terry** · 12-08-2009, 12:56 PM

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...3_colon08.html

ATLANTA — Colon-cancer deaths could drop dramatically in the next decade because of better screening and treatment, according to an optimistic new prediction by top researchers.

And as of 2005, about half of U.S. adults aged 50 or older had had a recommended screening, such as a colonoscopy within the last 10 years or a stool blood test within the last year.

I waited until I was 57.
Not good.
If I had gone in at 50, I would now be cancer free.
The colonoscopy was a breeze.
Knowing what I know now, I would do one every day of the week, rather then suffer what I'm going through now.
The colonoscopy itself, was easy and quick.
Normally, they can find a few things to fix, which they did with me, and caught soon enough, they send you home, and tell you to come back in five years for the next one.
It's just too easy.

Wait too long, for something to develop into a full blown tumor, and it's a whole different ballgame.

If you're fifty, just do it!

More of the report here

Cancers of the colon and rectum, which together are the third-leading cancer killer in the United States. An estimated 50,000 people will die from it this year.

Things that contribute to colon cancer, smoking and eating red meat.
I have never smoked.
But I did love hamburgers and steak.
Since last December, I changed my diet almost completly.

**Ian Gills** · 12-08-2009, 02:05 PM

I didn't really eat hambugers until I came here.

Now I just can't resist. It's almost a weekly fix. They are so good.

I blame the Americans.

My wife needs to have colon screening soon. She's a long way off 50 but her mum had it so she needed screening from her mid-30s.

**Terry** · 12-09-2009, 09:46 AM

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm..._kelley09.html

In the early morning last Saturday, while his son slept in a chair in a hospital room at the University of Washington Medical Center, Sina Tuiasosopo walked across the room, brushed the hair back from Trenton Tuiasosopo's face and whispered, "You are my hero."
There are infinite ways for a son to show his love for his father. On the eve of his final college football game, Trenton chose to sacrifice the game that once had defined his life.
Trenton surrendered his last appearance as a Husky to be with his dad, who was suffering complications from colon cancer.
More of the story

I'm going to the same University of Washington Medical Center.

**Cookie** · 12-09-2009, 07:22 PM

Well sometimes life just isn't fair. Like my son has been battling Mono, if the blood work comes back positive again, this makes 3 times. I can't tell you how afraid I am for him. If you dont know about the EBV virus it is what causes Mono. If you tested every person with lymphoma they would test positive for the Epstein Barr Virus. I was tested and I was positive. I also had Mono when I was 13.

One of the things with cancer any cancer is the inability to keep weight on. I guess at times, I can be too thin but then, who was it that said, " you can't be too thin or too rich." Now that I got the first part down pat I am working on the latter part of being too rich.

**Terry** · 12-10-2009, 09:22 AM

One of the things with cancer any cancer is the inability to keep weight on.

Well, I do look better now with the lost weight.

My daughter had Mono in high school,
Does that cause problems later on in life?

I'm hearing a lot about shingles now, the last reminder from a childhood decease. I think I should get shots for that. My older brother got Shingles, and my younger brother.
I don't like those odds.
That's 2 out of 7