I complained for many years of what can be described as gallbladder symptoms. Right upper quadrant pain radiating to the back. Mostly flared up after eating. Kinevec and ct scans done and all were negative. This pain and the frequency started increasing during the radiation treatments for the breast cancer. More of the same testing, but not one doctor ever set me up for a colonoscopy. Finally, in April 2017, the pain had become constant and unbearable. ER visit did. Ct scan which showed a new lesion on the liver. A biopsy revealed it was colon cancer that metastasized to the liver. I was 50 at the time of the breast cancer. I just had my 5 year check up for the breast cancer and thought I had beat it. Boy, was I ever surprised by the diagnosis of colon cancer. It appears that the colon cancer had been there when I was diagnosed with the breast cancer. There have been so many things that should have been done and wasn’t, even after I requested for certain testing to be done.

So very sorry to hear about your second cancer Miss Mary. You have helped me today because my oncologist has been insisting that I get a colonoscopy and I've been putting it off and dreading it. I had Stage 1 breast cancer (2 years cancer free) and I thought....why would I need to worry about my colon but my doctor has been pretty adamant. I will be doing that now as my doctor requested. My doctor's rationale was that if you have one type of cancer you can certainly have another and colon cancer is what worries her. I'm sorry your requests for help went unheard. It's hard when you're sick and stressed to continually advocate for yourself but it's such an important part of this process. Best to you and thanks for pushing me to do the right thing for my health.

So, I am about to read the article posted above. I am feeling stupid about secretly worrying about a second cancer. I JUST finished my last Herceptin for stage 3 Her2 positive breast cancer. I am 57, haven't yet had a colonoscopy ever, have low RBC not coming back up, and have had a very small amount of blood when pooping for about two months. Stomach and back hurt but I tell myself that it can't be anything because I had a Pet scan 1.5 years ago and it didn't show anything.(beside a large tumor in my breast) I see so many doctors, they would know, if something else was wrong, but I haven't told anyone about my colon question. I waiver so much between worry and telling myself not to be a hypochondriac. I'll do the colonoscopy soon because my insurance will probably pay for it and it will probably be such a relief for me- and I can tell myself to QUIT letting such thoughts sneak into my brain. Just hate to miss another day of work for the colonoscopy.
I never thought I'd write any post - too personal- but today, finally, it feels surprisingly good to put my fears out there.