Colorectal cancer stage 1 with positive margin

Yes, colorectal surgeon will be operation on my colon. I was just wondering I see other people have follow up oncologist or gastroenterologist so I will discuss it with my colorectal surgeon when I see him next week.

Thank you again!

I'm going to be really honest with you being someone that was 38 years old and diagnosed with colon cancer. I had a complete procto-collectomy which is a complete removal of my large intestine and rectum, had to have an ileostomy bag for 3 months while things healed and then they hooked everything back up and I can go to the bathroom normally now; basically my small intestine took over the job of my large intestine.

Anyway, I highly recommend you get the resectioning done. It's going to be a very small portion of your intestine! Nothing like my surgery was and the healing time should be relatively very quick. You're not going to even miss that small part of your colon! You may have a little bit of diarrhea, and maybe some changes in bowel movements and digestion initially, but you will get used to it very quickly and your body will adjust.
Colon cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. It is highly curable when caught early. There is no good reason to not have the surgery and to make sure you are being staged and it's being treated correctly! This is not something that you want to put on the back burner. Get a 2nd opinion if that's what you want and when they tell you that surgery is the best option to make sure that the cancer hasn't spread or went through your colon wall, then please schedule surgery and have it done. The sooner the better. Unfortunately with colon cancer and with cancer of the small intestine there is no way for them to tell how far or how deep the cancer has gone through the colon wall until it's removed and they can do a pathology on it, and check the lymph nodes to make sure it hasn't spread. After my surgery they did the pathology on my colon and found cancer in places that they did not see on the original colonoscopy. With that surgery I was in the hospital for about a week, and recovery went really well for me. Since yours is a resection, which I just had on my small intestine in March, you should only be in the hospital for a few days with no complications.
I just wanted to send this to you when I saw your post because I just can't see any good reason for you not to have the surgery. They do the surgery every day, this isn't like 20 or 30 years ago when this was new and there was a lot of complications. This is so common now and it saves so many people's lives. There is surgeons out there that specialize in doing only these sorts of surgeries and they are excellent at what they do.
If you have any questions I'd be more than happy to answer. But please don't mess around with this sort of cancer. It is deadly. There is no way for them to know how advanced that cancer is until they get it out of you.
Yours truly-
Angela

@bellsina71
I'm so glad things went so well for you.
I'm getting a full rectum and mesorectum resection, with a pullthrough and coloanal anastomosis at the end of the month. I really wonder how the adaptation to the colon doing the function of the rectum will go. I'm looking for tips for making it as painless and accidentless as possible.

Thank you for posting and sending you prayers. I just posted that I’m a 75 year old woman getting my first colonoscopy next Tuesday and I’m beyond scared… my colorguard was positive. Just hoping if it is cancer it hasn’t spread

I'll be thinking of you @diane22 (I'm not religious). I feel for you. I understand what you are going through.
I'm 58, turning 59 next month. I had seen some blood in my stool occasionally in the summer of 2022. I visited a colorectal surgeon who touched a polyp when examining me, then had a colonoscopy that revealed a benign polyp and a pre-cancerous polyp (the one she had touched). Almost two months later, I had a transanal resection of said polyp, which had grown to almost twice its colonoscopy size. The biopsy result arrived the day after Christmas and revealed positive margins. All the doctors reassured me that even though it was a cancer diagnosis, it was being caught at the earliest stage possible, because only the upper layer of the wall of the rectum was affected. So, the prognosis was excellent. I had chemo-radiotherapy and the check-ups with CAT scans and MRIs say everything's fine.

Now, the panorama is a bit different because a new colonoscopy in November revealed a resurgence of the polyp or a new polyp in the almost the same place (there is no way to know which it is). Plus I have a rare recto-vaginal fistula due to the radiotherapy. Hence the decision to undergo a rectum resection.

I truly hope that if indeed it is cancer that it will have be found in good time and you'll have a good prognosis. Sending a hug.

Hey everyone I’m 75 and got hit with a positive colorguard test b two weeks before Christmas . Having my first colonoscopy this coming Tuesday. I’m scared to death can someone please give me some encouragement. I’ve just gotten over Covid and flu and my stomach has been gassy due to that.. Please say a prayer for me.. First health scare

How did the colonoscopy go, @diane22? Have you discussed the results with your doctor yet?

Hey thanks so much for asking.. they found 3 small ones and two large ones but won’t know lab report until next week… I’m scared to death.. Dr said they looked ok but I know he can’t really tell.