Admin answers:

It’s known as being one of the ‘silent killer’ diseases. I am in no way trying to scare you but people don’t tend to express symptoms when the disease is in its early stages.

When the disease has progressed symptoms can include:

Change in bowel habits
Diarrhea
Constipation
Unfinished bowel movement feeling
Blood in stool – usually bright red or very dark blood
Narrower stools
Gastrointestinal bleeding
Abdominal discomfort
Gas
Abdominal bloating
Abdominal fullness
Abdominal cramps
Weight loss
Extreme tiredness
Vomiting
Anemia

Check with your doctor if you have any concerns about your colon health.

Admin answers:

Cut Back on hard chips,coffee,beer,hard liquor,and eat right and you will get better.May be from staining on the toilet.Eat more because if you do not put some thing in nothing comes out and you will be just pooping your self.

Admin answers:

The stage is the most important survival factor. And the sooner you have it removed the lower the stage. If the cancer is confined to the wall and hasn’t spread anywhere (stage 1) the survival is more than 90%. If it has grown through the bowel wall but not spread to the lymph nodes the survival is almost 80%. The stage is determined by the pathologist through his examination of the removed cancer bearing colon segment.Here is a site with the stage dependent survival of colon cancer: http://www.webmd.com/colorectal-cancer/guide/treatment-stage

Admin answers:

Matthew – You’re wise, but perhaps you worry too much and have some inaccurate data. FIRST, the tests are not fatal and cancers of the prostate and colon are often cured, not routinely fatal. For prostate, wait till you reach about 45 in 12 years, and then you can request a simple annual screening blood for PSA (prostate-specific antigen). Meanwhile, during your annual exam, ask your doctor to do a simple digital rectal exam when he palpates the prostate gland via a finger inserted in the rectum to feel for any suspicious nodules in the prostate. At the same time he does that he can check for any rectal mass. For colon cancer screening, you can begin now to once-a-year get the series of 3 cards from your doc or lab on which you can smear a pea-sized sample of stool (feces) once daily for 3 days, and submit to the lab for testing for any hidden blood since colon cancer sometimes is discovered with traces of blood in the stool. The tests are painless except for an ordinary blood sampling stick or, for some guys an uncomfortable digital finger rectal example. After about 45 years of age you could request a more extensive screening colonscopy exam once every 10 years.

Admin answers:

Ecclesiastes 3:1. It became a popular hit folk song in the 60′s in the song “Turn, Turn, Turn”. The verse is often used in eulogies; however, it is very applicable to the living who need the strength to go on after some bad event in their lives. It begins “There is a season and a purpose to everything under god”. You can choose to use only those parts that fit what you are trying to communicate to your friend. I made cards and sent them to a friend who had recently had to have a long time, well loved pet put to sleep, and to my sister whose ex-husband committed suicide this past August. The message was about the strength to overcome the tragedy and go on, so I didn’t use the whole verse in either card.
Personally, I have always used Philipians 4:13 to get me through the rough bumps in life, and some of those bumps have required a lot of strength to over come.

Admin answers:

You can’t tell if you have colon cancer. You have to have a colonoscopy which is when they insert a camera into you bowel through your bum. To have one, you have to be either over a certain age and hence are checked regularly, or because you may have symptoms or other bowel issues.

I had some of the symptoms, which is what made me go to the doctor. However, the problem with colon cancer is that it doesn’t show any symptoms until it is quite advanced.

Symptoms are:
- rectal bleeding
- painful stomach cramps
- constipation
- diarrhoea
- a feeling of having not emptied your bowels fully
- fatigue

There are many explanations for the causes of colon cancer but they include:
- your age – your risk increases the older you are
- your diet – a diet high in red meats and processed meat increases your risk
- polyps – they are growths in the bowel which can turn cancerous
- obesity
- genetics – whilst it is a small percent, it does still happen (I was 20 when diagnosed)
- bowel problems – e.g. IBS, chrons, ulcerative colitis

But fortunately, colon cancer can be treated if caught early enough.

Admin answers:

Your doctor should have gone over these results with you so you would know what it means and they should have also discussed prognosis as it pertains to your case specifically. I have never seen a pathology report written this way, but it means the margins are clear and if they were not it would not mean there would be leaking. Although having clear margins is good you cannot determine prognosis by it. A minimum of 12 nodes should have been sampled, but based on what you are stating this is a stage 3B with a 5 year survival rate of 56%.

Admin answers:

While it is possible, it is unlikely.

The pains as you describe them could be anything from constipation to an appendix about to rupture.

If you are concerned, see a Dr.

Admin answers:

If your friend has been fighting this for 2 years it means he has an advanced cancer and it is unlikely anyone can save him anywhere. The best they can do is give him more time. I’m sorry.

Despite what others may say having Medicaid does have something to do with it, but it would have made much more of a difference at the beginning of this fight rather than 2 years later.

I recently attended a meeting where a well known surgeon from USC spoke. He told us a patient with a stage 2 colon cancer with private insurance will do far better than a patient with a stage 1 colon cancer with MediCal. This is something well known to anyone who works in the healthcare field. Our healthcare system is broken and this has been coming for 20 years now and nothing has been done to stop it.

Admin answers:

There are two possibilities here:

1) It could be a message from your subconscious to get a check-up. Edgar Cayce used to say that dreams about the body were particularly significant and were often messages to attend to health issues in waking life.

2) It could be symbolic. To dream that you have cancer denotes feeling hopelessness, grief, self-pity, and unforgiveness. You may feel as though you are wasting your life away. The dream could also represent areas in your life which are bothering you, disturbing you, and hurting you in some emotional way.