Just my luck...

"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
01/09/2019 at 21:23 • Filed to: None

My left colon is the part with a huge number of polyps which result in my getting an annoying attack of diverticulitis every year or two, yet it’s the right colon that has the tumor and will be the side removed. Even after all this I’ll still be plagued with diverticulitis for the rest of my (hopefully long) life...

DISCUSSION (33)

CB > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
01/09/2019 at 21:31

Holy fuck dude. Hang in there.

f86sabre > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
01/09/2019 at 21:36

Ah, that sucks. You have a good surgeon on hand? When my wife had surgery last month they took the side with the direticuli and everything has gone great. I hope your recovery goes the same. Take it easy and listen to the docs.

Internet hugs from me.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > f86sabre
01/09/2019 at 21:43

Yeah, she's pretty highly rated and a specialist in this area. I got quite lucky with this referral. I met with her yesterday for the first time and discussed the various options. I do have to go in for a chest CT next week to see if it has spread to my lungs; she wants more than the chest X-ray that was done last week. I do appreciate her extra efforts and trust her judgment, but I just want to get this surgery out of the way as soon as possible. Thanks for the support and kind words.

shop-teacher > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
01/09/2019 at 21:55

Well that sucks. Glad you caught this thing early though!

facw > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
01/09/2019 at 21:58

Not ideal, but obviously getting the cancer is the important thing.

Brickman > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
01/09/2019 at 22:01

Still beats cancer.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
01/09/2019 at 22:05

Oooof. My girlfriend was diagnosed with a distended colon from a hereditary birth defect (all her siblings have intestinal issues) and they ended up taking out essentially the entire large intestine . Recovery took a few months but she’s back to 110% and then some. Modern medicine is wild.....Granted, she’s in her 20s so that helps recovery and surgery success a lot.

Favorite quote since the surgery has been “Wow.....I didn’t know one could feel RELIEF while pooping!”. She grew up thinking digestive functions culminate in a painful internal shoving match...

unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
01/09/2019 at 22:10

Take care and have a speedy recovery! Any gallstones by chance in the CT? They should have them removed if you’re getting the right side colon removed.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins)
01/09/2019 at 22:15

They didn’t mention anything about gallstones on the abdominal CT, but I’ll ask about them. On the bright side, they will be removing my appendix whilst they’re poking around inside of me so that’s one less thing to worry about in the future.

VincentMalamute-Kim > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
01/09/2019 at 22:27

Agree with her on the chest CT. Chest x-rays are pretty useless for looking for metastases. I assume your surgeon is also getting a CT of the abdomen and pelvis? Or you’ve already had it? Metastases are going to be more likely there and important to know before surgerizing. If no one is ordering an Abdomen/Pelvis CT, ask them why not.

Just FYI if you’re interested in edumacation. Right colon is the second most common location and cancers there tend to be larger so you’re lucky this was caught early.

Left and distal colon is most common for diverticulosis which has no relation to polyps. When the diverticula get inflamed, you get your diverticulitis attack.

Good luck. Live long.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > VincentMalamute-Kim
01/09/2019 at 22:51

Abdominal CT has been done. I went in to the doctor early December with abdominal pain; they did a CT and that’s when the tumor was discovered. I had an attack back in May and a CT was done then, but for some reason they didn’t mention this mass. Apparently the size didn’t change from May to December, so that’s a little bit of good news.

She said that if there is metastases it would be noticed in the lungs first and then the liver. The liver a pparently looks fine, and she just wants to make sure the lungs are OK before doing surgery. If there is something in the lungs she wants to do chemo first, then do surgery on the colon, and thus seems like a prudent course of action.

They did remove some polyps during the colonoscopy, but there’s really not much they can do about the diverticula. I’ve been dealing with this issue since 2002, and it has become the new normal for me. I know the symptoms, I know the dietary changes necessary to handle a case, and I’m tired of going to the acute care clinic every time I get a flare-up. As such, I did get my PCP to let me have a course of antibiotics to keep at home that I can use when I have an attack. I know enough not to just take antibiotics whenever I feel sick, knowing full well that there are different ones to use depending on the infection, that they are for bacterial, not viral, infections, and that a tolerance can build up if overused. I’m glad that she trusts me to deal with this on my own.

Despite what I just said, I guess I should be grateful that I was sent to the ER this last time since that’s where the tumor was brought to my attention. Although I wish things were happening a little faster I have faith in my doctors and trust their judgment.

XJDano > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
01/09/2019 at 22:56

If there is something I can do let me know.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > XJDano
01/09/2019 at 22:58

I appreciate that very much - thank you, my friend.

Ju st to let you know, I haven’t forgotten about your computer situation; I’ve obviously been a little preoccupied...

Future Heap Owner > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
01/09/2019 at 23:17

Aw dang, that is a crappy coin flip to lose.

Is the surgery scheduled yet?

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
01/09/2019 at 23:25

Ooh no! Hope you have a speedy recovery.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
01/09/2019 at 23:27

Sorry to hear that. Do insist on a full torso CT scan with contrast. In preparation for the CT , you will h a ve to drink a barium shake. If you’re heavy like me, you’ll get two of them. The shake makes me feel ill, so I request it in liquid form. I have an easier time chugging two glasses of nasty water than two thick nasty shakes.

Also, if they do a contrast, it will have iodine in it. If you’re allergic to shellfish or iodine, they will give you a prescription for a steroid and benadryl. Don’t forget to take them! The last thing anyone wants is to go into anaphylactic shock on the table.

Good luck with your surgery. I hope everything comes out alright! :)

WilliamsSW > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
01/09/2019 at 23:31

Sounds like they can cut the tumor out, though?

And I would think they would remove those polyps - though that’s a different process from cutting out the tumor.

Good luck - when is the procedure?

VincentMalamute-Kim > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
01/09/2019 at 23:33

I had an attack back in May and a CT was done then, but for some reason they didn’t mention this mass.

Polyps are really hard to see on a regular CT - so not surprised they didn’t mention it on the May CT. Not having seen the CT images, probably the radiologist interpreting the Dec CT was a superstar rather than that the radiologist of the May CT dropped the ball. (It’s possible that the May radiologist dropped the ball).

Or if you did not have oral contrast for the May CT, or if you had oral contrast and t he contrast may not have been in the right place (random chance ) the polyp may be impossible to find prospectively but once seen in Dec, could be retrospectively located.

She said that if there is metastases it would be noticed in the lungs first and then the liver. The liver apparently looks fine, and she just wants to make sure the lungs are OK before doing surgery.

A q uibble with the wording. Colon cancer mets go to abdominal lymph nodes first and then the liver (usually) and then the lungs . But saying “noticed in the lungs first” is kinda accurate as CT is poor in detecting liver mets but does v ery well in detecting lung mets.

If there is something in the lungs she wants to do chemo first, then do surgery on the colon, and thus seems like a prudent course of action.

That’s standard procedure.

It sounds like your doctors are doing all the correct things and you’re in good hands. Y ou’re doing a good job in participating in and reading up on your own healthcare. Exemplified by your knowledge and judicious use of antibiotics. Please don’t mind me and forgive my pedantic tendencies. I know a little bit about this stuff so I felt the need to expand on a few minor points. Good luck and get well.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > VincentMalamute-Kim
01/10/2019 at 00:02

Thanks for this good info and feedback. Both CTs had IV contrast, as did the one back in 2012. And yes, I failed to mention the lymph nodes, but was aware that they would be the first area that would be affected. I was informed by my GI that it was lungs before liver, but I would rather have it be the other way around since there was no indication of the liver being affected.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > WilliamsSW
01/10/2019 at 00:14

Yeah, they want to take my right colon out, getting t he tumor out as well as a number of lymph nodes. They did remove a number of polyps during my colonoscopy,but not as many as they would have liked due to my inadequate prep for the procedure; given my condition I generally take in lots of fiber, but wasn’t informed that I should have cut back on the fiber intake about a week prior to the colonoscopy, and as a result the sigmoid colon wasn’t as clean as the doctor would have preferred and therefore she didn’t grab as many polyps as she could have. I’m always afraid of a diverticulitis attack, hence the high fiber, but somehow I’ll have to break that habit next time, preferably without bringing on an attack - a fine line.

Chest CT next week, and after that it will be surgery some time in February i f the lungs are clean, otherwise chemo then surgery once the lungs are good. So far there isn’t any evidence that the cancer has spread, but the surgeon wants to be certain. Colonoscopies will be a regular part of my life from now on, so with practice I’ll be nice and clean inside and they can snip away to their heart’s content during future procedures...

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > TheRealBicycleBuck
01/10/2019 at 00:25

Eww. I have a terrible gag reflex when it comes to things that smell or taste bad, so drinking contrast fluid is going to be a challenge without heaving. In the OR they gave me oxygen, and the smell was a little weird and I started t o gag. On pure oxygen. Colonoscopy prep was hard enough, but I played bartender and found a combination of additives that made that solution semi-tolerable, but I don't think I'll have that luxury for this procedure.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Future Heap Owner
01/10/2019 at 00:27

Not yet. A few more tests first and probably surgery in February sometime. They want to make sure it hasn't spread before slicing me open.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
01/10/2019 at 00:43

Yeah, you won’t have the luxury. No food/drink for 12 hours before the CT. If you get the liquid version, you can gulp it down like a bad beer. Three or four big swallows per cup. If you weigh less than 200 lbs, you should only need one cup.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > TheRealBicycleBuck
01/10/2019 at 00:50

I am losing a bit of weight these days (I have two modes nowadays - hungry or nauseated), but I’m still over 200 so I guess it’s double the fun for me. The nurse didn’t give me any special instructions, so I guess I'll have to read up on the procedure myself in order to properly prepare.

unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
01/10/2019 at 02:55

Please keep us updated. Somebody close to me is undergoing the same issues. I know it sounds corny but God bless you, best wishes and good health to you.

diplodicus forgot his password > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
01/10/2019 at 08:32

My iodine solution for my CT wasn’t terrible tasting. What sucked is you drink like 6cups of water in 2hrs and then you have to go wait at the hospital and they ask you to not pee. So your bladder is full and then they inject you with more iodine right before the scan starts, and the feeling of that rushing through your veins makes it feel like your pissing yourself.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > diplodicus forgot his password
01/10/2019 at 09:51

Thanks for the info. I’m now wondering if I can buy Depends individually...

diplodicus forgot his password > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
01/10/2019 at 10:18

You don’t actually piss yourself, at least I didn’t. It’s just an overwhelming sensation that you are. Which is confusing because you have to pee so bad.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
01/10/2019 at 10:46

Damn. Hope the surgery goes well.

WilliamsSW > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
01/10/2019 at 10:55

Ah, that makes sense - and fingers crossed for a clean CT scan next week!!!

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > diplodicus forgot his password
01/10/2019 at 12:23

Yeah, I remember the odd physical sensations when the IV contrast agent was introduced. It still surprises me even though I am expecting it.

Were the six cups of water part of the procedure or unrelated and coincidental?

diplodicus forgot his password > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
01/10/2019 at 12:49

Part of the iodine instructions. It may have been 5 I don’t remember exactly.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
01/10/2019 at 21:52

Damn, good luck friend!