What are my chances?

Today Kim and I met with Doctor Ardalan Babaknia, my gastroenterologist. He told us that two of the three polyps (8-12mm) removed were benign and one was cancerous. One of the benign polyps was way up where the transverse and ascending colon (large intestines) meet and all the rest of the polyps (as well as the tumor) were in the area of the sigmoid colon, the curved part of the colon right above the rectum (the last 6" of colon before the anus). Checkout the diagram. He said that the tumor had breached the outer wall of the colon and that the CATscan seems to indicate an enlargement of lymph nodes in the area (I didn't know there were lymph nodes down there, either) , which means that the cancer may have spread into the lymph nodes. He said there was no sign of spreading to the liver and did not mention any other organs. He categorized my cancer as stage three. I was hoping for two or two plus.

According to one website http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/help/default.asp?page=4022, approximately 25% of colorectal cancers are diagnosed at stage 3 and 30-60% of those will still be alive after 5 years. This is so surreal to be talking about a 40-70% chance of dying in the next 5 years when I seem fit as a fiddle, except for occasional blood in my stool in recent months.

Here is another website that discusses survival rates of colon cancer patients. It would appear that statistically speaking, my changes are about 60%.
http://coloncancer.about.com/od/stagesandsurvivalrate1/a/ColonCancerSurv.htm

The doctor moved up my EGD (upper G.I.) exam from next Tuesday to tomorrow afternoon.This is similar to a colonoscopy except it is done via the esophagus to check on the condition of the digestive track as far down as the beginning of the small intestines.

tinyurl.com/2wk6n6

I'm now scheduled for an echo EKG on Tuesday morning. The doc says he needs to know the condition of my heart prior to a potential multi-hour surgery. He also wants to do a stress test.

Thinking that a heart stress test might be like a treadmill test and that I might need to bring gym clothes and running shoes, I asked her if it involved exercise. She said no. Since I'm not a doctor, I don't know how you can do a heart "stress" test without exercise.

http://www.heartsite.com/html/echocardiogram.html

http://www.heartsite.com/html/echo_stress.html

The gastroenterologist told me to call the recommended surgeon ASAP to schedule surgery. I called and found out that I have schedule a consultation with the doctor so he can do a rectal exam before scheduling surgery. I asked the receptionist why the doctor would need to perform a limited rectal exam when I just had a very thorough exam of the my entire colon via colonoscopy?! Apparently its "procedure". Argh! Even though the doctor's receptionist seemed unsure, my initial research shows that this doctor is not an in-network doctor with my insurance company, United Healthcare or UHC. I have a call in to ask if he'll accept what my insurance will pay, whatever THAT is. In just the past week, I can tell you that BY FAR the biggest hassle and stress (even more than the potential that this could be fatal) has been trying to negotiate the Bermuda Triangle between health care providers, insurance companies, and myself. I could write a VERY long blog about my bad experiences just THIS far, and will probably ending up doing so in the future since I doubt it will get any easier. The company I work for (Parker Hannifin) http://www.parker.com/ use to have health care coordinator nurses at my location and at our corporate offices to help employees deal with just such issues and to act as health care customer advocates. They were layed off several years ago to save money. :( The good news is that Parker stock split a few months ago and is at or near record high levels. That may be comforting news if I survive to retirement or Kim collects my company stock matching savings plan prematurely.