stage4's Cancer Blog

December 29, 2006

The Beginning-Cancer, Chemo and the Future Whatever it may be

Views: 225

My name is Donna Richno. I initially wrote this blog on iblogs.com which has since disappeared.
I saved my original postings and when I get those posted, I will get into what is currently going on.
I am not sure exactly how to start this I guess I will dive right in.

I probably will bounce all over the place because that is what I tend to do when I talk. My mind just races from one thought to another with nothing tying the 2 thoughts together.

I was 41 in July ‘05 when I went for a routine physical and since I had blood in my stool a couple times within a year my doctor had suggested a colonoscopy “just to be on the safe side”. I thought it seems a little overkill since I had no family history and no symptoms but ok.
After the colonoscopy the doctor came out and said there was a problem. “This is very serious” he said and “if you have any siblings they need to be checked immediately”. He said it looks like colon cancer and referred me to a surgeon. I was in shock and wondered for a very long time if they had made a mistake.

Then the scans began

After a ct scan the surgeon diagnosed me with stage 4 colon cancer. That is 4 out of 4 meaning the cancer had spread to distant organs, the liver. About as bad as it could be. Again, I was in shock. How could it be this bad when I felt great. Yeah, sure I had gained a little weight and was a little more tired but who’s not? No pain, No sick feeling. Nothing.

It was in the colon and in the liver. At that point the plan was that I would have a colon resection right away then we would decide what to do about the liver. “If nothing else we will do a resection on the liver also.”

The surgeon scheduled the colon resection for 2 weeks later Aug. 2 2005 a date I will never forget. The surgery went as planned. I was in the hospital for 1 week and recooperating at home for the next 2 weeks. I went back to work the 3rd week. Which from what I understand is about as good as you can expect.

I do want to share what I have learned so far to possibly help someone out there going through the same things. I am sure I have a lot more to learn about the process and it’s pitfalls but maybe someone out there won’t feel all alone if they see there are people like me going through the same thing. This is what I have figured out so far:
Here Is A Few Things That Doctors Won’t Tell You

1. They are probably wrong as much as they are right.

2. You should always get a 2nd , 3rd, 4th opinion and as many as you want after that.

3. You must keep an eye on your own healthcare and not expect doctors and nurses to oversee everything.

4. You need support around you besides family and friends.

Even the best doctors make mistakes so how are you to know who to listen to.
One thing I did was to get several opinions. At first I had 3 surgeons and an oncologist that gave me no hope at all, I just kept going to more and more. By the time I had visited 3 more surgeons, I had 3 different opinions for treatment. So I visited yet another that 1 of the oncologists that I saw had said was “world renouned” but at another hospital. By the time I left him I finally had 2 doctors that agreed on what the next course of action would be. That would be chemo first before surgery on the liver because that will have to take 80% of my liver and I would need to lose enough weight to be able to survive on 20% of my liver. The liver regenerates after surgery. You just have to survive until it does. (It is the only organ that regenerates) But Chemo will be first.

Posted on December 29, 2006 at 12:43:57 AM by Donna Richno ( The Beginning-Cancer, Chemo and the Future Whatever it may be, 1 comment)

Welcome Donna! I am so glad you found this site and look forward to reading about your journey. Please let me know if you have any questions. Happy New Year’s!

Posted on January 1, 2007 at 5:54:22 PM by jill