Monday Night Cancer Club is a Daily Kos group focused on dealing with cancer, primarily for cancer survivors and caregivers, though clinicians, researchers, and others with a special interest are also welcome. Volunteer diarists post Monday evenings between 7-8 PM ET on topics related to living with cancer, which is very broadly defined to include physical, spiritual, emotional and cognitive aspects. Mindful of the controversies endemic to cancer prevention and treatment, we ask that both diarists and commenters keep an open mind regarding strategies for surviving cancer, whether based in traditional, Eastern, Western, allopathic or other medical practices. This is a club no one wants to join, in truth, and compassion will help us make it through the challenge together.
My husband was diagnosed with colon cancer in April, 2006. It was metastatic, mucinous adenocarcinoma that extended through the wall of his colon into the omentum (a layer of fat that drapes over the intestines) and had spread to two of his lymph nodes--stage IIIb. Once we got over the shock of the diagnosis, we tried not to think too much about stages and statistics, but focus on the positives--the tumor was removed with clear margins, the cancer was found in only 2 of 14 lymph nodes, and there was no metastasis to the liver or lungs.
He had a temporary colostomy, six months of chemotherapy and then, in November, surgery to resect his colon. The pathology report showed no malignancy and the PET/CT scan came back with no evidence of disease, so it all seemed like good news. But my husband was still at high risk for recurrence because of the omental metastasis. Also, mucinous adenocarcinoma is a carcinoma that has a lot of mucus, allowing cancer cells to spread faster, making them more aggressive. The oncologist recommended another set of chemotherapy as, in his words, "insurance" against the possibility of recurrence. So that's what we did, in 2007, with annual colonoscopies and CT scans at the beginning of each new year as follow up.
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