After reading some of the other colonoscopy threads, I figure I would give our story and hope others will schedule their appointment soon.

My wife 52 years old was having stomach pains this past October as she was driving into work. It was still to early to go to her primary care so she went to the ER. They did a CT scan and saw there was a stricture (blockage) in her colon. A couple days later they were able to do a colonoscopy and confirmed the blockage was a tumor. A resection of the colon was done to remove the tumor, no colostomy bag was needed. After 12 days in the hospital she was finally released. We were home about a week and she became septic, so back to the hospital for 3 more days.

The cancer is bad, it is Stage 3c, during the resection the surgeon took out 56 lymph nodes and 39 were cancerous. The cancer is a rare one, especially for women, it is Signet Ring a very aggressive type with a poor prognosis.

She has had her second round of twelve chemo treatments, her hair has started falling out now, the least of our worries.

The funny thing is my wife is an RN who just started a new job in August as an oncology RN giving people their chemo, now she is sitting in the chair with some of her patients. The not so funny thing is her office is basically firing her because as they say, they hired her for full time and the best she can do is work part time during the treatment. Her benefits were about 3 weeks shy of kicking in with the new job. This is all coming from their HR department up in Atlanta, all the other nurses are pretty pissed at how they are treating one of their own while she is in a fight for her life.

Luckily, I have really good insurance from job and I still had an AFLAC cancer policy I got years ago and I am thankful for that.

My wife is a real trooper, no complaining about her issues just an unbelievably strong woman. I am trying to be strong but I have had a few times were I've cried like a baby, I am getting better at talking about it without bawling.

I had a colonoscopy at 50 and I am now turning 58 in January, I went ahead and got my colonoscopy scheduled the Monday after Christmas and was able to schedule it on line without an office visit, super easy.

I'm hoping this will prompt some of you to schedule your appointment, it is so easy to catch these things early but you gotta go get it done.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: wingfoot,

Im very sorry to hear that. Prayers for your wife...I know Chemo sucks, but hopefully I'm her case it does what it's supposed to and enables her to beat this thing.

My wife has been having intense, unexplained abdominal pain the last couple of weeks. She has a family history of both colon and ovarian cancer. Doc ordered a CT scan, and she's going in today. Very much hoping it's something else, but we aren't taking any chances.

I appreciate the PSA aspect of your post, but the important thing is your wife and you. Wishing you both the best that American medical care has to offer and a good outcome in her treatment.

If you don’t mind, what’s her first name? I think it helps with our connection.

Prayers for her full recovery and for you as well wingfoot.

Prayers sent your way with the best wishes for a positive outcome!

Adding you and your wife to my prayer list. I had a hemispheric colectomy at the age of 50 due to a large tumor that was discovered on my first colonoscopy. Thankfully it was benign and all the lymph nodes they took with it were clear for cancer.

Hopefully the employer will do the right thing.

Sorry to hear this. May your wife have a successful and cancer eradicating course of treatment. Definitely a cautionary tale about the importance of routine colonoscopies.

My prayers are with you…

Prayers sent.

sorry to hear that - but it sounds like the second surgery was successful.

Best of luck and its too bad about the company being a prick - I would hope they would do the right thing, but they almost never do

best wishes for a speedy recovery

Best wishes to you and your wife.

Sorry to hear about this brother. You will be both in my prayers. I was going to suggest FMLA. But her being new to her job, she probably have not met the minimum requirements to get FMLA coverage.

So sorry to hear…good luck and God bless.

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
I appreciate the PSA aspect of your post, but the important thing is your wife and you. Wishing you both the best that American medical care has to offer and a good outcome in her treatment.

If you don’t mind, what’s her first name? I think it helps with our connection.

Thank you, her name is Lisa.

God bless you, wingfoot, for the courage to share this, may you and yours find strength in Him.

Prayers said for Lisa's full recovery from this terrible disease!

Prayers and positive karma thoughts coming your way to both you and Lisa ...

I be praying for the both of you. I wish I had the right words of comfort, but He does.

Bob

May God lay his healing hands on your wife and lift you both up with strength and hope.

Prayers sent.