THE SHITTY DETAILS

Good morning everyone. Here is some of what I know about symptoms, statistics and general information for colorectal cancer. I will probably just post these and then put my personal spin on it later.

For those of you not familiar with the colon it is also called the large intestine. The ileum(last part of the sm. intestine) connects to the cecum(the first part of colon) in the lower right abdomen. The rest of the colon is divided into four parts:

• Ascending
• Transverse
• Descending
• Sigmoid--This is where my bowel obstruction or tumor was.

 The colon removes water, salt and some nutrients forming stool. Muscles line the colon's walls squeezing its contents along. (like a snake eating a rat) LOL
Polyps or small growths develop into cancer over a long period of time.
Early detection by way of colonoscopy can detect these polyps and remove them, ultimately saving lives by doing so. Colonoscopy's sound disgusting, but it's more so for the doctor than the patient. I didn't feel anything during or after. The worst part is the prep in which you have to drink a laxative to clean everything out.

According to the American Cancer Society over 100,000 people will be diagnosed this year. While another 50,000 will die. About 1 in 20 have the risk of developing in a lifetime. It is the third leading cause of cancer deaths in men and women.
 
Fightcoloncancer.org says rates for people younger than 50 have risen. The median age is 44. It also states that most patients under 50 have symptoms, have left colon or rectal cancers and are usually more advanced. Meaning a higher stage such as stage 3 or 4. There are only 4 stages, and there are "substages" of these also. Lack of health care and awareness is the result of incidences in younger adults. In my case, the statistics say the prognosis of survival is 3-5 yrs. Upon remission, recurrence is most common within 3 yrs. of diagnosis. In 1999 average survival after diagnosis of metastatic(has spread to other organs) was nine months. Today it is almost 3 yrs. on an average.

SYMPTOMS:

• Sometimes there are none or they mimic something else
• A change in bowel habits
• Blood in stool, either bright red or very dark
• Diarrhea, constipation, or feeling that the bowels did not empty completely
• Narrow stool
• Frequent gas pains, bloating, fullness, or cramps
• Weight loss for no reason
• Feeling tired

You can see how some of these symptoms would lead a person to believe it's just something you ate etc. For me, I had no reason to suspect cancer really, because I had cramps, not emptying completely and some narrow stools, but I attributed it to pre-menopause or constipation, not eating right, drinking too much and such. In fact, heavy drinking is linked to it as well as low physical activity, obesity, smoking(of course :/ ) , diets of red meat, processed meats, and fats.

REDUCE RISK BY:

• Increasing foods containing dietary fiber
• Include garlic in your diet
• Drink more milk if you can tolerate it
• Add foods with calcium

So that's a bit of information. As I noted, I will add my personal situation later. But for now, hope you got the jist of it and I will be working on the next post. ;)