My father in law is in hospital at this moment having a biopsy on a lump that was detected in his bowel hes been told to expect the worst, he started bleeding from his back passage a couple of weeks ago and this lump was picked up when he had a camera put down last week, we re hoping that if it is cancer they might have caught it early does anyone have any experience of bowel cancer good or bad? serious answers only please!
2006-12-18 02:18:14 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Cancer
Sorry I should have said hes 63 his father died of lung cancer
2006-12-18 02:29:23 · update #1
Yes, bowel cancer is very serious. However, it often times can be very successfully treated. You will need a lot more information before you can have much of a prognosis discussion.
Prognosis (how a person is likely to do with a given condition) is based upon stage of the cancer and the person's overall health. Stage is base on three factors in bowel cancer:
1) Depth of the tumor or how deeply the tumor penetrates into the wall of the bowel. This is called "T" for tumor and is usual given as a number 1 through 4. Smaller numbers are better.
2) Presence or absence of cancer in lymph nodes. This can usually be determined after surgery. This is call "N" for nodes and is given as a 0 or 1. O means the absence of cancer in the nodes and is better.
3) Presence or absence of cancer at distant sites like the liver or lung. This is called "M" for metastasis, and is given as a 0 or 1. 0 means the absence of detectable metastasis and is better.
A word about staging and prognosis. When doctors talk about survival percentages, cure percentages etc., they are talking about what happens to groups of people with similar stage tumors. A given individual may do better or worse than the average.
2006-12-18 02:32:46 · answer #1 · answered by Jeffrey P 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have seen the good the bad and the ugly with colo-rectal cancer after working for 32 years in nursing home. One point I wish to make though is that you didn't say how old he is but anyone who is 50 should have a colonoscopy done for a basline to check for polyps and tumors etc. Hopefully if they caught it in time they can just remove it surgically and none of the surrounding tissue or organs are involved. If this is the case they may just remove the tumor and nothing more. If they feel it has spread or want to err on the cautious side they make resect his colon by taking out the cancerous section and then reconnecting things. If it is cancer the doc will decide if he needs further treatment besides just surgery. Bearing this in mind remind everyone you know to report any blood in the stools if it every happens to them and be sure your family and friends get a colonoscopy at age 50. If this does turn out to be cancer your husband should talk to his doctor about this as his doc may want to start screening him earlier due to the history of colo-rectal cancer. I wish you all the best.
2006-12-18 02:26:48 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If the size is larger than 4 cm and it is malignant, acolostomy bag will be used. If you have a smart doctor he'she will focus on shrinkage in order to save the rectum. It is also up to the patient. If they are fighters they have a great chance. If they don't they just succumb to the cancer and die. If the tumor is too deep, a colostomy bag will be there for life.
2006-12-18 03:37:48 · answer #3 · answered by Your #1 fan 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is possible it is only polops. They will make you bleed through the bowel and not all are cancer.
2006-12-18 02:27:31 · answer #4 · answered by glamour04111 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋