Posts for Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Written on Wednesday September 10, 2008 at around 10 AM
While looking at the news I came across an article about people with colon cancer, possibly their surgeons and follow up appointments. To give you the gist of it was said that some surgeons are not taking the recommended 12+ lymph nodes during surgery. It also depends on where you go and with that how compliant they are.
** "1,300 U.S. hospitals they found that just 38 percent were compliant. The good news from this study is that the number of compliant hospitals had increased by 23 percent since 1996. The bad news is that about 60 percent of hospitals aren't checking enough lymph nodes to properly stage colon cancer.
The study also found that National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers were most likely to test 12 or more lymph nodes, with 78 percent compliance. Veterans Administration hospitals were next with 53.1 percent compliance, followed by academic hospitals at 52.4 percent. Community hospitals were the least likely to be compliant with just one-third checking 12 or more lymph nodes after surgery." **
Another thing that was said in the article was that after you have been successfully treated for colon cancer, you still need to have regular follow-up appointments, colonoscopies periodically and blood tests. The study was also seriously flawed because they failed to look into why some people aren't doing their follow-up procedures. Remember that just because your colon cancer is gone/remission that these tests are still necessary especially if you have FAP since that can start tumors anywhere at anytime.
I can't keep saying this enough, if you know there are any of these issues in your family, you owe it to yourself and your family to find out where you stand with your health!! Don't be like my mom and know there was a problem but then did nothing about it for 20+ years then find out you have less then 10 months to live. Instead be like me and go in for that colonoscopy and face that music and stand strong. Yes I shouldn't have waited as long as I did but luckily my news was good. Parents: If you know there are problems, have you child checked with a colonoscopy around puberty. If it's FAP then you can take them in for a genetic test at any age and that will tell you whether they have the gene or not. If they don't have the gene then they will not have FAP or colon cancer. I cannot emphasize this enough!
Remember that colon cancer is one of the cancers that can be prevented and the most curable but you have to be the one to go in.
**U.S. News
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