Breast cancer, now colon cancer?

catlady44

Did anyone out there finish breast cancer treatment and then get diagnosed with colon cancer right away? My labs came back pretty bad and my doctor is concerned about colon polyps or cancer. My colonoscopy isn't until the 12th, so I don't have an official diagnosis. My genetic tests already show I have some risk of developing colon cancer, but my god, already?! I'm freaking the hell out. I'm already struggling emotionally since treatment ended in Sept.

MelissaDallas

I had a very rare ovarian cancer (low malignant potential) and my tumor markers were really high. I was sent for testing for a couple of genetic syndromes in which breast and colon cancer tend to be related and for colonoscopy as both my dad's mom and sister had colon cancer. I did have polyps but was okay and my genetic testing came back negative.

catlady44

I'm glad it turned out well for you. Did you panic at all when you heard the C word again?

sandilee

My onc also had me schedule a colonoscopy after my diagnosis. I think that it's because some of the markers for breast and colon cancer can be the same, and if you haven't had one within five years or so, it's just good sense to check. Don't be too concerned. I think it's fairly routine.

My maternal grandmother had colon cancer. I seem to be fine in that department, but I think there is some kind of genetic connection with the two, and also with melanoma, which killed my brother. Cancer is such a complicated disease.

MelissaDallas

Oh catlady, you can just imagine...I had been so sick and was just starting to feel well. I had a huge surgery in March & then had the bad mammogram the first of November. Took until April to get all the breast stuff & surgical biopsy done. That put me in the "high risk" follow up group. I just kept thinking "you have got to be frigging kidding me.

sas-schatzi

Catlady, Bc and brain tumor dx'd the same day----partied heavily with friends. Then crani for brain tumor 3years later. then 2yrs later with thyroid ca. I hardly believe the course of events. Haven't related the worst. Being watched for everything. Just keep scheduling follow-ups and do what's needed. It's too fatiguing to worry. Besides you miss allot of living. Oops gotta find some more wine ............

catlady44

Sas you deserve some partying! Sounds like you're a walking miracle, although I bet you feel like crap after all that. Incredible story.

Sandilee - breast and colon cancer and also melanoma are related. When they did my genetic tests, they told me that. I have had 2 or 3 relatives who had colon cancer, at least 4 with breast, 2 with leukemia and some pancreatic and lung thrown in there too. Seems to really run in our fam big time. I'm probably missing some people in our fam history too. My uncle died of lung and liver just this past Sept while I was in treatment. That seemed especially cruel of cancer. I was very close to him. He was diagnosed and died 2 weeks later.

Meow13

Catlady, my neighbor was first diagnosed with breast cancer and after 4 or 5 years she had a cancerous polyp she had 6 inches of colon removed since then she has been fine no more cancer. Doctors said her cancers were linked.

Pessa

3 1/2 years after tx for BC, diagnosed with lung cancer. Had a lobe of my lung removed. That was almost 2 years ago. 21 years prior to BC had a melanoma removed. No recurrance with any of the cancers at this point. It's never- ending...............

catlady44

Wow you guys have had a rough time.

What has my doctor concerned is I'm severely iron deficient. I know I shouldn't imagine the worst, but it's hard not to since I've already had cancer.I'm just afraid that having another cancer right away means I will die.

2Hands4me

Try not to overly stress until you have the colonoscopy. There are many other reasons for anemia, and there may be a simple cause and treatment, For example - heavy periods, poor nutrition due to chemo and radiation, to name a couple. Yes, polyps can bleed, but polyps can be easily removed. Usually, they are small and aren't even cancer yet. Only if they are too large to remove must you have surgery to remove a part of the colon. But even then, if the cancer is confined to the colon, the colon is reconnected and everything is normal again after the surgical recovery time. Of course, the problem is knowing when those little cells decide to spread. IF there is cancer that has spread, they will do further testing to determine that and decide the treatment at that point.

I'm not sure of your age, or if you've had a colonoscopy before, but there are reasons why a colonoscopy is recommended at 50 years old. If there are no problems, you aren't scheduled to repeat another one for 10 years. Polyps grow slowly, and some never turn into cancer at all. So most likely, the most they will find is a small polyp or more, remove them, and there is no need for further treatment. Even if those cells are starting to change, the polyp is now off and can no longer cause you any problems. The colonoscopy is the best way to determine if there are any polyps, so it's an "easy" way to make sure that is OK or take them out, so you can move forward without the low energy caused by the anemia.

(The prep is the worst part of the colonoscopy, and it is do-able! Especially since you then know for sure what is going on inside!).

catlady44

You are right - the prep was awful. Not eating for 36 hours gave me a severe migraine and even though I had the procedure 4 days ago, I feel like I haven't recovered from it. Also, I'm sure my body was depleted nutritionally, since everything in my abdomen basically shot out of my butt! I swear I think I lost some of my intestine! LOL The good news is that there was that the colonoscopy was clear! Yea! Doc also did an endoscopy at the same time and saw no bleeding. She biopsied my duodenum to see if my celiac is in check. Next I'm doing a capsule endoscopy which is an amazing piece of technology! They had trouble with my IV. The first one infiltrated so they had to go in a smaller vein and it hurt so bad, I swear I saw Jesus coming for me! I used to have such a high pain tolerance, but I think that's decreasing simply because I've had so much pain in the last year. I'm wiped out physically and emotionally. I used to have such perfect veins that were easily accessed, but the nurse said my skin is unusually tough now. I guess it was the chemo. I wish I'd kept my damn port.

I just turned 45, but since I have a family history of colon cancer, they wanted me to go ahead and do it. I've had 2 iron infusions so far, but I'm not feeling any different yet. I have 2 more infusions scheduled. I actually feel worse after the colonoscopy. I finished radiation Sept. 29 after having a double mastectomy and 5 months of chemo. I'm guessing that my body is so broken that it's just not bouncing back like it would for a healthy person.

I'm so frustrated with constantly feeling like crap! I thought after treatment, I'd slowly get better (and I know it will take a couple years), but now I just have all these weird complications and my health problems just feel endless. I'm sure I'm not the only person who has felt this way, but I'm just so frustrated that I cry easily. This whole last year has been pure hell.

leftduetostupidmods

Catlady, your pain tolerance has decreased because of the AI. Estrogen binds on the opiate receptors in the brain, thus making women way more tolerant to pain than men. Men really do feel pain more than women. If this mechanism wouldn't be in place, women would die of shock while giving birth because of the pain.

Being on an AI or any other kind of estrogen inhibitor, means less estrogen to bind to those receptors, with the result that your pain threshold will be significantly lower.

catlady44

That is interesting!  I thought we ladies were just bigger badasses than men! 😉. I've never given birth and how anyone survives that is beyond me! 

ChiSandy

I too was terrified about possible intestinal cancer (despite a colonoscopy a year earlier that found only a hemorrhoid and endoscopy/biopsy that found benign gastric irritation) when at my annual checkup my PCP noted anemia despite normal iron levels. Had another endoscopy which revealed a mini-ulcer “of chemical origin.” Turns out that after my second knee replacement I was overdoing it with NSAIDs. DC’ed them, took iron and added more red meat and dark green leafies to my diet (dark chocolate is also a great source of non-heme iron)--three months later the blood bank accepted me as a donor!!! Those “capsule endoscopies” are straight out of the movie “Fantastic Voyage:” inside the capsule is a mini-camera that explores the small bowel and transmits the videography. Fascinating!

catlady44

So you've had quite the medical journey too!  I bet it's not uncommon to have more problems after cancer because we are so broken after treatment, or at least the chemo.  Took me like 5 or so days to recover from just the colonoscopy!  I just don't bounce back like normal people do. 

I'm shocked I don't have an ulcer from all the pain meds too.  The diet thing is tricky for me cuz raw veggies make me sick plus I have celiac, IBS and GERD. I'm gonna see a nutritionist cuz I don't even know where to start with the dietary stuff and I have so many limitations on what I can eat. 

The capsule endo is crazy!  The tech they have now is amazing. It's like swallowing a Go-Pro! 

Mommyathome

had genetic panel done if I'm remember correctly there was a variance in msh6- colon, rad57 and rad 55? These r breast and ovarian I believ

catlady44

It's so complicated I barely understand it. From my family history, they said that breast, colon, melanoma and ovarian cancer are somehow genetically related. My colon cancer gene actually came back neither postive or negative, so they threw me into the high risk category just to be safe. The GI doc who did my colonoscopy looked inside my mouth, behind my lips, and said she doesn't think I carry the gene. She said there would be spots there. Crazy.