The joys of an ultrasound

As part of the clinical trial I'm participating in, I had to have a rectal ultrasound to determine the extent of the tumor. It was as much fun as you can imagine. Anyone who knows me well knows how uncomfortable I am talking about any bodily function (see? I even refer to stuff as "bodily functions"). It's amazing how quickly you shed any pretense to dignity or pride when going through cancer. It just doesn't seem to matter much anymore.

The good news is that the scan didn't show any signs of nodal involvement, nor any evidence that the tumor had spread to my prostate gland. This is huge in terms of successful treatment. According to the doctor who performed the ultrasound, the tumor should be classified UT3. The U means ultrasound, the T3 means tumor stage 3. This means that it's almost completely penetrated my rectum. (See? I can use that word in public now.) However, the fact that no nodes appear to be cancerous, and that the CT scan showed no obvious signs of metastasis are very encouraging.

Hearing news like that is a heck of a payoff for 10 minutes of discomfort...

On an important side note, the surgeon said that he now recommends a colonscopy for anyone (regardless of age) who has had blood in their stool. The conventional wisdom used to hold that people over 50 were at the highest risk for colo-rectal cancer, but that's no longer accurate. In his clinic, Dr. Shashidharan said he's seen one patient with colon cancer who was 16, and another who was 24. So please, please, if you have any idea that you could be at risk due to either symptoms or family history, insist upon a colonoscopy. If I had had one two or three years ago, I might have caught this before it turned from a polyp into cancer. For more fun reading about colo-rectal cancer, go here.

love,

Cj