Real Life Post
Jul. 20th, 2012 10:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccastareyesWhile I was in Nebraska, my dad went in for a planned surgery. A colonoscopy had found a suspicious-looking polyp near his appendix, and the doctor wanted it out. Dad was more complaining about the pre-surgery prep and not being allowed to go into work than the surgery itself. So, I wasn't too worried about it: a bit annoyed that I had to hear it from Mom, who heard it from Ben.
This evening I got an email from Dad: apparently they tested the bit of tissue they took out of his intestine and it was Stage I colon cancer. Dad says that there's a over-90% chance that he'll live at least 5 years without remission -- that's generally how cancer statistics are listed. From what the Internet tells me, that means the cancer didn't make it past the muscles in the colon yet, and wasn't in any of Dad's lymph nodes, so it was pretty much local. Google tells me that normally they just treat it by cutting the suspect bit out (aka what they already did), but Dad mentioned 'molecular medicine' improving his odds, which makes me think he's also trying chemo.
But... cancer is scary. Both my grandfathers died of lung cancer*, and my grandmother died of leukemia. I also had a cousin who had thyroid cancer, and two of my uncles' wives who had cancer (Uncle Bobby's first wife had brain cancer, Uncle Donny's wife had breast cancer). Which... is reassuring that people survive cancer nowadays.
This also goes on my medical history as something I get to watch out for as I get older, along with type-II diabetes from Mom's side.
Also, the fact that my parents can get seriously ill is also scary.
* Granted, they both smoked like chimneys.
This evening I got an email from Dad: apparently they tested the bit of tissue they took out of his intestine and it was Stage I colon cancer. Dad says that there's a over-90% chance that he'll live at least 5 years without remission -- that's generally how cancer statistics are listed. From what the Internet tells me, that means the cancer didn't make it past the muscles in the colon yet, and wasn't in any of Dad's lymph nodes, so it was pretty much local. Google tells me that normally they just treat it by cutting the suspect bit out (aka what they already did), but Dad mentioned 'molecular medicine' improving his odds, which makes me think he's also trying chemo.
But... cancer is scary. Both my grandfathers died of lung cancer*, and my grandmother died of leukemia. I also had a cousin who had thyroid cancer, and two of my uncles' wives who had cancer (Uncle Bobby's first wife had brain cancer, Uncle Donny's wife had breast cancer). Which... is reassuring that people survive cancer nowadays.
This also goes on my medical history as something I get to watch out for as I get older, along with type-II diabetes from Mom's side.
Also, the fact that my parents can get seriously ill is also scary.
* Granted, they both smoked like chimneys.
