Colon Cancer Support Group
Colorectal cancer, also called colon cancer or bowel cancer, includes cancerous growths in the colon, rectum and appendix. Many colorectal cancers are thought to arise from mushroom-like growths that are usually benign, but some may develop into cancer over time. The majority of the time, the diagnosis of localized colon cancer is through colonoscopy.
Many times I read of issues with doctors and believe me I have them too. We need to empower ourselves to realize we are consumers of medical care. Although it seems like we have to take what the medical community dishes out, but we really don't. We have rights and that includes the right to complain and seek better care. There is usually a manager, hospital director, complaint department and each state has a Dept of Health with a hotline number.
It isn't easy for doctors either. My niece was adviced by every family member and friend who is a physician NOT to go to medical school, that it just isn't worth it anymore. I also heard a physician say that a function of residency is to destroy any empathy the medical student still has, simply for survival.
Knowledge is power for us as consumers!!
For my sister's liver resection, she was put on an epidural for pain along with the morphine pump. For 3 days she was unusually loopy (even for a doped up post surgical patient), had double vision and had difficulty lifting her right leg. I asked if the epidural could be doing this and all the doctors, including the neurologist said "no". Then the neurologist ordered tests to see if it was a brain metastasis or a stroke. When my "loopy" sister heard that it could be cancer in the brain she broke down. Then she was slapping herself on the forehead because she couldn't process all this new info because she was so foggy.
In my gut, I knew she had to come off the epidural. At this point the morphine pump could manager her pain. I ran to the nurse's desk and demanded that the epidural be removed. Within 45 minutes they removed it. In about an hours time her vision returned to normal and she could now lift her right leg. She was much more coherent and able to carry on a normal conversation.
The tests showed that there was no cancer in the brain but the neurologist was convinced it was a small stroke. We assumed he saw evidence of that on the CT scan.
Three weeks later when my sister went to her regular doctor, she said, "no.... there was no evidence that there was any stroke."
The ego of that neurologist! He couldn't say that the epidural could have been the culprit! He maintained that it was a stroke!
Yes, we all need to be a strong advocate for ourselves and our loved ones.