Six months ago, on November 29, 2022, a portion of my colon containing a cancerous polyp was removed.  The surgery was successful, I recovered normally. There have been no complications. 

This was my third cancer surgery: kidney (December 2019), prostate (April 2020) and colon (November 2022).  All three caught early. The surgery and recovery from all three followed similar patterns.  

The cancer is discovered.  Consult with the surgeon.  Surgery gets scheduled.  Prepare the house because recovery will be on the recliner in the den. Get mentally prepared.  

Pre-op physical. Wake up early. Go to hospital, register, change into robe, then life turns into a blur of questions, needles, more questions then at some point you are asked to countdown from 10.  I get to 7 and the next thing I know I wake up very drowsy in a recovery room. 

The first day or so after surgery is a bit intense in that you are monitored very carefully and frequently.  You sleep alot but only for short periods of time because they need to check this or that. Then it starts getting boring.  They check you less often.  You start doing short walks in the halls.  

Then after about five days in each case, I was sent home.  Then lots of sleep in a recliner.  The next couple weeks there are appointments with the surgeon to remove stitches and make sure things are healing properly.   Ten pound lifting restriction for six weeks for each of my surgeries.  

All three of my cancers are considered unique, in that none of them is thought to have spread, thus causing the others. All of my doctors said the same thing.  Having three separate cancers is rare, however it does periodically happen.  The fact that each cancer was caught early is a very good thing. 

At our first meeting with the surgeon we asked if we could travel somewhere warm this winter.  His response was, well medically you could if things go smoothly however, you will be having several tests and doctor visits so as a practical matter, probably best not to plan on it. The doctor was right.  

Just to clarify, if you or your partner has cancer, or is fighting any serious illness, you both are in the fight. It’s a team sport.  It may be possible to go through the process alone, but two people hearing what needs to be done or what this or that means is damn near a necessity. It’s a lot of information that you’re not used to hearing. It helps to have two people hear the instructions and other information. 

Even with a really good support network, there was a period from the end of January to early April where I got mildly depressed.  I lost my ambition. I spent way too much time watching segments of Big Bang Theory on YouTube.  I had little desire to interact with people. 

The truth was, no matter how many times I said I refuse to see myself as a cancer victim, I was starting to define myself as a cancer victim.  It took time but I snapped out of it and I’m back interacting with other humans.  

Once I started to physically heal, I was sent to an Oncologist.  Having cancer is relatively rare,  having two separate cancers where one hadn’t spread causing the other is more rare.  Having three different cancers where one had not caused the others, my case, is even more rare. An appointment was set with a geneticist. 

What surprised me was that the field of genetics is not nearly as clear cut, either or, as I thought it was.  

The visit with the geneticist was interesting. There is a set of four genetic defects called Lynch Syndrome which can be inherited and has been known to cause a person to get all three of my cancers.  Not everyone who has this condition gets these three cancers and some people who don’t have this combination of genetic defects do get these three cancers.  

A sample of my blood was sent to a lab in California. It took awhile to get the results. This is the bottom line of their report: “This diagnostic test evaluates 47 gene(s) for variants (genetic changes) that are associated with genetic disorders. This test did NOT identify any pathogenic variants known to cause disease. “

The bottom line according to both my oncologist and colon/rectal surgeon: probably there is a genetic component to me getting three separate cancers but that genetic connection is currently unknown.  As a practical matter, it is just random luck, not unheard of, certainly not common. I’m just very lucky all three cancers were caught early. 

Last week I met with my colon/rectal surgeon for my six month check up.  Unless something new comes up, I will be having an annual colonoscopy, an annual CT scan of my abdomen, an annual X-ray of my lungs and a PSA test every six months.

The days / months of frequent visits to labs and doctors seem to be over for now. Time will tell. 

Nobody can predict the future, after all I will turn 71 in less than a month. Age is a real thing.  However I’m feeling optimistic. My life seems like it will continue without medical restrictions, at least for now. 

In the past six months I’ve visited with several doctors.  Most of which I’ve visited multiple times. My general practitioner, oncologist, urologist, colon\rectal surgeon and geneticist all start our visits by asking me how I’m doing.  

My response is  the same for all of them.  I am feeling good, pretty much normal.  I then ask them how they think I am doing?   It takes them a lot more words to respond but the gist is: just fine but we want to keep a close eye on you to make sure it stays that way. 

The closer you look, the more you see.