Finally some good news

Today I had an endoscopic ultrasound in order to positively determine what stage the cancer is. From the PET scan and previous exams, I was led to believe that it was stage III or IV, based on my doctor's concern about a couple lymph nodes next to the tumor. The exam today established the stage as IIA (T3,N0,M0). See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colon_cancer for details on what that means. Basically, this means I will likely get treatment and surgery for this and be just fine at the end. I'll still be doing the whole radiation and chemotherapy thing, but the survival rate for my particular stage is very high.

(from http://coloncancer.about.com/od/cancerstatistics/a/US_Survival_CC.htm)
Five-Year Survival Statistics:
Stage 1 Colon Cancer: 93%
Stage 2A Colon Cancer: 85%
Stage 2B Colon Cancer: 72%
Stage 3A Colon Cancer: 83%
Stage 3B Colon Cancer: 64%
Stage 3C Colon Cancer: 44%
Stage 4 Colon Cancer: 8%

All in all, this is very good news, and we are doing our little happy dance today.

Diet and Exercise

I found an article on Friday that cites a study that says that exercise increases the survival rate for colon cancer. Since it seems this is about the only thing in my control, I'm going to go for it. Eating right and exercise are now my top priority. Since I've never been terribly good at either, it will be a challenge. Yesterday, Julie went out and found high fiber/low fat meals I can have for lunch at work, and bought cereal based on fiber content. Oddly enough Raisin Bran is one of the best, and also one of my favorites.

On the exercise front, I've hit the elliptical two days in a row, and will do so every day from now on. I'll add other exercise as my overall fitness improves. I'm not going to worry too much about weight, I'm sure the radiation and chemo will take care of that. I'm just going to concern myself with eating quality food and exercising.

The link I found on the benefits of exercise can be found at http://coloncancer.about.com/od/stagesandsurvivalrate1/a/Exercise.htm