Finally! Confirmed diagnosis -- mucinous adenocarcinoma of the cecum

Described on a survivor's website as "one of the 'nicest' types of cancer a person can get. ...it is not a typical "invasive" cancer.

Roni writing:

We got a call yesterday afternoon from the 2nd opinion specialist who told me the diagnosis: mucinous adenocarcinoma of the cecum. From what we've learned in a very short time this is much better news than garden variety colon cancer! As we understand so far (just a few hours of Web research) this is a very rare (and "friendlier") strain of colon cancer. Leave to Kevin to have something “special.” But now that we have a sense of the enemy* we can prepare to fight it. We'll know more, of course, after we see the oncologist (Monday).

The doctor had his pathologist review all of the pathology slides done at the hospital, plus stain for himself some blank tissue slides they provided, and the results are conclusive. Plus, what we've learned about this disease in just a few hours fits with the symptoms and with all we've learned from doctors so far. Also, the fact that this is a rare disease explains the puzzled looks on the doctor's faces, why one doctor would examine him and then come back with five more doctors and why I got vague answers to specific questions...

But most encouraging (in a relative sort of way) is what we've read so far about how the disease acts and progresses.

Best layman’s explanation I have found follows:
_________________________________________________
From “Brian’s Story” (http://cyberhideaway.com/BriansStory/ and http://cyberhideaway.com/BriansStory/updates2.html)

“...there isn't a lot of information out there on the net about this particular type of cancer. We are not doctors, and we don't have the medical knowledge to explain fully what many of the things mean. The treatments that Brian is going through are fairly new [this was in 1997], and we have discovered that not many doctors out there are even aware of them.

This type of cancer, as we were told, is one of the "nicest" types of cancer a person can get. ...it is not a typical "invasive" cancer.

When we asked the doctors, they went on to explain to us that this type of cancer is a rare strain of colon cancer. However, where colon cancer is invasive and will replace a good cell with a bad cell, this cancer is not that way. The type that Brian has does not replace a good cell with a bad cell. Instead, the bad cells make the gelatinous goop. Then the goop attaches itself to organs. If the goop is left inside, it will eventually "smoother" an organ. [This is what happened to Kevin’s appendix. The tumor surrounded it, and the appendix “disappeared.” If you’re going to have an organ swallowed, it’s good that it be one you don’t really use anyway.] Now, we were also told that another "nice" thing about this cancer is that it grows very slowly.” [This explains why the oncologist we saw in the hospital said both "colon cancer" and "slow growing" -- two phrases that don't normally go together.]
__________________________________________________________________________

*My Prayer During Cancer

Lord, I have just received the diagnosis of cancer.
Still my anxious heart as I seek to understand why.
Teach me to transform my suffering into growth,
my great fear of tomorrow into faith in your presence,
my tears into understanding,
my discouragement into courage,
my anger into forgiveness,
my bitterness into acceptance,
my experience with cancer into my testimony,
my crisis into a platform on which I can learn to help others.
God grant that one day I can embrace this time
as my friend, and not as my enemy.

~ Judy Kneece, RN, OCN


What Cancer Cannot Do:

Cancer is so limited . . .
It cannot cripple love.
It cannot shatter hope.
It cannot corrode faith.
It cannot eat away peace.
It cannot destroy confidence.
It cannot kill friendship.
It cannot shut out memories.
It cannot silence courage.
It cannot invade the soul.
It cannot reduce eternal life.
It cannot quench the Spirit.
It cannot lessen the power of the resurrection.

~ Anonymous


Serenity Prayer
God, Grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the Courage to change the things I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference.

Living ONE DAY AT A TIME; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.

Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it.

Trusting that He will make things right if I surrender to His Will;

That I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with Him forever in the next.

Amen

~ Reinhold Neibuhr


Romans 8:15-39