What a week!

I'll start at the beginning...
Last Friday, the 6th of Feb., I had a colonoscopy done due to some problems I was having. Since everyone asks, I'll tell you the main problems I was having--blood and mucus in the stool. Sorry if you didn't want to know that, but so many people have asked. And if you have these problems you'll know not to wait and get it checked out ASAP!! Anyways, the doc found a tumor in my colon. He set me up for a CT scan that afternoon, and made an appt. with a surgeon for the following Thurs. (which was today).
On Tues. the doc called me and said the tumor is cancerous, but there were no other tumors on the scan.
Today I met the surgeon. He's a nice enough guy. The nurse said I'll be in good hands. She, Michelle, was REALLY nice, and spent alot of time with us, answering all our questions and going over everything with us. Rich went with me, of course. (He's been by my side through this all, and I know its hard on him too.) After spending alot of time with Michelle, I had to have some blood drawn (pre-op stuff), and got a chest x-ray.
The surgery will be done next Friday, the 2oth of February. Apparently there were a couple other "nodules" on the scan that I didn't know about. Well, one I did, and the doc thinks it might just be a fatty deposit, but the other one is near the tumor and the surgeon thinks it could be a lymph node. He'll find them both during the surgery and remove if necessary. The location of the tumor is in an "ok" place. Not the best, and not the worst. The surgeon (His name is Dr. Wolpert) thinks he'll be able to reconstruct everything, but there are no guarantees. He expects to remove about 12 inches of my colon.
I'll be in the hospital (Regions)5-7 days, and unable to work about 6 weeks(!). I'll have the results of the tests from the removed tissue and lymph nodes 2-3 days after surgery. That is when they'll have all the info they need to stage the cancer. From there we'll decide whether I need an oncologist, and whether I'll need chemo. Dr Wolpert said chemo is quite common for colon cancer. Some people even need radiation too.
I'm holding up ok. This has all happened so fast! Today was really tough. Surgery scares me. For you prayer warriors, I'm praying that the cancer hasn't spread, that the "nodule" is just some blip--or gone by the time he gets in there! And I really just need peace. My biggest fear, of course, is the colostomy. I don't want to live with one for the rest of my life!!
God is with me, and no matter what happens, remember He is good! ALL THE TIME!!
AMEN
Love ya all,
Tina