Pre-Surgery and CT Scan Results 2/6/12

We arrived at Davis Hospital at about 6:30 on Monday 2/6 and got checked in.  We were able to inquire about the CT Scan results.  Dr. Jon Oberg, who is our surgeon, informed us that the CT Scan looked normal.  He further said that there was no indication from the CT Scan of abnormal sized lymph nodes or any obvious signs of cancer migration.  There were a couple of spots on the liver that they will check during the surgery, but these were probably just normal clusters of blood vessels that sometimes show on this type of scan.  It should be noted that the CT Scan is not conclusive evidence that the cancer has not spread.  This can only be determined after the biopsy of the surgically removed lymph nodes can be performed.  We should receive a pathology report of these about 5 days after the surgery.

Dr. Oberg reported that the cancer mass is at the top of the ascending colon, where we initially suspected it would be.  This means that he will be removing the part of the colon from where the small intestine ends and the large intestine begins to just after the start of the transverse section of the colon.  He will then re-connect the small intestine to the large intestine near the start of the transverse section of the large intestine.  This means that he will be removing about 1/3 of the colon (large intestine) including the appendix.  He mentioned that this side of the colon was the easiest to operate on and he did not see anything that would cause him concern about the operation now.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001308/