Treatment of Back Pain

One day that will always be in my memory is the day I learnedIn my law practice I had worked on lawsuits regarding the delayed diagnosis of cancer. However, this experience did not prepare me for hearing those words used to refer to my own diagnosis. Because I had worked as a delayed diagnosis of cancer lawyer and knew the symptoms of various different kinds of cancers, including advanced colon cancer I did not hesitate when I began to experience symptoms myself. I consulted with my primary care physician who agreed that despite the fact that I was not yet fifty years old and so was not a candidate for routine screening for colon cancer and regardless that I did not have anyone in my family with colon cancer colon cancer (at the time) that I needed to nonetheless get a colonoscopy to eliminate cancer as the source of my symptoms.

The colonoscopy found that I had a significant cancerous tumor in my colon and surgery verified that it had by then started spreading. The cancer was stage 3 colon cancer. Not good news. I knew there was a positive part of this was that it had not reached stage 4 colon cancer. Yet it was nonetheless metastatic colon cancer that had spread to my lymph nodes. And I had an instant of real fear and doubt when I received the news. I understood that my odds of long term survival were only about fifty percent. Regardless of the fact that I was a lawyer and had previously handled medical malpractice claims, even claims concerning colon cancer, did not stop that moment of genuine panic and dread. I still believed I was going to die

At that time I reached out to a friend who was also a lawyer and had been one of my mentors. I suppose it was pure instinct that I reached out to him first. He did not sugar coat it. And that was really what I needed. Someone else to express out loud what the reality was and what needed to be done. He then offered to help with whatever I needed. And later the managing partner at the firm, another colleague and fried, offered to handle all my cases during my treatment. He offered to do this, not for any compensation, but just out of friendship. I have alwats been grateful to him for that.

While I required a few weeks to recuperate following surgery and while there were days while undergoing chemotherapy when I just did not feel well enough to do anything, I was, by and large, able to continue working. This gave me great satisfaction. I felt that I was able to carry my weight and lead pretty much a normal life for the period of my treatment and seven years after my treatment I exhibit no evidence of cancer. If I had waited even a number of months the cancer could have spread further and I probably would have lost the battle against this dreadful disase.

The lesson for everyone is to be sure to get the correct test should you show symptoms of colon cancer. If you discover the cancer sufficiently early best of all while it is just a polyp you will have more treatment choices and a significantly better possibility of surviving.

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