Bad News About A Friend...

[Stacie H.]

I’m posting this here because in the end, it DOES have to do with my spouse.

We found out this weekend that a friend of ours (34 yr old male) has colon cancer. I found out Friday night when I saw this couple at another friend’s house. I was floored and got quite upset. You see, my DH was diagnosed with thyroid cancer 2 years ago, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone! We think that this ordeal is also what triggered his gluten intolerance. Been gluten-free for 3 months now, and there have been improvements.

Well, this friend of ours had been gluten-free for some time as well, thinking he was gluten intolerant. Turns out that’s not what it was at all.

When I got home and told DH, he got very upset with me. Basically, I’d ruined the first good day he’d had in some time. Like I’m supposed to know that....every time we talk about how he’s feeling, it’s always negative. But I digress:

He was not really mad at me because he knew I was just relaying information to him. But he’s sick of being surrounded by cancer and talking about it. And I guess I can understand that. On top of that, he said that hearing that our friend thought he was gluten intolerant upset him, because now every time he had a cramp, colon cancer was going to be in the back of his mind.

I felt horrible, but never intended for him to think that. I have never thought he had any other kind of cancer, besides thyroid. I was worried about the possibility of permanent GI damage, but this was before we started eating/living gluten-free. His biggest issues were diarrhea, cramps, and headaches. The diarrhea is gone, headaches are gone. He has cramps that are semi-bad in the morning, but seem to let up by late morning. And when he does have them during the day, he says they pass a lot quicker now. He says he’s NEVER had any bleeding. He’s had several full body scans in the past 2 years, and countless rounds of bloodwork. He is now seeing doctors at MD Anderson, one of (if not THE) top cancer hospitals around. I have no doubt that if they had seen any sign of colon cancer, they would have pursued it.

He seemed fine the next day, and we haven’t talked about our friend since then. But now I wonder if this is an issue we need to think about? I don’t think he plans to be tested for celiac disease, because he doesn’t want to eat gluten. I’ve told him before that if anything, he could go to a GI and have tests run to rule anything else out. He seemed agreeable to this, but is not eager to see yet another specialist, so I haven’t pushed him.

I guess his reaction really surprised me, because he’s acted so strong and tough through this whole thing. I guess I was starting to believe it. But I guess he’s more scared/worried than he let on.

But what ARE the ties of celiac disease to colon cancer? I would imagine that after many years of damage, it becomes a real possibility...

[tarnalberry]

Yes, years of untreated celiac disease dramatically raises the risk of colon cancer. Given that the odds are very low to begin with, that doesn't make it very likely even with the increased risk, however. Yes, he should be aware of the warning signs, and it's good that he's under good care, but that's about all that he can do. Staying on the diet, and being fastidious about it, brings the risks of colon cancer back to that of the normal population in a few years (two or three, if I recall correctly).

You can see the abstracts of the studies on this on pubmed, if you want to search through them.