How will the diagnosis of colon or rectal cancer affect my family?
It is common that a diagnosis of cancer may both frighten and upset your family. However, there are now several therapeutic options available to patients, and these should be discussed at length with your surgeon and with your family prior to making final decisions. Letting your family know will give them time to adjust, and help you make decisions in a time when your own decision-making processes may be more difficult. Additionally, if it appears that you have a family history of colon, ovarian, endometrial, gastric, or pancreatic cancer, it is important for your family members to be screened as well. Colon cancer, as mentioned above, may be preventable in its early stages.
