A specific two-day program is available to patients with gastrointestinal cancer. The Banchik Family Library and the Feldman Family Audiovisual Center provide numerous resources, including books, videos, and audiotapes on all aspects of cancer care and treatment. Both libraries contain TVs, VCRs, and computers with Internet connections. Patients are also referred to other community resources, such as physical therapists, nutritionists, and psychiatrists. Polyps are generally benign, but after a couple of years, a small percentage may turn into invasive cancer.
Doctors universally refer to the spread of colon and rectum cancer by stages.
Stages 0, I, and II describe early colon and rectum cancer. Stages III and IV are more advanced. Cancer can be found in nearby lymph nodes. Unfortunately, in many cases, colon and rectum cancer does not give any indication of its presence. However, persistent symptoms such as weakness, fatigue, abdominal pain, bloatedness, eating and bowel disorder, weight loss, rectal bleeding, and blood in stool may be signs of disease, and you should bring them to the immediate attention of your physician.