A positive Colorguard test does not mean you have cancer. It means you need more testing. In my case, I needed a Colonoscopy. And yes, I had cancer. My cancer was in the last part of the large intestine, i.e., the Rectum. Since the Rectum is in a fixed position (compared to the small intestines that moves around a lot), I could have chemo and radiation before my surgery. The radiation and chemo shrunk my tumor from 5cm to 1.1cm. My surgery was a big deal. Men don't have much space between their hip bones, and working space is at a premimum. The doctor cut out the tumor and some intestine above and below the tumor, then he sewed the 2 ends back together. Next he seperated my large and small intestines, and brought my small intestine out to a bag (Ileostomy). My large intestine is resting and healing while I am going through another round of chemo (called for based on the size of the tumor when removed). Six to eight weeks after this 2nd round of chemo is finished, I can have restorative surgery to hook my plumbing back up. The good news is that all the pathology after surgery indicated I am cancer free. The chemo has some side effects, but they only last a couple of days (my chemo treatments are spaced 2 weeks apart). I should be through in mid-May. The bag is a bother. I never thought I would have to deal with this shit - pun intended. It doesn't effect what I can do very much. I am cautious about putting a strain on my abdomen due to concerns about a hernia around the openimg. I was able to put on my Currie control arms a couple of weeks ago. The biggest thing now is dealing with chemo side effects, the worst of which is low white blood cell count, which wreck my immune system. I had 65 years of good health and I took it for granite. I seldom went to the doctor. The most major thing in my life before cancer was a knee scope done out-patient. My wife was mad at me about the cancer. She said if I had been taking care of myself, I might not have had to go through all this. She is right. The morale of the story is don't be a baby - go to the doctor and follow his advice.
Wow, the joys of getting older, right?
Well, I'm glad to at least hear that you're going to make it through this. So the question is, had you been going to the doctor regularly, would you have been able to catch it much sooner and therefore potentially have been better off? I know as cancer spreads it can be harder to deal with.