How bad does the colon cancer sound?

We just found out my grandpa has colon cancer. He's 75. He got a colonoscopy because his blood sugar levels were in the 400's and he's a diabetic, his iron levels have been off, and he had blood in his stool and couldn't always hold it. But the doctors couldn't tell us how bad because the test was a little blurry (his system wasn't completely cleaned out). They say he needs surgery to take it out and from there we will know how bad it is. But I just want to get an idea so I don't get my hopes up.

Can't really know how bad it is till surgery. Assuming they have done xrays (CT scans), presumably they see nothing obvious outside the colon. However, until they do the surgery you don't really know how much disease there is. You need to know if lymph nodes are involved and any disease present beyond the lymph nodes. That will generate the stage of disease which guides treatment and prognosis. If found early, cure rates are high.

Blessings

Pretty scary I must say. My S.O. was diagnosed with it at 35 and had surgery. She had a tumor that was removed and had to follow chemotherapy for several months.

I read all I could about it and nearly went crazy and depressed at the thought of losing her. She is currently 1+ year post surgery and doing well but then she is not diabetic and is young. However, the treatment is heavy and it takes a long time to recover from that.

This is not only very hard on the patient but also heavy on the loved ones.I can tell you out of experience. My heart goes out to you.

If testing wasn't able to fully see the cancer, you will have to wait until surgery to get a better idea of what he has.With the high blood sugars & his age, surgery will be a big stress on him.He may have to have a colostomy if the cancer is blocking his bowels.With that, they bring the colon out of the body to the abdomen & he will have to wear a colostomy bag. People learn how to handle this, & the nurses in the hospital will teach you. You will also probably get nursing visits after discharge too to help you bring his blood sugar under control. You have to face the possibility that the cancer has spread and he may need chemo follow up too. If the chemo starts to make him too ill, you can choose to stop it for a while until he gets stronger. Have your MD explain all the pro & con of any further treatments for him. That's his right. Good luck.