My 48 year old brother is having surgery tomorrow to remove a tumour in his bowel. I am feeling very nervous, worried and cannot concentrate on anything at the moment. He has a lovely partner and beautiful 7 year old son and I need to do everything I can to support them all, whilst at the same time feeling so concerned for my little brother. He has had radio and chemo therapy in preparation and JIM has shrunk.
Our lovely Dad died three years ago and Mum has Dementia and is in a Care Home. I am feeling very responsible for him.
This is all sounding a bit pathetic as I read it back but I get such inspiration and motivation from all of you, the strength and courage portrayed is quite astounding - and I am not the cancer sufferer. He is normally so full of life and I am dreading seeing him in hospital afterwards, I need to be strong for him and his family. Any suggestions and past experiences would be gratefully received.
JJ is a great Chelsea fan and probably will miss the match as he will be in Theatre!
Thank you in anticipation.
Loulou
xxxxx
FormerMember
Sorry Toni, I forgot to answer your question - they say he will need at minimum a temporary colostomy bag, will be back to you if things change, many thanks for your support, I am very touched by everyone's help. Just what the doctor ordered, as they say!
Peter has a permanent colostomy bag. He has taken to it very well indeed, after a few ups and downs, which is to be expected in the beginning. His consultant did say after the op that he might be able to reverse it at a later stage but wasn't promising this would happen. Peter told him he would prefer not to go through that again, as it is another major op and not only that Peter feels in complete control of the bag and very confident when he goes out. So temporary or permanent it is not as bad as you think it might sound. All the best to your brother from us and don't worry about him too much, he seems to be coping with the diagnosis in a way most patients do......one day at a time! It is people like you that make it easier by being there for them.
Hi everyone, just to let you know that my brother's surgery yesterday was 100% successful, turmour removed in its entirety and it had not spread. I was with my sister in law, her sister and her mother for lunch with my 7 year nephew when the surgeon called with the news, after 4 hours in Theatre, it was very comforting to have all been together and we could not have asked for a better result. All the women cried and we were comforted by a very strong young man!!! However, of course there is a long way to go, further chemo and he will have the colostomy until that is over. I have just called the hospital to see how he is and he answered the phone!! - not what I was expecting. Said he felt uncomfortable (to be expected of course) a permanent tummy ache was the way he described it and it starving hungry, cannot eat for another few days, and he normally eats for England! He did comment that he was feeling better than he expected at this stage. I am going to visit later but so far, so good. And the added bonus was that Chelsea won the FA Cup, he managed to see the last ten minutes!
I cannot express how grateful I am to everyone who supported me on Friday night on this site and who continue to do so. It really is such a fantastic source of support and I am delighted to have found you all. Hopefully I can help others too who are awaiting this surgery with our experiences, it will be a pleasure to do so.
Will keep you posted with further updates, enjoy the lively sunshine, if you can.
