Rectal Cancer

Hi LaRa80

Thanks for getting in touch and welcome to the online community. It is good to see you have joined a few of our forums here. I do hope you are finding them supportive. My name is Ursula, and I’m one of the cancer information nurses, here on the Macmillan Support Line. 

I am sorry to read about your dad’s advanced rectal cancer diagnosis and the awful 5 years he has experienced with this. It’s understandable that you have questions about what can be done to help manage his incontinence as he become weaker.

As we are not part of the NHS or involved with your dad’s care it is not possible for us to offer personalised advice. We would suggest you speak with your dad’s GP or specialist team, as they would be best placed to give individual information.

You have said that your dad is nearing the end of his life. I wonder if he is under the care of the community palliative care team, as they too may be able to support you with this. If not, it might be worth asking his GP if a referral to their service would be appropriate for additional support for your dad, and you as his family.

Marie Curie have a resource, continence care in palliative care. This has some helpful information on how bladder and bowel incontinence may be managed and how to support someone with incontinence.  It highlights the importance of person-centred care, and the importance of maintaining dignity as much as possible, whilst making sure that your dad is comfortable. If he is refusing the support from carers can this be explored with your dad as to what level of support he would feel comfortable with, and how this can be achieved to best meet his needs?

Bladder and Bowel UK also have a confidential helpline where you can speak to specialist nurses and continence product experts on options for managing incontinence. It may be helpful to gather this information and then talk through the ongoing management with your dad and the specialist continence service.

We can appreciate that this is a very difficult time and supporting a loved one with cancer can cause different worries and emotions. It is important to please remember to look after yourself too.                                                                                                      I wonder if you might also benefit from giving our support line a call. As well as the information and links in this email, we often find we can speak in a bit more detail over the phone, giving you the opportunity to ask more questions if needed.

I do hope you find this information helpful, but please do not hesitate to get back in touch with us if you need any further support. 

Best wishes, 

Ursula, Cancer Information Nurse Specialist 

You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email.  

Ref: UH/GHi