Life without a caecum

Hello Nicnak72

Thank you for getting in touch and welcome to the online community. My name is Joanne and I am one of the Cancer Information Nurse Specialists on the Macmillan Support Line.

I can see that you have joined our Bowel cancer forum and I hope that you are finding it to be a useful source of support and information as you prepare for Surgery for bowel cancer.

You may also find Bowel Cancer UK  and their online forum useful for asking questions and sharing experiences with others who have undergone the same type of surgery.

As nurses on the support line, we don’t have access to your individual healthcare records so would always advise you to have a further conversation with your consultant about the potential impact of your surgery and any longer term issues which you may experience once you have your surgery and are Living with and beyond bowel cancer.

The caecum is a pouch like structure which connects the large and small intestines.

The role of the ileocecal valve is to move undigested food from the ileum to the colon, and to prevent the backflow of digested contents from the large intestine.

Right hemicolectomy is the type of surgery used to remove the part of your bowel affected by cancer. This is considered a major operation and will be planned with the aim of removing the tumour and removing the risk of the bowel becoming blocked or perforated.

Once the affected parts of the bowel are removed, the two ends of the bowel are joined back together.

It can be difficult to predict exactly how this surgery will impact you longer term. For many people, the large bowel cleverly adapts over time and will settle into a pattern of normal stools with normal consistency.

Some people do experience ongoing issues with bowel function, including constipation or diarrhoea and your multidisciplinary team will provide ongoing support for you in managing these.

You may also find that your body’s ability to digest and process different foods may be affected and it can be useful to keep a food diary to help you identify any foods that you feel trigger symptoms such as constipation, diarrhoea, or discomfort. If required, a dietician can provide support with food and nutrition.

I hope this information is useful for you and that you are able to speak to your team soon for further information.

Please let us know if there is anything else that we can support you with at this time.

Regards

Joanne H

JH/AM

Hi Joanne

Thank you for getting back to me so quickly, I appreciate it. I’ve actually had the surgery (on Friday the 13th of September of all days !!) and my bowel has been behaving itself much better than I thought it would. It was the part about the large bowel “cleverly adapting” that I don’t really understand and how it learns to absorb the electrolytes and vitamins that the terminal ileum and the caecum used to do.

I will be seeing my team this week as my adjuvant chemo starts on Thursday, so I’ll ask there too.

Thank you again,

Nicnak