My dad has recently been diagnosed with cancer of the rectum which this week, found out that it is also in his liver ( but hes been told his liver is working well). It's a huge shock as he only started having symptoms 3 months ago and was fit and ate healthily. He is 76.
He has met with his medical team and has full confidence in their plan for him going forwards and they have the best plan for him personally. They are planning for him to have a stoma bag in the next few weeks as he is frequently going to the toilet which is making him very tired and it is painful at times. They plan on starting 2 months of chemo after this (as soon as poss) so he has strength for the op and no complications, which I understand.
My worry is that with the wait for chemo, which will not start until we're into February now, is that the cancer will spread further as it has already spread. I'm so worried about it and I'm finding it hard to think of anything else right now and concentrate on much else. If anyone can offer any reassurance please or advice on how to manage my fears, thank you so much.
Welcome to our community, i hope you find it both informative and supportive.
While we often see the adverts saying about getting treatment sooner is helpful a lot of that is getting people to go to their GP in the first place. That wait though for treatment most find really hard. The positive with chemotherapy is that it treats the whole body so even if there were some spread it would still get targetted.
Something I found quite helpful is looking at Your feelings when someone has cancer as being able to recognize those feelings and accept them as part of the new normal can help to make them feel less overwhelming.
You might like to look at our Bowel (colon and rectal) cancer forum where there will be people with more experience in this area.
<<hugs>>
Steve
