Hi, I just wondered if anyone has experienced a met appearing on abdomen, it started as a red, raised spot / lump like in appearance on surface but with a lump underneath the skin. Had biopsy and it is said to be fairly superficial but is a met from bowel. The oncologist said my current chemo best option when I asked about surgery but it has got bigger and I would rather get it removed if I can. Any advice or experience on this would be much appreciated as can’t find information about it and is worrying me.
I can totally see your point . Did you have keyhole surgery and is it near that location? It’s definitely one you might want to consider a second opinion on . Our helpline staff could help discuss this with you . 0808 808 0000 . I think given how rare it is you would want to get more advice. Another poster has had a similar event but tracked near the keyhole site .
I can totally understand why you would want to investigate surgical options . Your oncologist can assist to facilitate this or your GP but it’s perfectly fine to ask for a surgical review .
Hi Court, i had open surgery but it is not adjacent to scar and the biopsy I had said it was a met from bowel cancer. Feeling devastated as this has come following news from scan there is spread to lymph also so they have said they will not operate on liver now either. Thanks for your reply Court
Although going for systemic chemo feels devastating as it does feel as though the surgical option has slide off the table , with hindsight we were able to see the benefits of it and attribute it to my mum’s longevity. Not only did it stabilise the disease , controlled the micro disease it also opened up surgical options further down the road as she also gained shrinkage which actually made the surgeons job easier to get better margins .
I think when there is more than one site they don’t look at isolated locations they want to target all locations and chemo is the only way to do that . Post surgical complications /infections can push chemo further down the road . They want to avoid that and target it all at once . It also pays to keep in mind some people are staying on maintenance chemo for five and six years and treating it like a chronic condition .
My mum and family found it devastating at the beginning but it’s not without hope . With bowel cancer being one of the larger cancer affecting the population it comes with more chemotherapy options than some other cancers that gives the oncologist more options . Do you know your cell type ?
It’s very hard to get your head round the chronic condition aspect but my mum was one / off treatment interventions for a full seven years and then caught a break ! She also had gaps in between where she packed in some serious amounts of living .
Its takes time and I was devastated that she was not a liver surgery candidate and it evaporated off the treatment plan . But they are always there in the back ground evaluating . Two years later she made it to surgery . It’s a long term plan . A marathon not a sprint in this setting and we are here to help you each step of the way .
Thank you for your wise words and keeping hope Court. I didn’t feel positive coming out of my oncology appointments and although I know everyone is different getting info feels hard at times. I am currently on cycle 6 of capox but at a reduced dose due to side effects I have had in the past. The plan is to continue with capox for 8 cycles and then rescan me. Thanks again for your amazing support, it means a lot.
