LAR surgery experiences

Hi thassos Yes as you say the chemo tablets taken with the radiotherapy are quite a low dosage. The only side effect I can remember was in my feet where I felt like I was walking on grit/sand but this stopped after this course of treatment finished.

I see you have seen Jogeys post about having a complete response - if you click on his name then his profile page will show his timeline to date. There are a couple of ladies on this post who have had a complete response too

https://community.macmillan.org.uk/cancer_types/bowel-colon-rectum-cancer-forum/f/diagnosis/265364/halfway-through-treatment#pifragment-16476=5

If you type CCR (complete clinical response) in the search box at the top of the screen then it may bring up other posts too. However - please do not pin your hopes on this. I also know at least one person who had a CCR but then had a recurrence within the year so please focus on the treatment plan that the experts give you and take it one step at a time?

I had a temporary stoma after surgery to allow the bowel time to heal. If you click on my name then you’ll see I had a few hiccups during my recovery. When I was diagnosed in 2016, chemo was given after surgery therefore my stoma was not reversed until March 18 when my treatment had finished. Nowadays chemo is given before surgery so theoretically the stoma could be reversed more quickly - it’s a much smaller operation but not high priority on the hospital list so it’s hard to estimate a timeline for this.

I am now fully recovered from cancer and was discharged after 5 years (2021) by the hospital. I’ll be honest and say my bowels are not what they used to be - part was removed during surgery so everything moves through more quickly - but I manage to live a normal life with the help of loperamide/immodium

Take care

Karen x

Thanks Karen,

Yes you are right not to pin your hopes on CR, I am glad you are now free from cancer, hopefully i will to.

regards

 thassos , cancer general health is ok, 4 years from treatment ending, but as my chemo finished covid started, and I have had long covid ever since. Bathroom wise I have tended towards constipation, possibly because last year I was confirmed with lymphoedema (probably from the 40 odd nodes removed) and I have to ensure I drink plenty. 

I will say that covid has had a much greater effect on my health than chemo, but remember I caught it pre vaccination. 

Hi! Yes my tumour was 6cm up and was 2cm so I was offered TEMs :) I believe it’s only offered to rectal cancer patients x

Hi Leighsp,

What stage cancer were you staged at

Stage 1