Hi all ,
So I am now four years into my watch and wait for a stage 3 rectal cancer that had a complete clinical response to radiotherapy and I have been very lucky to be clear so far.
At this stage my hospital normally does only a CT scan, sigmoidoscopy and CEA test.
So the CEA was normal, and the CT scan found no evidence of metastasis. In the rectum, there was no evidence of discrete lesions, but they did say that the rectum is somewhat diffusely
thick walled. Now it is possible that this is simply due to the rectum being more distended compared to last time. Also if this was cancer recurrence, it would be more likely to be focal rather than diffuse.
The surgeon says she isn't too worried for these reasons and because the risk of recurrence is much lower after all this time. However they are concerned enough to order an MRI of the
rectum. I should have the results of this and the sigmoidoscopy in about 3 weeks.
It's interesting as after year 3 you only get checked once a year on watch and wait and you can live a pretty normal life and more or less forget about the cancer.
But this snaps you right back into it. I'm a veteran now and my policy is not to worry about it till the actual day I get the results. It will be what it will be.
Wish me luck though as I wish luck to you all.
Take care, Jogey
