Rectal tumour and left kidney tumour update on treatment plan

Hi Powder. Gosh you have had a stressful time but it’s good news about the liver and that the tumour is contained within the bowel wall. 5 weeks chemoradiotherapy is standard treatment for  a rectal tumour and can be very successful at shrinking it - mine shrank from 4cm to 1cm. 
Papillon is still quite a newish treatment and something that Gosh is considering at the moment - I’ve attached a link to the post about it. 

 Papillon/ CBX 

Chemoradiotherapy is pretty tolerable as Animals recent post shows

 Chemoradiotherapy treatment for stage 3 rectal cancer. Hoping for coping with side effects tips, particularly during travelling. 

It’s a shame that there is so much travelling involved for you - especially as each radiotherapy treatment can only take about 30 minutes. Would it worth investigating staying nearer the hospital for any of it?

Hope it all goes well - as you say it’s good to have a plan in place at long last

Take care

Karen x

All the very best with your treatment but what a lot of travelling for you . Hope you can get the odd overnight to break it up for you .

Court x 

Hello kareno62.

thanks for the links, very helpful.

my nhs oncologist was very pro papillon given he thought I’d be a good candidate and the alternative being complete removal of the rectum because my tumour is quite low down.  Good to read Kevin’’s replies regarding papillon.

Hi Powder, 

Your journey is so similar to mine. I'm so pleased you finally have a treatment pathway. If you read my info, I have been diagnosed with a rectal tumour, 2cm but now less than 1cm after they tried to remove it endoscopically. Like yours there's no nodal involvement or distant disease, so very early but quite low also, 6cm from the anal verge. They also found, incidentally a 2.9cm lesion on my kidney! Greedy aren't we, having 2 primaries! 

I have my urology appointment on Thursday so will find out what will happen with that moving forward. In terms of my rectal tumour, the gastroenterologist who attempted to remove it advised after that I would need a Low anterior resection and temp/permanent stoma. Having done some research I came across the Papillon treatment for early stage rectal cancer. 

I am hoping that the histology from the 6xbiopsies comes back this week in time for Thursdays MDT. Can I ask where in the country you are? I live in Cornwall and am being treated at Plymouths Derriford hospital. It would be a long drive up to Liverpool for me too, but well worth it if I could avoid a major op. I'm so pleased that you have been offered this treatment and like you said the surgery is always a last option. I'm not sure if I hadn't mentioned Papillon and done some research this would have been an option for me and I guess I still don't know if it will. But your story gives me hope. To be honest I have had some pushback from my cancer nurse specialist and I met with the surgeon briefly as I was discharged from hospital who just talked about how a stoma was ok and his job was to cure me of cancer etc, so I'm guessing their preferred option would be the standard, LAR. I am just baffled why if you can always have the salvage surgery should the Papillon treatment fail they recommend such a major op? Whilst I appreciate that people live perfectly normal lives with a stoma and I would undoubtably cope, I would like the option of organ preservation treatment first. 

Please do keep us updated on your progress and I'm wishing you all the success in the world and sending big hugs.

Kerry 

Hello Kerry.

I live just over the water from you - in Pembroke west wales.  Your issues sound so similar to mine.  I have a 4cm rectal tumour only 4.5cm from the anal verge.  I also have a 1.8 cm tumour on my left kidney..  the colorectal consultant is at Haverfordwest Withybush hospital and the oncologist at Glangwili in Carmarthen, although believe he works at swansea.  The oncologist gave me the two options and it was my decision but he was very pro papillon for treating my rectal tumour.  So, my initial chemo radiotherapy is in Swansea some 60 miles away.  Hopefully I respond well and meet the criteria for papillon which will then be in Liverpool, 210 miles away.

travelling is yours and mine cross to bear for living in such beautiful parts of the country.

I wish you well on your journey and looking forward to your updates on beating these issues.  I definitely will keep updating my progress.

Lots of hugs

Hi powder, 

How are you doing? I have my meeting tomorrow with the Urology team for the first time since finding out about the lesion and having more scans. Guess I will know tomorrow what it is and what the pl is. It's so strange as I must have parked the kidney issue somewhere in the dark recesses whilst I've been furiously researching treatment options for my rectum cancer. For the first time I am nervs about tomorrow. Oh well my appointment is at 09:40am so after dropping my little girl off to breakfast club I have to get on a car ferry and then make the drive to the hospital. All a welcome distction. I will let you know how I get on. I'm hoping they say the same to me as they did to you, a watch and wait  

• I have no idea where those emojis came from. That's alot of prayers, maybe a metaphor

. They have a life of their own those emojis. 
Be thinking of you tomorrow and all the very best . 
You definitely have some travel distractions .

They will have a good plan for your kidney .

Take care ,

Court 

Thank you fingers crossed! 

So had my urology meeting today and I need to have a partial nephrectomy. Possibly in October. The treatment of my rectal cancer will take precedence. Thankfully the histology from the 6xbiopsies they took at the EMR were back in time for today's collorectal  MDT. So I will have a complete picture of all my options moving forward, early next week. There is the option to watch and wait for up to 6 months for the kidney. I'm strangely calm and optimistic. It's like I have been discussing someone else.