Mums diagnosis

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Good morning, a week ago (6/1/24) my Mum went for a colonoscopy and they told us she has a 6cm tumour in her ascending colon. We were in complete shock, in all honesty we thought she had IBS. Since being told this news at 5:30pm on a Saturday eve we’ve heard nothing. Not from a nurse or anything?! Is this normal?

A little background, Mum has had unintentional weight loss so went to the Drs on 2/11/23 and they sent her for a CT scan in December 23. They found a nodule on her lung and thickening on her bowel. We have been so worried about the lung (she’s a smoker) and not the bowel.

We saw the respiratory team on Wednesday who sent her for a PET scan on Friday (12/1/24) and they’ve called today to say they need to biopsy the lung to rule out it’s not connected to the bowel. So does this mean they’ve found cancer on her lung also?!

My heart is breaking and we just want to know more. Sorry for going on, I’m just in limbo. We’ve not been given anyone to speak to, is this normal?

Kareno62 over 1 year ago

Hi NicNic64 and a warm welcome to the bowel board. It’s good to hear that she’s had a PET scan as this should give her team all the information that they need to decide on a treatment plan for her. Bowel cancer can spread to the lungs and they will be testing the nodule to see if it’s cancerous or benign - it may well be connected to the bowel cancer but the biopsy will hopefully give them a definitive answer.

Once they’ve got all the information then they will discuss your mum at the MDT and decide on a treatment plan. Your mum will then meet with a member of the team to discuss this and be allocated a colorectal support nurse.
From memory I don’t think I spoke to anyone (apart from appointments) until my actual treatment meeting when I met with a member of the surgical team and then my support nurse went through everything again afterwards to make sure I understood everything. I’ve attached a copy of a booklet that I was given at my first meeting which may give you an insight into some of the terminology etc.

https://bowelcancerorguk.s3.amazonaws.com/Publications/YourPathway_BowelCancerUK.pdf

Please keep us updated and we’ll help and support you through this

Take care

Karen x

Macmillan Support Line - 0808 808 00 00, 7 days a week between 8am-8pm

court over 1 year ago

Hi NicNic64

The lungs are notoriously bad for having lung nodules and they do have to rule out a spread . Which I know is very frightening however my mum had one removed back in 2016 and it was surprisingly straightforward as she was able to go home two days later . They made a small incision under her arm . Others use radio frequency ablation . Everyone is different and some use chemotherapy but the team would decide what’s best . Just wanted to reassure you that things like lung nodules often have various treatment options . There is criteria for all of them but the team will guide her if required .

On the other hand it may just be benign and she has a thorough team wanting to ensure she gets the best approach for her and that’s really important .

All of this will feel much better when a definitive treatment plan comes into place .

The fear is awful but they will get the best plan for her .

Take care ,

Court

Helpline Number 0808 808 0000