Recent diagnosis for husband

Mike 

Thank you  - so pleased that you are recovering well.  My husband supports Arsenal and I am a Spurs supporter so talking about football is not often easy or fun (certainly not for me in recent years!)  You are absolutely right about being desperate for information - just tell me what we need to do and when and we will do it and move on.  Every minute seems interminable at the moment and i am constantly looking at my phone just checking I have not missed a call.  I just want to know the extent of the problem and confirmation (please please please ) confirmation that it has not spread anywhere else.  I am hoping we will get some news today on dates for next scans - diagnosis was Thursday so feels like we should be hearing something soon.  Thanks for listening and replying Mike

Hi Goldilocks - my story is in my bio.

I was diagnosed in August 2022 aged 60 with no symptoms - a complete shock. As stated in other responses the first month is the hardest, for you and the family and of course for your husband. You go through all the emotions and of course ask why me? Yes, cancer is a devastating diagnosis but bowel cancer is very treatable. Do not google anything - use this site as it reflects the actual journey each of us have been on. Your medical team will pull together a plan of treatment and it’s important you follow it.

i was initially diagnosed as T3N2M0. I chose to have my surgery under a robotic surgeon and would highly recommend that approach if it is available to you. I had my surgery on Monday 5th September 2022, in London and went home on 8th September. Whilst robotic surgery does take longer than traditional surgery it does offer so many other benefits. Discuss this with your MDT.

At the end of September 2022 I was re-diagnosed as T3N0M0. I was advised that additional chemotherapy would not be in my best interests and I was placed in the 5yr surveillance programme which requires six-monthly check ups with the medical team including colonoscopy, MRI, and bloods. 

I am doing really well so far and have had no reoccurrence of my cancer but I still have three more years of surveillance. Following my surgery I made a number of small lifestyle changes such as not eating red meat, processed foods and I reduced my alcohol intake.

Every cancer journey is very different but the medical teams know so much about this disease - put your faith in them. Best wishes to you all.

Thank you - as you say this first week is really difficult as it is the not knowing.  But the messages on here with the positive outcomes are definitely helping.  Do you mind me asking if the robotic surgery was available on the NHS or did you go private? Glad to hear you have not had any recurrence.

At the moment i just feel that we are in total limbo and can't move forward at all.

Thanks for taking the time to message.

As I said it does take time to gather all the information to allow your medical team to propose the best recovery plan. 
To answer your specific question because all my scans etc were done under the NHS I initially took a consultation with the NHS team. They gave me the first indication of my diagnosis of T3N2M0. Their offer was for a traditional laparoscopic procedure. Fortunately, for me my wife is a retired NHS consultant and we challenged that approach and enquired about the possibility of robotic surgery. Unfortunately the NHS surgeon was not trained nor were there robotic facilities available.

I was fortunate to have private healthcare cover with my job and we approached Mr Danilo Miskovic and Mr Charles Evans at the Wellington Hospital in London. Danilo and Charles are the leading colorectal robotic surgeons in Europe.

The major difference between traditional colorectal surgery and robotic is that under robotics the surgeon do not place hands inside you and potentially move the cancer around. Everything is done under a 3D lens and is amazingly accurate. Recovery times are also massively improved. If you go on the Wellington Hospital website you can read up on Daniel and Charles. They both do NHS consultations but I am not sure if robotics is available in their NHS trust.

It’s important to have all the information you need to make what will be an important decision. Once I had decided to go Danilo and Charles they and their whole team were incredible. I am also under their care during my remaining surveillance period.

Best wishes to you all. Let me know if I can help with any further information.

My story is on the main web-page of the Wellington Hospital titled “Don’t die of embarrassment “. You can see other links about robotic surgery.

Afternoon G/L

How are you and your husband getting on?

YNWA 

Mike

Mike

Thanks for checking in.  Husband had his MRI yesterday and CT will be tomorrow.  Were trying really hard not to think about anything until we get the results - although each day is dragging interminably slowly.  The MDT will meet either next Thursday (18) or Thursday after (25)  - the frustrating thing is i don't know if we will be told when they are meeting or if we will get the scan results before the meeting at all.  So everything is still unknown and we are trying not to let any dark thoughts pervade.  So far the NHS have been really quick (both scans < 2 weeks) although they are only communicating by post  - and we only have a postman in our village once a week so i have emailed the hospital asking for comms to be by email - but no response.  I'm hoping beyond all hope that the scans will show only the one growth which is early stage - so some surgery and some post surgery treatment - i can't contemplate anything else just yet.  Kids still don't know and no idea what to do about holiday in 2.5 weeks.  

Short answer - taking each day as it comes.  

Thanks so much for checking in - this is the only website i am allowing myself to look at

xxx

It's the only one worth the effort of looking.  Phone the colorectal dept. and discuss communications.   Where are you planning to holiday?

YNWA

Mike

Cyprus - with another family and their kids

Morning G/L

Another weekon, how is it going?

YNWA

Mike