I am awaiting surgery for a bowel resection following diagnosis last month. I’m 38 F and would love to chat to ppl who are also unlucky enough to find themselves in this position!
Hi I had stage one rectum/sigmoid cancer 18 months ago. I'm doing OK now and have regular bloods and surveillance scans. My histology was t2 nomo so no further treatment after the operation.
I hope your surgery goes well x it's a major op but you will have very little pain. They look after you. My advice is try to get as fit as you can before the operation x
Hi, sorry that you've found yourself in this situation. I was diagnosed in February and turned 38 in May. It's shocking isn't it. I'm trying to stay positive but even though I had hardly any symptoms at all and my primary tumor was found as early as possible, I was diagnosed at stage 4 with legions already spread to my liver. You definitely aren't alone. I'm convinced it's something I've eaten, maybe too much processed meats, or something else. Or maybe it's for no reason at all.
I've tried many things to find comfort in. From Deborah James podcasts, you me and the big c, to joining local groups, but I mainly found comfort in the, How Do You Cope podcasts with John Robbins and Ellis James. They're about many different subjects instead of getting too bogged down in solely cancer and learning about different coping strategies helps me sometimes.
How are you coping? I hope your prognosis is promising.
Thanks so much for responding Neil and I’m sorry to hear that there has been some spread to your liver. Have you had much success with treatment so far?
It is so difficult to understand what could have led to this. I have had digestive discomfort for years with severe and painful indigestion and nausea and IBS symptoms and gradually cut down on wheat eventually moving to a plant based diet to manage it with great success. After a particularly boozy weekend in April I developed more severe IBS symptoms with pain and a small amount of bleeding. After a referral to gastroenterology an obstructing tumour was discovered in the sigmoid colon during a colonoscopy. I was more relieved at that time as it explained so much about why I had been struggling.
The CT scan showed no spread which was a huge relief but they will be unable to stage it until after surgery.
i have found that it’s harder for my family than it is for me. I feel healthy otherwise so almost hard to believe it’s true.
I will check out the podcasts, thank you! I have so far been reading some alternative therapy books (radical remission, Chris beat cancer and how to starve cancer) which are very insightful and worth exploring too. Audible is my best friend right now!
Thanks Poppy and great to hear you are recovering so well. That sounds like good advice. I like to keep fit and active so hopefully this will hold me in good stead post op!
Hi, it's good to hear that you're remaining positive. I have no idea if I'm having success with treatment to be honest. I'm still here, so in that sense it's a positive! First like chemo didn't have much of an effect, I've just have a week of radiotherapy, then back on a second line of chemo from this Wednesday. It's all a bit much mentally. I'm similar to you, in that, I feel physically okay otherwise so it still feels hard to believe. Most of the time Im just following orders and doing what nurses tell me to do!
Keep plugging away at your care team to get you sorted asap. Stay positive and take it one step at a time
I had an anterior resection in 2017....no stoma....age 62....4 hour op....no major problems with recovery....back to work nine weeks later...discharged from colorectal oncology December 2022.
Hi there! Mine was mostly digestive symptoms (bloating and nausea) for a number of years and eventually I started getting abdominal pain, very frequent bowel movements and a very small amount of bleeding.
