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!
I had no symtoms whatsoever. I had a FIT test because the doctor I went to see about something else was training a junior doctor who suggested that I do one. It showed I had blood in my sample so I was referred.
It was a complete shock to me as I was completely fit and heathy (the thing I went to the doctor about disappeared two days after I went and never came back).
I had a bowel resection in April (diagnosis in Feb). There was no pain for me at all, the biggest part is recovery and coping with your tum feeling 'zippy' as it will take it out of you and you will be sleepy alot.
I've been told there is no evidence left of any cancer in my system but I am on belt and braces chemo, which mostly makes me feel sleepy too - luckily I work for an understanding company.
Here's my suggestion list for hospital:-
1. Entertainments e.g. book/puzzles/ipad
2. Good comfy earplugs
3. Eye Mask
4. Things to clean yourself from bed.
5. Sucky sweets (must be sugary, I took sugar free and they didn't help at all)
Thanks so much for the tips! Sounds like you got very lucky with a diligent GP. Pleased to hear you are doing well and hope the chemo is coming to an end soon so you can begin to regain your energy. X
Hello! I was 42 when diagnosed and am Female too. Like someone else said I've found podcasts and Deborah James' book helpful on audio. But I also find not thinking about it and going to the cinema or a show really helpful too. I joined some facebook groups, there is a bower cancer UK one and one for my mutation, the Braf one. Chatting on there can be really helpful and also you learn things from other people- like you do here. I find my team a great support and definitely get a bit more wobbly when I've not seen them for a bit/ spoken to them. I've had chemo, an operation on my primary and ovary, on chemo now and we're deciding what to do about my liver mets. I try not to think about why. In an odd way I was very lucky in that it was caught when I was having a scan on my ovary for a previous problem and they saw something that should not be there- otherwise I had no symptoms other than being tired but who isn't tired in their early 40s working full time in the last few years! Apparently my primary being high in the transverse colon means bleeding though it was happening would sort of work through the digestion and not really show up by the time everything came out. I was anaemic and I think anaemia in women is always oh well menstruation etc but that was the big symptom that I think should be talked about more- for men and women but for women not put down to menstrual stuff always- though of course it can be. I've been told I likely have a polyp syndrome and was told if I had brother and sisters they'd need to come for immediate screening but I am an only child. I'm super lucky with my team who have been incredible as I said. I just do what they tell me! try to eat well, rest when I can but also I do really try and do what I enjoy, I find it helps me mentally.
I had a colonoscopy in Dec 23. They removed one 20mm Pedunculated polyp from the Sigmoid and 5 sessile polyps from the rectum. The Pedunculated polyp turned out to be cancerous. They offered surveillance or high anterior resection. After getting a second opinion from a private consultant we opted for surgery. Whilst the 20mm polyp had a clear resection margin of 3-4mm and was only Haggitt level 2, they also found evidence of lymphatic invasion and low grade tumour budding. They estimated my chances of lymph node involvement to be around 20%. I had surgery early March and they found no evidence of disease in the removed specimen and 30 clear nodes. Graded T1N0M0. The surgery was fine, I was in hospital for 5 days and walking an hour a day as soon as I was out of hospital. I’m 45 with two young children and glad I opted for surgery. Whilst there are still recurrences at this stage, they are rare, especially for those who have had surgical resection. I’m currently on 5 years of surveillance. Best of luck with everything, as I know how difficult this time can be. Tom
