Hi all. I've been silently reading for a few weeks, but am sharing my experience in case others can relate or have advice.
Without going too much into the gory details, I'm 36F and have been struggling with a wide assortment of digestive and bowel symptoms for the past 10 years, which have largely been excused as being due to stress, being a new mum, Coeliac, etc. On reflection, I should have realised that not everyone has bloody stools and/or bleeding during every loo visit.
Fast forward to March 2025 and a visit to the GP leads to a physical examination of the rectum, where abnormalities are found. I had a colonoscopy on 1 April and, during the procedure, watched as an ugly mass appeared on the screen in the low rectum. Still, I will admit that I was surprised when, after the procedure, I was asked to wait around so that the doctor could come speak with me.
My husband and I were taken into a side room where the doctor and a support nurse were present. The first thing the doctor said was "I am so incredibly sorry" and it was like the world stopped. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The doctor explained that he had found 2 small polyps and an advanced rectal lesion in the low rectum, that it was a serious and significant pathology, and that the treatment would likely be life changing. He immediately started speaking about how parts of the bowel would have to be removed, etc and I remember thinking "hold up, we've jumped immediately to bowel removal? Aren't there any intermediate steps?" I asked him if there was any possibility that this could be benign, and he just looked at me and repeated that it was an advanced lesion. At no time was the situation presented as one in which he had concerns that it was cancer - it was clear that he was convinced it was. He said that I needed to take time with my family and signed me off of work for 2 weeks.
Fast forward 3 weeks and I underwent numerous MRIs (I was urgently recalled for a second one a week after the first), blood tests, and CT scan. The biopsies were delayed and so my case only went to the MDT on the 17th. I immediately received an appointment for next Tuesday with the same surgery consultant who referred me for the colonoscopy. Frustrated at having received no news other than this appointment letter, I called the MacMillan colorectal support team for my local trust (whose details I had been given after the colonoscopy chat), desperate for some sort of update. On the phone, I was told that the histology had shown no cancer, but that I was going to be sent for a flexible sigmoidoscopy with a senior endoscopist. This was the only information I was given.
The last 3 weeks have been dreadful with the lack of information and the whiplash of having been told I had cancer to now heating that the biopsies were clear has created tremendous confusion. I hope to get further answers on Tuesday, but I was wondering if anyone else had experienced anything similar? Or how to deal with the uncertainty of this entire process?
