Newly diagnosed rectal cancer

Hi KLJ and a warm welcome to the board. No I wouldn’t say the treatment was painful although there will probably be an operation involved at some point. Depending on whereabouts your tumour is and if there’s any suspicion of spread to other organs or infected lymph nodes will affect your treatment plan. You may have chemoradiotherapy and/or chemo or go straight to surgery.

Surgery can be open or laparoscopic but I found that the nurses managed any pain or discomfort well and you’re encouraged to get up and moving as soon as possible.

Chemo can have several different side effects but they can be managed by your team and tend to be more of a discomfort than painful

Hope this helps and take care

Karen x