Hi all, I've posted before around my treatment - but as a quick summary.
I have rectal cancer, and was always advised that because my tumour was pretty low it would be highly likely that surgery would mean a permanent stoma bag.
I've recently finished radiotherapy with chemotherapy, and had scans at the 5 week point. The tumour has shrunk (so good news there) but some still remains. We're going to go for adjuvant chemotherapy first to see if it shrinks more - with the hope of avoiding surgery with a complete response.
One concern they've flagged is that some scar tissue from the previous tumour position is very close to my prostate. Therefore if they had to do surgery (and ensure clear margins) it risks removing the prostate - and I'm told this is much more complicated surgery.
I'd started to get my head around having a permanent stoma, but this just feels another big step of changes and side effects.
I was wondering if anyone has had a similar experience? I'm due to speak with the surgery team in a few weeks. I've done a bit of googling which has said on occasions they can look to remove part but not all of the prostate to decrease side effects.
Hi KeenRunner
I’m Anne, one of the Community Champions here on the Online Community and, although I'm not a member of this group, I noticed that your post hadn't had any replies yet. Responding to you will 'bump' it back to the top of the discussion list again.
While you're waiting for replies, it would be great if you could put something about your diagnosis and proposed treatment into your profile as it really helps others when replying to you and also when looking for someone on a similar pathway. It also means that you don't have to keep repeating yourself. To do this click on your username and then select 'Profile'. You can amend it at any time and if you're not sure what to write you can take a look at mine by clicking on my username.
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
