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.
