I just want to welcome you to the forum . People will be along to share their experiences with you . They are a fantastic group of people who know how dismantling the initial period after diagnosis can be . They will help you find your feet and support you through this time until you are safely through .
In the mean time we also have a helpline 0808 808 0000 who would more than happy to chat anything through with you .
I am here for my mum who was a late stage diagnosis back in 2009 but remains well with the help of the NHS .
The first few weeks after diagnosis are awful, I cried a lot as did my family and the fear of an early death from cancer is terrifying. The unknown factors are also difficult to deal with as you don't know how far it might have spread and/or what treatment you might have to go through. I think everyone goes through this but over time it gets better and you do come out the other side of the panic. Once the Drs come up with a treatment plan you can concentrate on getting through it a stage at a time. You stop thinking about it every second of the day and you learn to enjoy the moment and laugh again. Just hang in there and have faith that you will learn to deal with it.
Hi Rog, Welcome to the club none of us expected to be joining. The beginning after a diagnosis can bring on very dark thoughts, you will quickly learn Rectal cancer can be very treatable. This site in particular with the great caring and helpful individuals has helped me on my journey more than I can say. The thought that helped me at the beginning was, the cancer didn't start at diagnosis it was already with in me, and its a damn good thing to have it discovered and fight it before it's able to do more damage. A whole lot of us have and are going through every treatment etc. you will be facing, so post often with questions and concerns. Staging of your cancer will be first so a treatment plan can be put in the works. Read individuals profiles and begin to fill out your own.
Please give me the strength to change what I can, accept what I can't change and the wisdom to know the difference.
You have already been told that this is about the worst part when they say you have cancer but they cannot tell you how bad it is or what the treatment might be.
Just a few things.
1) My doctor said that if he had to have any sort of cancer he would choose bowel/rectal cancer because it is so treatable.
2) Stay off the internet in terms of trying to find out life expectancy or anything like that. No, really, I mean it. It will frighten you witless because you will only find horror stories.
3) No matter how fit you are, getting a little bit fitter will help in the treatment. If you dont do much exercise then try to start walking. If you already do some exercise then step it up. It WILL help and it will give you something to focus on.
4) Try and be thankful the cancer has been found rather than it being undetected until later when it would have been much worse.
5) This part is NOT fun. I know, Ive been there and got the T shirt. It will seem so slow but you will get the results and you will get a treatment plan and then things will get better when you can focus on that.
6) REMEMBER. Do NOT talk to Dr Google. He is not a doctor and his only aim in life is to frighten you.
Thanks so much to you all. Your support and advice means so much to me and has lifted my spirits already. It is such a relief to know that others have been through this and come out the other side.
It is only natural to be worried and scared when you are given a diagnosis of rectal cancer.
I agree with all the posts particularly about not googling. I think if you do Google you'll scare yourself even more as there is a lot of false information out there. The only thing I googled was my surgeon.
I had an op for removal of a tumour from the rectum in July discovered through a bowel cancer screening test. I was terrified, as I think is normal,when I was told but immediately started thinking that if I was seeing a surgeon the medics must think they could do an operation to help me and I found this comforting. When I saw the surgeon a Macmillan nurse practitioner was present who gave me a card and told me to contact her if I had problems.
She has been with me throughout this journey and I have seen far more of her at the oncology clinic than the oncologist. I have not phoned her as she has phoned me every week to see how I am managing.
I tried and on the whole succeeded with replacing negative thoughts with positive ones like wasn't I lucky it had been discovered when it was. I carried on with life as normal and decided one way of helping me deal with the problem was by telling friends. Most were able to deal with it, everybody reacts in different ways,and are extremely supportive.
All the best and as someone else said welcome to the club you didn't want to be a member of and if you have problems at all just post and I am sure that you will receive helpful posts in return.
hi, I echo all that's been blogged about rectal cancer. I also was told on numerous visits to the Dr's that I had piles. After 18 months was referred to the hospital for a sigmoidoscopy. This revealed a walnut sized cancerous tumour.
My treatment was Chemo and radiotherapy followed by three ops. I had complications and also ended up with kidney disease. The Chemo and radiotherapy was painful - I won't lie. But this treatment shrunk the tumour before surgery. That was 2011. My Stoma is part of me and although it can take a while to get used to you DO get used to it. Wishing you strength of mind and a straightforward pathway. KathH2
I also was told three weeks ago it was piles. My gp said the waiting list was long for NHS treatment. So I opted to go private, the consultant find a lump where the gp didn’t. I’m very blessed and grateful that I could afford to go private.
