Anyone with positive outcome of rectal cancer?

hi i don't want to tempt fate and it really is early days yet, but if you click on my name and read my profile you will see my journey so far, it is not all doom and gloom, but i feel very lucky up to now, and would just hope my journey can give people a bit of inspiration,as i said before i am in the very early days of this, and i am constantly keeping everything crossed, wishing you  and your hubby all the best for the road ahead, you will get great help from people on here and the other platform, god bless     john.

Thank you John for your reply and so quick to.  I have read your profile, wow you have done amazing.  I am very pleased for you.  My husband is a cyclist too, but only usually from spring to autum, a fair weather cyclist, he did go out a few weeks ago and was going to go on a bike ride today but movi prep earlier in week and colonoscopy and results on tue put paid to that.

it does help hearing success stories, I know everyone is different and cancers are different, but it does give hope....thank you I will continue to follow your to be continued profile. X

hope everything starts to get put in place from now on in, it is better to do this one day at a time, keep away from dr google and anytime you feel the need to ask anything, just fire away, people happily discuss anything, all the best   john. xxx.

Hi process and welcome to the board.

Yes it’s a horrible shock to the system but Bowel Cancer is very treatable. There are lots of success stories and lots of people at different stages of treatment.

I was diagnosed in July 2016, had chemoradiotherapy, operation and follow up chemo. Ok I had the odd hiccup but that is not the norm! My bloods are showing all clear and im just waiting for the results of my 2 year scan.

This waiting for scans and results is the worst part - once you have a treatment plan in place then you can break things down into stages and tackle it Stage by stage - try not to worry too far ahead. 

Ive attached a booklet which explains the treatment that your hubby may go through and some of the terminology but please ask anything you want on here - there is no question too daft or embarrassing

https://bowelcancerorguk.s3.amazonaws.com/Publications/Your%20pathway.pdf

Take care

Karen x

ps bumped into my former manager last year and he’s just celebrating 5 years clear

Hi

I had rectal cancer diagnosed in 2017, It had spread to 3 of my lymph nodes so I had a low anterior resection of my bowel, formation of an ileostomy to give the low join time to heal, 3 months of chemo and nearly a year ago had the ileostomy reversed so I am back to toileting in the normal way. I look upon it now, with hindsight as a very lucky day when I was diagnosed. They caught it fairly early, I have some minor inconvenient symptoms but am back living a good life, with many years ahead of me I hope. If they had not found it when they did then it would have had a very different outcome. At the time it turns your life upside down. It is hard to imagine coming out the other side but most people do. You just put one foot in front of the other, deal with the bad stuff as it arises and one day you look back and it is all behind you. Then you just have the fun bit of deciding what you want to do with the rest of your life.

There are many good stories but you perhaps don't get to see most of them on here because once it is over most people just go back to living their lives. 

Nicky 

Thank you Karen for the information and your suooort xx

Thank you Nicky for sharing your story and support xx

Hi Process

I have just recently been told I have rectum cancer , I am a bit further ahead as in I have had the MRI and CT scans and have been staged , I googled it and the different ways of treating it and glad I did , I have a full understanding about my condition now ,knowledge is good  ,you need to write down has much as possible when you see the surgeon as you soon forget things , find out exactly where in the rectum its is as that can determine what surgery you can have

good luck 

Thank you for responding, and the info you suggest.

i suspect you have been as much bowled over as we have.

may I also wish you well on your journey of recovery, whatever that is for you.

I was diagnosed with a low rectal cancer in 2017. Had a permanent colostomy bag, then 5 weeks of chemo radiation to shrink the tumour. Then successful APR surgery to remove lower bowel and tumour. Initially I was stage two or stage three as lymph nodes looked swollen but couldn’t tell if they were cancerous or just as a result of being ill. Post surgery biopsy showed all cancer was removed, and none in any of the lymph nodes, so I was downgraded to stage one and in remission. However because I am young and because my lymph nodes looked shady initially they offered me six months of chemo as a mop up. Which I took. It’s been one year since surgery and I’m happy and healthy. It’s a tough journey to take, but there are so many successful stories out there. We all live with hope xxxx