A lilt bit lost...

Hi ,

Welcome to the forum . Sorry to hear about your dad . It’s all very frightening to begin with but there are so many options for Bowel cancer although it’s easy to jump to the worst case scenario there is every reason to have hope .

Sometimes if the Bowel is blocked they like to schedule surgery soon to assist the patient from complications. That does not mean the prognosis is worse just that they need to deal with the blockage quickly to prevent it becoming a problem . 

My mum was a late stage diagnosis and trust me there was no speed involved . 

If you would like to chat our helpline team would be happy to support you . 0808 808 0000

People here are great and will support you through this .

take care

Court 

Hi Fleur,

You do well to ask questions here rather than googling them. You'll get a much better quality of response from those in the know here!

It sounds like your dad's diagnosis is much like my own - I too had an impassible tumour when examined under colonoscopy. The surgical team also saw me urgently. However, it does not mean that the prognosis is worse as far as the cancer goes. In fact, mine had not spread at all, and my lymph nodes were clear. As Court says, they may wan to see him urgently to avoid complications. In my case, they wanted to deal with the tumour quickly so my pain could be relieved as soon as possible. It was also to get the cancer out of me as fast as they could, to prevent it spreading if possible. Their speed of treatment for your dad could be down to them trying to be proactive to stop it spreading, as opposed to them thinking he is in very dire straits. Bowel cancer is highly treatable. If they see him quickly, he should find considerable relief from his pain and other symptoms, and it might then be prevented from spreading. So please, do not imagine the worst case scenario. If they are acting quickly, they may be doing so to unblock his bowel, as that can be excrutiatingly painful (believe me!), as opposed to them thinking the cancer is highly advanced and he is at significantly more risk.

But no matter what they are thinking, keep hanging onto the thought that bowel cancer is very well treated these days, and since they may move to help him quickly, he could be back on his feet all the faster for that. While it is all too tempting to think and feel the worst when a relative is diagnosed with cancer, there is every chance of recovery and going on to live a great life. There are countless numbers of cancer survivors here on the forum who can attest to that.

Hang in there. Sometimes the storm clouds can pass over!

Robin.

Thank you for your reassurance Court, I had never even considered that it could be to do with the complications regarding a blockage. 

Thank you Robin, for you calm, kind words, they have helped me reassess the situation with a logical head rather than an emotional one.   I’ll keep positive and remind myself of your words. 

Hi ,

I was diagnosed after not being able to have a bowel movement for weeks. It was hell, and in the end the cancer diagnosis almost came as a relief. So they would definitely want to sort that as soon as possible.

I ended up with a loop colostomy to drain my bowels and allow me to regain strength, but even then as soon as the biopsy results came back confirming the tumour was malignant, things happened extremely fast.

And please feel free to be as emotional as you want to be on here; that is what we are here for!

Yolande