what should we expect

Hi

My 93 year old mother-in-law had some symptoms and a colonoscopy showed a large tumour. All of her biopsies came back non malignant and her scans showed no spread. They repeated the colonoscopy and took more samples all of which also showed no malignancy and so she is on a watch and wait regime where if it gets worse they will do something (poss excise it). They said that in a younger person they would remove it because these tumours often turn cancerous over time but in her case and given her age there is not much point in removing it due to the risks of surgery. I am not saying that will apply to your father but it is a possible outcome. I hope that all goes well for him. She had already made up her mind to refuse chemotherapy if it was offered as she wants to enjoy whatever time she has left and as she said, you have to die of something.

Nicky  

Thanks Nicky. I think you mil is cut from the same cloth as my Dad; he said when you are 89 you have to expect these things! I guess we have to wait and see what the tests and scans show. It seems they are moving things along at least. It’s unclear whether the symptoms are due to the diverticulitis or the growth. The poor thing has been on laxatives for 5 weeks as gp has been treating it as blockage.

Hi Dad went in today to discuss findings of scans and tests.Not good news as it is advanced and the surgeon would not consider surgery without evidence of shrinkage after chemo and radiotherapy. The surgery would be two big ops if possible. Dad is not up for This. He is pain free but very tired. Anaemia has been noted. He is due to see an oncologist so let’s hope they manage to help with the symptoms. 

Hi ebar. Sorry to hear that it wasn’t better news about your dad but they seem to have a treatment planned lined up which is good. 

Please try to break his treatment into stages and focus on them 1 at a time. Chemoradiotherapy can be very successful (my tumour shrank by 75%) so try to concentrate on this and worry about the operations nearer the time. The radiotherapy can help relieve some of the symptons but I’m sure the oncologist will discuss if he needs any treatment for the anaemia. 

Take care and let us know how his appointment with the oncologist goes.

Karen x

Thanks Karen. He decided there and then not to go with the treatment aimed at cure. He told me he wouldn’t have gone with it in his 70s let alone at nearly 90. I see his point; tough treatment in the hope that tough surgery would be possible. Just hoping that they can keep him pain free and able to get out and about a bit for as long as possible.