I think its the right decision. I don't think its as risky as you think and I have met alot of APR veterans who are all thriving. Having had it myself- or a variation of it- I can honestly say have had minimal pain in the whole process- just the mental stress you need to handle, but am feeling really well 9 weeks on from mine. And as you say, there is not much of an alternative and it will improve your chances of the cancer not returning . Good luck and keep us posted on progress.
Glad you have come to a decision that you are comfortable with . The other aspect is you lessen your involvement with hospitals this way and eventually leave them behind .
I think listening to the consenting talk is scary and I had to remind myself they carry these out every week.
Take good care of yourself . Apparently even gentle exercise is good pre surgery . Some research currently on the go .
Take care and all the very best with the surgery and looking forward to hearing your safely through and onto wellness .
It’s moving fast now . You also might like to link in with the Ileostomies and stoma group . has great knowledge on products and tips to assist and always happy to answer any questions .
My friends son has had one from 12 years old and you would never know when he is throwing himself off harbour walls with the best of them .
My stoma nurses gave me a practice pack/guide. It had different bags and a fake stick on stoma in it. At the time I thought it was a bit of a bad joke, but it really did help me get my head around having a stoma. When I gad my APR I thought my real stoma was much less unattractive than the fake one. I gave my a name and I still gave Shona at the mo! Good luck.
Good luck with your operation yes it is all really scary but you will get there . I was scared stiff I had an anterior resection in october the surgeon had to go a bit more in to get the larger tumor out and I ended up having open surgery and a temporary illostomy . He did warn me I might have one but I never saw any stoma nurses before the op. I couldn't even look or touch it for 5 days but don't worry if this happens as the nurses will take care of it for you then the stoma nurse will not let you go home until you are comfortable with it. I never thought I a million years I would be able to cope but here I am nearly 4 months on and am coping with it ok. I still don't like to look at it but I have even been for a couple of swims in the last week or two.
I'm a big man too not in height but across the middle and I'm very self conscious of it until I attend other appointments and I see others especially at the obesity clinic I attend so don't worry too much about it.
Starting some light exercise and watching your diet will be beneficial to the operation and recovery.
When you are are ready pop yourself into the Ileostomy, colostomy, urostomy and any other stoma support group and meet the friendly members. We discuss everything to do with having a stoma and find solutions if something is causing a problem, we are able to talk about the different products available to make Living with a Stoma much easier.
When your stoma care nurse marks the site for the stoma make sure it's in a place that you are comfortable with that won't interfere with any activities you'll be doing after the surgery and the waist band of your trousers doesn't cut through the bag in half, also discuss the types of trousers you normally wear, may not sound relevant now but could be after the surgery.
Also ask if she can supply to with a ileostomy/colostomy training kit to let you play about with being a bag wearer and get a feeling of it.
Good luck with the surgery and I look forward to seeing you over in stoma support when you're ready.
Starting 3 months of chemo on Feb13th hopefully to get rid of the micro cancer cells in the pelvic area post op. Am still not certain that will be the end of my treatment but am hoping so. Sean
