The unknown

Hi and a warm welcome to the board from me. It’s a horrible shock isn’t it and you’re hit with a flurry of scans and meetings so it’s good that you now have a surgery date.

I don’t know a lot about liver spots so I’ll let court help you there but meanwhile try and keep as fit and healthy as you can in the run up to surgery but make sure you treat yourself too - it will be a tough few months ahead but Bowel Cancer is very treatable and we’re all happy to help you get through this.

Take care

Karen x

Thank you Karen, I truly appreciate your kind words. It helps talking to people that can really relate. Look forward to speaking again  

Hi Kimmy626. I’d like to second what Karen has already said. I’m just coming up to my stoma reversal surgery. It’s amazing how some time will fly by, and the rest goes in slow motion. I have to make an effort to remember everything that I experienced between diagnosis last May, and getting this far along. Do ask lots of questions on here and share how you’re feeling. It really does help. We’ve all either been on, or are about to get off this rollercoaster. Good luck.

Big welcome from me too !

I came here on behalf of my mum ten years ago as she had a bowel screen that required attention . You can click on my user name to read her full journey but to put it into context she had a liver that looked like a fruit bowl of tumours to one half of her liver . Your situation sounds more confined . After all the information was pulled together they came up with a good plan of action for her . My mum actually had a combined liver and bowel resection , they don’t seem to do that so much now in the UK . Are you in the US as you might find they are a bit  quicker at getting through the scans  which is a win for you ? 
Although it is really unsettling from the information you have given it sounds as though they would have some good options for you going forward .

My mum went first to chemo then surgery . She has had a few bumps along the way but to be honest considering all she has been through she still has a good quality of life . I have been down painting all day at her house as standards are high . She is very much engaged with her family and life in general .

I do think it’s a big shock , but you might find this hard to believe at this stage but life somehow or another squeezed it’s way back in . Normal life came back between scans . Over ten years in and to us it’s very much a condition that has to be managed by a good team and careful scanning . But she has a very good life too . It’s just become part of it . Not like that in the beginning though . It was very frightening and a lot for mum to endure . However it was fully worth it .

I hope you find strength as you go through this .
take care ,

 Court  

Hi Court,

Thank you so much for sharing your mum story. It’s very comforting to know all she’s dealt with and she still keeping on. To think it’s been ten years for her really gives me hope and something to look for. I am in the US.... from what I’m told I will not have a liposcoptic surgery because they are removing a small portion of my liver as well as the tumor in my colon. That’s what’s most frightening to have an “open surgery”  but it has to be done. But in all honesty you have really uplifted me by sharing your mum story. It helps to hear the positive. Thank you again  

Hi Jools63,

Thank you so much as well. You guys are so positive and strong which is much needed for me right now. Hearing you speak lowers my anxiety which is a GREAT thing. Truly appreciate the comfort. 

You’re welcome. The other thing I thought of to reassure you was not my story, but that of a friend. At 81 years old she was diagnosed with vowel cancer. She had surgery straight away, and unfortunately, couldn’t gave keyhole, but had open surgery. Four weeks later she was hopping on a bus to our local RHS garden!

Or even bowel cancer!

Hi Kimmy,

I am so sorry you have had this news, it is always hard to take it all in at first. But this is the right place to be for help and support!

It sounds like you are having the same operation as a good friend of mine. They had it in December, as second open surgery experience after having the main tumour removed the year before. I am pleased to report that they are back on their feet, once again taking life by the throat and moving ahead. One thing to remember - these operations are very scary to consider, but they are being done all the time, by expert surgeons. They know what they are doing. You can trust them to give you the very best attention and treatment. It won't be pleasant, and it will take a while to get yourself back up again after it, but to be honest, I personally found that the hardest aspect of the surgery was the small stuff I had to deal with during recovery. The actual surgical element of the process was pretty routine.

Actually, the most painful part of the whole thing was getting hiccups many times for a few days after the surgery - apparently this was a side effect of the procedure I had, which is not the same as the one you are going to experience. But I could stand the stitches, and the fatigue, and the wooziness. But the hiccups really hurt...

I know it sounds ridiculous. It probably looked ridiculous, too...

We'll be thinking of you on March 3rd. Hang in there - it gets better. The sheer relief from the pain once that tumour is gone is worth every single moment of recovery time!

Robin.

When you get the results...the anxiety starts, it's only natural. I think that all of us on this forum have experienced that. Try to be strong & brave....& remember that Bowel Cancer can be eradicated easily - through Surgery/ Chemo or both. 

Wishing you well. x