Hi just had diagnosis of rectal cancer petrified..had all scans MRI not in liver not in lungs however as I know so far has gone into surrounding tissue have oncologist appointment Wednesday so will get all info then I presume
Welcome . Sorry to hear about your recent diagnosis. Great news your liver and lungs are clear . I am going to tag in a few people that might be able to talk through the treatment for rectal cancer Kareno62and Gemmary . Getting a treatment plan in place really helps . Quite a lot of rectal cancer patients go for chemo radiation for four weeks . Which is tolerated well and gets good results . Surgery may then occur after that .
But each person is quite individual so that’s only a rough guide and location also comes into play . What is good news is bowel cancer caught early has very good outcomes . Hopefully reducing the fear of the unknown here also helps prepare you for each step of the way .
All the best with your appointment . Ask anything you like here . Also feel free to pop onto our monthly catch up thread . It’s open to all . Hope we can help support you through this until your back full wellness . take special care ,
Hi , sorry to hear, but good that scans show no spread. court mentions one way of treating before surgery, I went straight to surgery 4 weeks after diagnosis. This was successful in removing a large rectal tumour, and I was lucky not to get a stoma. Don't be alarmed as they always mark you up for one beforehand, so you have some say in where it goes. Click on my name for more info. They did find on biopsy of the removed bowel that although there were no lymph nodes involved, some of the blood vessels were, called vascular invasion. This meant I was recommended to have chemo after. You should be given a specialist nurse as a point of contact on Wed, and they can ask any questions you may have, then or afterwards. Or you can ask me or other folks on here. Good luck on wed, and write down your questions beforehand!! Take care.
yes! The CT scan a year after diagnosis was clear, as was the colonoscopy. Cannot say yet I'm in remission , but certainly things looking good! Mine was a T3 and only just caught before it went all the way through the bowel wall, so I'm hoping you will be the same. Keep us posted, and all the best.
That's great ..what does that mean if it has ..I have no symptoms as such I got I'll beg of Sept hence all tests..only symptoms I have I guess is sometimes I feel like need to go but don't but no pain or discomfort
No I didn't really have any symptoms either, it was picked up on a bowel /poo test, can't remember the name! Just don't panic, that will not help. Deep breathe and remember that although you probably feel like a rabbit in headlights (like me) they are working quickly. As you have no spread I am guessing that you are unlikely for it to have gone through, but I am not a doctor. If lymph nodes or vascular invasion, both are treatable. The whole situation you are in is very treatable despite what you think and feel!
Hi and a warm welcome to the board from me too. Yes it’s a horrible shock isn’t it but you sound to have caught it early and Bowel Cancer is very treatable. You’ve had some great advice so far so I shall add my usual advice of - do not google! - the information is out of date and downright scary at times. You can ask anything you want on here - there is nothing too daft or embarrassing - and if you click on people’s names it may show their journey so far on their profile page.
No spread is good news so you may have radiotherapy with chemo in tablet first or you may go straight to surgery. Take someone to the meeting with you if you can as I found I was thinking about something they’d said and then missed the next bit! I was allocated a Colorectal Nurse and she had a chat with me afterwards to make sure I’d understood everything. Everyone deals with the situation differently - I read as much as I could about it to be prepared but my husband preferred to just know what he needed to know about my treatment.
Ive attached links to a couple of booklets from the Bowel Cancer UK site which you might like to have a look at before your appointment. I won’t tell you not to worry because I know that isn’t possible but please try not to worry too far ahead if that makes sense? Once you have a treatment plan in place then you can break it into steps and cross each bridge when and if you get to it.
