Treatment and Recovery List - Recommendations Needed

Hi 

Welcome to the forum . I am sorry to hear about your mum . 
As bowel cancer can be in different locations with slightly different treatment approaches it might be helpful to know roughly what area is affected and what the plan is .

For instance my mum had a right ascending tumour and it was surgically removed but did not result in a stoma so a completely different surgery from people having treatment for a rectal tumour . 
We would be more than happy to give tips . The location of my mum’s tumour meant her rectal area was not involved and sitting was not a problem . But she had open surgery so recovering from that was hard coming from a lying to a sitting position initially. 

Does your mum have a treatment plan yet ?

take care ,

Court 

Hey, sorry for late response.

She has a 4.3cm tumor quite close to the anal verge, just inside.
Im guessing this will mean it will be more uncomfortable for her when sitting?
It currently has not spread to any lymph nodes.

She has her appointment for her treatment plan this coming week, but we have been advised that it will likely be two courses of chemo with 6 weeks of radiotherapy.

Hope that helps a bit, any extra tips or recommendations would be very much appreciated!

https://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancer-information-and-support/treatments-and-drugs/radiotherapy-for-rectal-cancer

Hi  I have linked in an article which is good for preparing for the radio therapy aspect and explains symptoms and how to proceed ! 
I will tag in Kareno62 as I think I have seen her mention a cushion she found beneficial after surgery .

Lovely you are taking such good care of your mum !

Take care ,

Court 

Hi . I had a 4cm tumour (which shrank to 1cm after chemoradiotherapy) and it was 9cm from the anal verge. I didn’t need a special cushion after surgery but I’ve heard people who’ve had an Abdominal Perineal Resection (where the anus is sewn up) have found a Valley cushion to be helpful. If you have a local mobility/disability shop then they might be able to help?

Take care

Karen x

Maybe we should think about starting a thread for chemo tips ! Wonder if that would be any use to people ?

Court 

My mum did not have radiotherapy or rectal cancer but happy to give advise when you get to the chemo stage . Is your mum having oral chemo along with her radiotherapy ?

Wish her all the best from us . If so I think it’s normally capecitabine and we have lots of people who have been through it and can advise on creams etc which might come in handy .

Take care ,

Court 

Thank you karen for the response,  I really appreciate it!
I was wondering if there were any other sort of things you used to help make the whole process more cvomfortable? or anything that you would recommend to make chemo more bearable in general?

Ben

Hey Court, really thanks for all the advice and help so far, its completely invaluable.

I think the plan is to have the chemo administered through a PICC line.
And yes please, absolutely any sort of advice you have surrounding the chemo would be more than appreciated!

In regards to creams, which would you recommend?

Thanks,
Ben

Would certainly be useful to people like myself!

Thanks,
Ben

People seem to use urea cream ! If she is using capecitabine . It’s available on Amazon . Others have different success with others so will hopefully pop on and share . We did not know about it for my mum !

If you find out what chemo she is having in terms of the infusion . There is a couple of different ones we can assist . Oxaliplatin has cold sensitivity so a little pain of cotton gloves for door knobs , avoid fridges and take all fluids at room temperature. A scarf for leaving the chemo unit as the cold air can cause issues around their mouth ! 
Once you know the names of the chemo I will link info from Macmillan.

Regarding the radiotherapy . I am not sure what age your mum is but if she requires to take on board fluid prior to radiotherapy you might be advised to watch out for the car journey . My mum got completely caught out going for a scan ! We discovered the hard way it was easier to go earlier and take the fluid on board nearer the facility !

My mum had her chemo through cannula but there are other methods which appear to be easier !

Take care ,

Court