Colon Cancer Diagnosis

Hi Jim

i was diagnosed October 13th with hepatic flexure tumour 

Oct 26th they removed all of ascending colon and part of transverse colon ( right hemi colectomy)  obviously the waiting is the hardest part and really for me  I couldn’t wait to get it removed ……The op was not too bad and recovery for me was fast ( back at work day 13) 

you really won’t have a solid idea of what you are dealing with until it is taken out and you have the histology report then you will know the plan moving forward whether you need chemo etc 

have they given you a ct or pet scan yet ? 

Goid luck and I hope they have found it early 

Thanks for responding and for the information. I had my endoscopy on the 19th November and had a CT scan same day after they found the tumour. I don't know results of CT scan. I've only spoke to a nurse once since MDT last Friday. I was told I have to wait and if symptoms get worse then contact the colorectal nurses. I have been in pain for around 2 months now which is why I went to the GP in first place. Explained all this to them but how much worse does it have to get? 

Do not wait 

ask your GP to tell you CT over the phone if you have to ( mine did). Otherwise ask for a copy to ge emailed to you

They are putting together the pieces to get the full picture but you can be proactive   If they know there’s a tumour you with need surgery or chemo to shrink it ( more usual for rectal I think) and then removal. 
I would jump up and down until 

a) you get the results explained 

b) you have a plan moving forward. 

Hi Jim, my husband had a right hemicolectomy, so a bit more than yours. His was emergency surgery so there was no discussion time but you should really have lots of care sheets from the hospital that explain how to prepare. They usually like your colon empty before surgery too. Definitely call and say you need someone to explain it to you, this is major surgery. You need all the info. 

You’ll probably be in hospital 3-5 days and need to eat a bland diet for 4-6 weeks to let the colon recover and to not give it too much to do. As Parky says, you need the histo results to fully understand steps after the surgery as they will test everything they remove but for now you need to better understand the surgery and get prepped for what to expect! 

• I had my right hemi colectomy operation on 27 Sept. 
  The consultant told me to get as fit as I could before the Op as it would help my recovery. I had 8 days to do this and I’m 75. I did it by walking and cycling (only 20-30 minutes) and it worked. I was back to almost normal in a couple of weeks - bowel too. I appreciate you have pain issues you poor bugger but do what you can.  It WILL help. 

I agree with this! Part of my husbands recovery was walking every day, up to 3km with poles. He’s reasonably fit anyway but the surgeon said the same that the fitter you are as you go to surgery it will really help your recovery. 

Hi Jim,

i had right hemicolectomy on 13/11 my op was not laparoscopic bit they had to open my abdomen due to previous infection in May from a ruptured appendix ( they think the tumour caused this but wasn’t found out at that time)

before surgery i had clear fluids for 2 days as bowel prep some antibiotics  and some pickled sachets to help clear bowels. 

i was in hospital 5 nights i’ve made a slow and steady recovery and doing ok, bowels still moving after i eat ( about an hour later ) but sure that will settle down.

following a low fibre diet till bowel can process more high 

imforrunatly  histology after surgery warrants chemo therapy , i’ve been referred abs waiting bit believe it will probably be for 6 months.

i feel they need to tell you more and like others in here would be asking the questions 

1/ did CT scan show anything etc

Did they give you an alternate date for surgery ?

i had right hemicolectomy on 13/11 my op was not laparoscopic bit they had to open my abdomen due to previous infection in May from a ruptured appendix ( they think the tumour caused this but wasn’t found out at that time)

before surgery i had clear fluids for 2 days as bowel prep some antibiotics  and some pickled sachets to help clear bowels. 

i was in hospital 5 nights i’ve made a slow and steady recovery and doing ok, bowels still moving after i eat ( about an hour later ) but sure that will settle down.

following a low fibre diet till bowel can process more high 

imforrunatly  histology after surgery warrants chemo therapy , i’ve been referred abs waiting bit believe it will probably be for 6 months.

i feel they need to tell you more and like others in here would be asking the questions 

1/ did CT scan show anything etc

Did they give you an alternate date for surgery ?

My colon cancer was picked up from the regular home testing kit (which had been recently upgraded to a more 'sensitive' version). I had a 'telephone appointment' 16 Mar, blood test 22nd Mar, coloscopy 31 March (when I was told I had a tumour), scan 15 Apr, face to face appt with the surgeon 29 Apr, surgery 10 May - interspersed with various blood tests/covid tests etc. The longest wait in the world was the wait between the scan & the result after the team discussion - about 10 days..... . Overall 22nd Mar to 10 May surgery