hello all.
where to start, my story i guess.
i hadnt felt myself in the last few years or so, tired weak depressed, lack of energy and so on.
but couldnt put my finger on why i felt this way, i had a small holding which i reluctantly sold and bought a less demanding property.
one week after moving in i became unwell like id not experienced before, very bad stomach pains, fevers, total weakness and a lot of throwing up.
it was sujested and thought id picked up food poisening so i tried to sit it out and get over it.
well i didnt get over it, i could only manage drinks, food just came back up, sleeping was whenever and if i could get it, pain came in big waves across the lower stomach and no amount of pain killers worked until my gp gave me a morphine based med, that helped but didnt last long enough.
this went on for 6 weeks, it was sujested i go to A&E a couple of times but if i didnt eat but had drinks i could reduce my pains to just a bad stomach ache and i really didnt want to go to A&E for tummy ache.
i must say this did cause problems at home as i wasnt contributing and frustrated my wife hugely but i felt so bad i didnt really care, there wasnt anything i could do about it.
it became so bad i could hardly stand and throwing up jst happened without warning. my wife nagged me and took me to A&E, long story short after a xray i was told i had constipation and to take laxatives with paracetomol, i nearly flipped at the consultant, constipation my ar*e.
i jst went home in dispare. i was sick for another 2 weeks when i had a phone call from a radioligist who had taken another look at my xray and said i needed to contact my gp.
i contacted my gp and was told to attend A&E as soon as possible with a letter in hand from gp. off i went with my wife.
after waiting for a good few hrs a doctor came to see us and apologised many many times saying i shouldnt have been waiting for so long given my condition, i was in a bit of trouble at this time.
i had a ct scan and was told the results would take hrs, it was around 2am at this point, i told my wife to go home, but very shortly afterwards i was called into a room with a very happy smiley faced lady who said she was a emergency consultant who had looked at my ct results.
now remember i wasnt feeling to well, very tired and i told my wife to go home, this happy smiley faced lady then said to me out the blue i had bowel cancer and they were going to remove in theatre.
i had to ask her to repeat what she said again and with the same happy smiley face she told me again. i wasnt allowed to go anywhere at this point, i did call my wife and tell her what had been said, she didnt believe me and caused me to doubt what id been told, i was so tired i couldnt be acurate in what i heard.
anyways i had a bed up on a ward within the hr, some descent pain relief which was welcomed and i fell asleep. i was awoken by nurses who took me to a room along with my wife and they then explained my problem and what was going to be done in surgery.
this was on friday morning, they drew diagrams to explain, we both were still in shock and couldnt take it all in. i was told id be going to surgery shortly, i was prepped just after 9am but it was not to be, i was nil by mouth as i was now going on sat morning, sat morning came and went as did sunday.
on monday blood tests were done and i was going to surgery, nope didnt happen, my kidneys wernt performing properly and i wasnt fit for surgery.
it wasnt till wednesday did i go for surgery, i went at 9am and awoke late afternoon, jesus christ it hurt when i awoke, i couldnt move, tubes everywhere, i didnt know what to expect but i wasnt expecting that nor had i been told what to expect.
a consultant came to see me the next day and said half my bowel was removed and indeed the part of the bowel that was removed had cancer and it had gone off for tests in the lab.
i was told 3 months to recover, spent a week in hostpital and then home, i was too weak to get up and down the stairs so once upstairs i stayed there as i needed the bathroom more time than i care to remember.
anyways usual stuff that im sure youve all been through, injections, pain, tiredness, cant eat properly and everything that goes with having half your bowel out.
didnt like my scar when i first saw it, that knocked me for a bit. weeks passed, everyday getting better, staples taken out, could eat again, didnt need the bathroom as much and i thought everything was going to be fine.
appointment for clinic, saw my consultant who wasnt happy with the condition of the cancer removed and that they had also seen something in my left lung, i had to wait for the tests to come back.
test results came back and confirmed the cancer had gone through all four layers of my bowel and that it could have spread and this is the concern with my lung, wouldnt confirm if it was or wasnt cancer, i have found that no amount of questions through the whole process would they give a definative answer to anything i asked.
im told chemo is now required and that my genetic make up makes me suitable for chemo.
i go to see the consultant next thursday, i dont know what to expect and this worries me hugely, wife thinks the chemo is jst a mopping up procedure to make sure its all gone, my mind isnt allowing me to think that and that maybe there are other issues to expect after all i cant get a straight answer out of anyone.
so thats me up to date, i should add im male and 54 yrs old. i would welcome other peoples stories and any advice you may have. we have 2 boys of 5 yrs and 11yrs old, my wife is 49 and im left thinking this is all a bit to early in life to be having this isnt it ?.
sorry for boring the pants off you lol
Hi There
sorry for my lingo.
At my consult my surgeon went into great detail of starting with keyhole working to my rectum the open surgery to lift my bowel out, open that up and get his hand in and pull the cancer out. Remove my rectum then reconnect me, that would be left to heal and my waste would be leaving into a bag. I didn’t even know what an Ileostomy was at that time. I only knew about a bag and colostomy. He said that it was a huge op and he’d booked the theatre for the day He said it would take six months to recover. I thought no way I will be fine in two. I was wrong. I had a big learning curve.
Take it easy. You’ve had a massive op. The incision is big and you would have been pulled around inside.
I found doing the pelvic floor exorcises really helped me. I did them twice a day. Small meals and power naps. I found ways of moving about that didn’t hurt my tender abdomen
I was out and about quickly , stayed away at six weeks but needed my power naps.
Ann
This is very frightening for us. So sorry that your husband is having a terrible time
Ann
Hi there
I think of Cancer as a Ghoul in the shadows.
Let it stay there I’m in the light.
Push it to the back of your mind and fight with everything they give you.
Sending you a hug
Lots of people have mop up chemo and find it’s very manageable and does make sure it’s gone.
Im not sure what I would have done as I wasn’t offered.
Hand on heart I did think I might need it I hope that I would have gone for it.
I don’t do regrets and I want every bit of that cancer out of the shadows and in the bin
Ann
Yes that’s good. I’m glad that you’ve been away. The change of scenery is a great therapy
Ann
