New member,

Hi Katie711 ,

Sorry to hear you've needed to join us!  However you have come to the right place as this board is full of helpful, friendly people who have been there too.

The waiting is always the worst - you'll feel much better after Monday when you know what the situation is and what the plan is to address it.  The plan is individual to you, they'll have had a group of specialists in all areas together and looked at your case individually and assessed the very best plan for helping you.

Bowel cancer is a slow grower and is very curable if caught early enough.

There are loads of success stories on here, try to stay away from Dr. Google as the information is outdated and you are not any kind of statistic anyway.  Only use Macmillan or Bowel Cancer UK for information.

They should give you a contact in the hospital too (at least they did in South Wales), do feel free to call them and ask questions, they would rather you call than sit at home and worry.  

Wishing you good luck with your treatment and recovery, keeping asking questions as you go.

Best wishes

CerysM

Thank you for ypur encouragement CerysM. 

Best Wishes to you too

Hi Katie711. You're far from being on your own in experiencing a spike in anxiety when you start on this journey. I had the same issues. Take a look at my post about controlling anxiety, fear and panic and I hope it helps you as much as it helped me.

Remember that our mind can make things look much worse due to our imagining what is going to happen and it's important to remind yourself of the actual reality of the situation. Don't believe your imagination - stick to the known facts. It gets easier once you know your treatment plan.

All the best.

Steve.

https://community.macmillan.org.uk/cancer_types/bowel-colon-rectum-cancer-forum/f/general/301945/controlling-fear-anxiety-and-panic-2

Thank you very much Steve, I appreciate your reply and for the links which I will work through. Im sure others will find them useful too. Thankyou again. Best Wishes Kate

Hi Katie711 and a warm welcome to the board from me too. You’ve had some great replies and advice so I just wanted to pop a link to the booklet that I was given at my first meeting. It will give you a heads up about the various treatments that might be mentioned, questions to ask etc.

https://bcuk.adidocdn.dev/Publications/Bowel_Cancer_UK_Your_Pathway_V10.1.pdf

This waiting for results and meetings is very stressful but once you have a treatment plan in place then things will honestly feel a bit better.

Please let us know how the meeting goes?

Take care

Karen x

Thank you very much indeed Karen, I'll have a read of that booklet tomorrow. 

The waiting is really quite awful but I've been doing alot of on line work with anxiety as well as mediation and deep breathing. I'll get through it I'm sure and I appreciate the support here very much.

Im so pleased you have reached a good place in your journey. 

Best wishes and thank you again

Hi Katie711 

How did your meeting go? X

Good Morning Karen

Thank you very much for following up with me.

Im so incredibly relieved to say that no spread of the cancer was found in my scans or blood tests. I'll have an op ( a resection by key hole surgery with no stoma necessary) in a few weeks time when they'll check lymph nodes but the consultant said let's cross that bridge when it comes.

In the circumstances I think it was the most encouraging news and im now concentrating on getting as fit as I can before the op.

One of my greatest reliefs is that for now, the almost constant and debilitating anxiety has eased off so I feel I can take a deep breath and face the next stage.

Thank you again for your words of encouragement and I hope you are managing well at the moment too

Best wishes

Kate

Yes that is good news Katie711 

I remember feeling the same relief at my first appointment. Hopefully you’ll have your op soon and then be well on the way to recovery as we approach spring!

Take care

Karen x

Well done for reaching out, Katie711  There is a wealth of experience and good advice on here from people who have had to 'walk the walk' as well as 'talk the talk'   Do please keep us updated , as you approach the operation. x