Hi all ....so yesterday I walked into a hospital appointment and in the room was a doctor and 2 nurses. I just knew it was bad news. So my history is minor bleeding from back passage started in October 20 and I contacted my gp who said it's piles and prescribed cream and suppositories. It was bleeding on and off and I again contacted gp and was given more pile treatment. At this point I was also going to the loo a bit more than usual but nothing too excessive.This was dealt with all over the phone due to covid.
In January a close friend died of covid up in Leicester and we were asked to go to the funeral. Given that I was a bit worried about the long drive there and back and I had a bit of diarrhoea I took at diacalm tablet just in case. The day went well and no issues.
The next morning the tablet started wearing off and there was diarrhoea and blood mixed in. It came in waves and then stopped so I just put it down to the amount of waste due to the tablet stopping things. A couple of days later on the Tuesday I was ok all day and then in the evening I had a terrible experience. I went to the loo and the blood and diarrhoea was unbelievable and I had to steady myself on the sink as I nearly passed out. I told my husband that I needed to go to the hospital and after calling 111 we went.
Hours in A and E and I ended up being kept in for observation and tests ending in a sigmoidoscopy that showed 2 polyps ..one 1.5 cm and another 4 cm. A further colonoscopy was planned and they removed the smaller one that had no signs of cancer. They said the larger one needs to be removed by a specialist and the meeting yesterday confirmed it was cancerous. My scans showed it has not spread as my organs are all clear.
Doctor said they will do a PET scan as there are a couple of glands either side which are slightly enlarged so they want to see if they are naturally like that or if it is to do with the polyp/tumour.
If they are enlarged due to the tumour then I will need to have radiotherapy to help shrink them before having an op to remove the tumour. The doctor is confident it is confined in the colon...it's actually about 10cm up from my rectum.
So that's my story. I'm not sure what to expect next. This was the first time I have ever stayed in hospital apart from having a baby years ago. I'm healthy other than this curve ball ! I'm a 53 year old woman.
Thanks for listening to my saga
