Diagnosed at 39 - total shock

Hi LaurenR

Just want to pop on and welcome you to the forum .

I will tag  in Kareno62 as she has relevant experiences she could share with you .

A lot of people report a spike in symptoms straight after diagnosis that seems to settle once they know their plan . But if you are at all concerned you should contact the colonoscopy team and give them an opportunity to assess your symptoms just in case there are issue around infections etc .

Good on you for thinking objectively through this diagnosis. Some research on exercise is coming through and benefits of even moderate exercise through treatments . I will try and link in some information.

Take care ,

Court 

Hi LaurenR and welcome to the board. I had a Low Anterior Resection back in 2016 as I had rectal cancer. I’ve attached a link to a booklet about the op and hospital stay. I was in for 5 days and they like to get you up and mobile as soon as possible.

bowelcancerorguk.s3.amazonaws.com/.../YourOperation_BowelCancerUK.pdf

Recovery at home is about 5 weeks and you’re advised not to drive or lift anything heavier than a kettle with enough water in for 1 cup. I found it handy to have a cushion in the car either to sit on or put between my scar and the seat belt - you may be at risk of a hernia in the early days so it’s good to hold a cushion or towel or your hand over the scar when you cough or sneeze.

The Bowel does not like being handled during the op so you may find it better to eat small amounts of plain food to begin with or the hospital may even start you on a restricted diet. Once home try to take short walks each day and build up a little but rest if you need to - everyone’s recovery is different so listen to your own body.

As you say you won’t know if you will need chemo until the tumour and surrounding tissue has been tested in the lab but we’ll cross that bridge with you when and if we get to it.

Love your thoughts on treating it as an opportunity. My initial thoughts were ‘why me’ but then I thought ‘why not me?’. If 1 in 2 people suffer from cancer at some point in their lives then I thought ‘better me than my parents!’ I must admit I haven’t changed my life since diagnosis but should really - I’ve viewed it more as a chance to over indulge rather than act more healthy so I might take a look at the book that you’ve mentioned.

Hope all goes well on the 9th and please keep us posted

Take care

Karen x

Thank you karen- did you feel quite ill after the op? One of my biggest dreads is if I have to have a tube put down my throat if the small intestine goes funny after the op. Doesn't sound like recovery is much fun!

Seems to be a total minefield of information out there!

Thank you- interesting about exercise- I did see that large periods of inactivity each day increases the risk of getting it Thanks for linking in Karen. Appreciate it.

Hi LaurenR. I did have a bit of a hiccup after the op if I’m honest - if you click on my name then you can read my timeline however that is not the norm! The tube down the throat is called an ng tube I think and it’s apparently not very nice. It’s used to treat ileus after the op which is when the bowel goes to sleep and can result in vomiting. I had ileus after my op and my stoma reversal but they treat it by nil by mouth for a day or 2, then water only, then fluids only then plain light meals. 
Like I say though that is not the norm and most people are up and about next day and walking the wards. Your bowels will take a while to settle down but they’ll probably advise you to follow a low residue diet leading up to surgery and then a couple of weeks after.

Stay away from google and you can ask anything you like on here

Karen x