Hello

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Hi everyone.

Back in May I had a colonoscopy which found a tumour in my sigmoid colon. Unfortunately, the doctor performing the colonoscopy knew straight away it was malignant and 6 weeks later I had keyhole surgery to remove a third of my bowel; the tumour was removed as well as 48 lymph nodes. It was a very successful operation with no need for a stoma.

following the surgery, the part of the bowel removed was sent away for a biopsy and microscopic cancer cells were found in 2 of the 48 lymph nodes and some was present in the blood vessels of the tumour itself. This has resulted in the need for 4 cycles of chemotherapy over the course of 3 months which will start at some point this month (august 2022)

I’m 40 years old and this has all been a real shock. However prior to the surgery, I Had taught myself to focus on the positives and therefore I was not worried about the surgery. Having received the news of needing chemo and the amazing amount of possible side effects, I am now feeling quite scared and anxious.

I hope to find some support throughout the community. Thank you for reading x

Kareno62 over 2 years ago

Hi Lays88 and welcome to the board. You sound to be coping very well so far so please don’t let the ‘reputation’ of chemo knock you back. Yes it has a lot of side effects but there are also lots of pills and potions to manage them . I’m going to attach a link to a post that we started about chemo - sometimes it’s nice to be reassured that something is normal and caused by the chemo. I remember someone saying that she’d not been warned about 1st bite syndrome but was reassured to have read that it was normal.

https://community.macmillan.org.uk/cancer_types/bowel-colon-rectum-cancer-forum/f/general/221768/chemo-care-top-tips--

I was pretty lucky with my chemo and didn’t suffer badly with sickness although i had the cold touch side effect and I wore gloves to get things out of the freezer. I worked part time in an office and was able to continue working throughout my chemo - I’m no hero but just wanted to show how it can affect people differently. Approach it with an open mind and see how it goes - we’ll be happy to support you through it

Take care

Karen x

Macmillan Support Line - 0808 808 00 00, 7 days a week between 8am-8pm

Lays88 over 2 years ago in reply to Kareno62

Kareno62 I can’t thank you enough for such a quickly reply. The comment about ‘pills and potions’ alone has already made me feel a little calmer.

and thank you for the link.

Thank you for sharing some of your experience giving me hope.

Etteric over 2 years ago

Ihi I had the same surgery im now on my 3rd round of chemo and honestly ok coping well ,I've not had any naus6

My main side effects are sore red feet ,very cold sensitive hands and feet ,headaches and night sweats..I can honestly say I thought I'd feel ill and I don't so hopefully will be the same gor you everyone on the chemo unit are really lovely

Good luck

Lays88 over 2 years ago in reply to Etteric

This sounds really mild compared to all the possible side effects although still not nice - How are you coping with your side effects? Have you found things to help ease them a little?

Thank you - I really hope that my reaction is like this.

I am a single mum with 2 children aged 6 and 4 and a little worried also about them bringing bugs home. I hope to find ways to cope with any side effects that happen.