Supporting mum.

I know it’s easier said than done, but try and stay positive. You will both find out what the situation is on Wednesday. The fact that your hospital has a treatment plan ready for your mum is a positive thing. I doubt very much they would tell you that if they thought she had no chance of a positive outcome. I was diagnosed with stage3 bowel cancer 4 years ago and I'm still here. Don’t worry about size as it depends on exactly where it is, and how easy it is to remove. As mine was a bit straggly I had radiotherapy and took chemo tablets for 5 weeks before I could have surgery. Sometimes surgery happens first. Unfortunately, we’re all different so no one can tell you exactly what lies ahead. Take care of yourselves. Hopefully one of the others will be along soon to provide some help. 

Thank you so much Jools63. I am sorry to hear of your journey, but grateful that you are here and sharing your story! I wish you the very best of health and happiness. 

Hi. As Jools says you can’t really tell your mum anything until you know the full picture. What I can say is that bowel cancer is notoriously slow growing but very treatable. I think the team will be honest about the treatment and I remember that they told me that they were ‘treating me with a view to cure’ and that was in 2016 - I’m still cancer free.

https://bowelcancerorguk.s3.amazonaws.com/Publications/YourPathway_BowelCancerUK.pdf

This is a copy of the booklet that I was given at my first meeting. I was like a rabbit caught in the headlights and missed a lot of what was being said so take a pen and paper and jot down any questions before you go - some people record the meeting on their phones after asking the consultants permission. 

Hope the meeting goes well? Please keep us posted and feel free to ask anything you like - we’re all at different stages of treatment and recovery and happy to share advice 

Take care

Karen x