Just had a Colonoscopy and I have Colon Cancer

Thanks so much Poppy that is good advice which I will try to follow. It is just not knowing what I am in for at the moment that is so worrying but I think keeping busy and trying to talk about it is definitely a good suggestion.

Thanks again

James

Thanks Andy I really appreciate both your advice and offer. It helps to hear positive stories from someone in the same position.

Hi James how are you getting on? I read your posts at the time as my mum 66 just got diagnosed via a colonoscopy that she wasn’t worried about. We have had her CT and MRI and had our first outpatient appointment with the surgeon yesterday. Plan is to operate in October to remove the tumour. 

Hi

I'm so sorry you are going through this. The waiting is horrible. As much as I tried to focus on other things I couldn't. I went to a very bad place, stopped eating and was very anxious. By the time I was ready for my op I was extremely weak and a mess. 

Following the op and news that no further treatment I started to get my life in order. My advice is walk, walk, walk, get your body in the best possible shape in preparation for your treatment. Listen to music whilst you are walking, you will be surprised at the people who will stop and chat. I am on my own and although it can be lonely I was relieved at times because my bowels were all over the place at the begining. 

I hope everything goes well for you x 

Hi 

I’m feeling a bit better about things most of the time now. I’m waiting on a consultant appointment to discuss the surgery to take out the cancer and they will have to do that to see if it has spread locally to the lymph nodes or not. 

it is that that is the main worry really I am hoping I can just have the surgery and be clear but will no know until after the surgery. 

thanks for your concern I really appreciate it and I hope all goes well with your mum’s surgery. 

James 

Hi James,

I’m so sorry about your recent diagnosis. It must have been a great shock being told that you have cancer at the colonoscopy. The exact same thing happened to my husband, just days after his 56th birthday. I wasn’t even there with him when they broke the news, he had told me he was going on a fishing trip that day! I felt truly awful… he said he didn’t tell me as he didn’t want to worry me or our kids, our daughter especially, as she was heading into her important final degree exams at uni. I had absolutely no idea he’d been having any symptoms.

Coming onto this forum really helped us and I hope that you will feel the same. The waiting for scan appointments is truly difficult, really wreaks havoc with all of your emotions but everyone on here told me that once the scans were all completed, things would start to move faster, and they honestly did. Once my husband was discussed at his MDT meeting, he got the call later that day with a date to go and meet his surgeon. After the surgeon’s appointment, his surgery was carried out exactly a week later and he is now almost 2 months into his post op recovery. He starts his adjuvant chemotherapy tomorrow.

I found it really hard following the initial diagnosis as hubby didn’t want our kids (or any one else for that matter) to know at that point. I couldn’t even tell my friends either. But coming on to this forum helped me so much, just chatting with others who understood what it was like to be going through the worry and the rollercoaster of emotions that cancer makes us feel.

Wishing you all the best with your MRI, I hope you will keep posting about how you’re getting on.

Take care,

Roses x

Hi James, that sounds really similar to my Mum. She's got a 5m mass in the rectum, and they will test the lymph nodes and blood vessels when they remove. At the moment she's scheduled for mid October but there's some concern about some inflammation in another part of the bowel that might also need to be removed for her. I hope you get your consultation soon & get some answers but it sounds quite positive so far for you. Caitlin