Husband newly diagnosed rectal cancer

Hi Woofs and a warm welcome to the board. My tumour was also 4cm although a bit further in at 9cm. Size does not matter really - the scans will check how far the tumour has grown into the bowel wall and if it’s gone through and spread to other organs. I’ve attached a link to a booklet that I was given at my first meeting which talks about staging and things you might want to ask at your first meeting.

https://bowelcancerorguk.s3.amazonaws.com/Publications/Bowel_Cancer_UK_Your_Pathway_V10.1.pdf

The low fibre diet is to ensure that the bowel has as easy a time as possible - things like nuts and seeds can aggravate the tumour when passing over it and increase the risk of it swelling and, in the worse case scenario, blocking the bowel.

Treatment for rectal cancer is often chemoradiotherapy to shrink the tumour as much as possible before surgery. There may also be a stoma involved which may be temporary or permanent but this is maybe something you could ask about at your first appointment?

The waiting for scan results and meetings is very stressful but please take strength from some of the positive posts on here. Stay away from google as it can be scary and out of date - if you click on peoples names then their profile page may show their treatment to date.

The next few months will be tough but we’ll be happy to help and support you both through this. Please make sure you look after yourself too? It’s easy to let a cancer diagnosis take over your lives so try to make time for yourself even if it’s just a walk or coffee with friends.

Take care

Karen x