Hi everyone thank you for letting me joim this forum. My 80 year old father has just been diagnosed after having a colonoscopy which found a 50mm tumour. He is a very fit 80 year old except for the last 6 months. Bloods showed anaemia and he also had a positive fit test. The mdt meeting is Friday. After he had the colonoscopy the consultant mentioned surgery but said it depended on ct resuots. They have shown luckily it hasnt spread. We were all reeling whilst in the consultants office so didnt take it all in. Obviously weve been looking online but theres so much conflicting info. His gp mentioned possibly radiiotherapy. Wd they do that as well as surgery? Would they operate on an 80 year old? So many questions. Im just glad ive discovered this brilliant website.
Welcome to the forum, although sorry for the circumstances that led you here.
The general advice given here is not to consult 'Dr Google' as much of the information you'll come across is probably out of date. The two reliable sources I've found are this website and www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk
Every case is different, and what happens to you father will depend partly on where the tumour is, whether it has spread (which you say CT indicates it has not) and whether your fathers general health means he is a suitable candidate for surgery. I see no reason why his age would in itself be a barrier to an operation.
You say that the MDT will discuss all the findings on Friday and decide which is the best course of action in your fathers particular case. For me (64 year old with no symptoms but tumour found in sigmoid colon following a routine screening) that was surgery - a left hemicolectomy. I was told beforehand that this might be followed up with a course of adjuvant chemotherapy to help prevent any reoccurrence, but in my case further examination of the tumour removed showed it wasn't necessary. Radiotherapy wasn;t mentioned to me.
I'm sure someone from the MDT team will be in touch with your father to let him know that outcome of the meeting on Friday. The waiting is always nerve-wracking - I found it helped when a clear course of action was in place, and things moved very quickly when it was.
Hi Moryn and a warm welcome from me too. You’ve had a great reply from Poohsticks and as they have said, once you have a treatment plan in place then things will honestly feel a bit better.
Chemoradiotherapy is often used to shrink rectal tumours and some people have had such a good response that the tumour has been completely obliterated. Mine shrank by 75% and the rest was removed during surgery. I’ve attached a link to a booklet that I was given at my first meeting which may help with terminology and what questions you might want to ask. There can be a lot to take in so write your questions down and take a pen and paper with you.
Stay away from google - you can ask anything you like on here and we’ll try and help you. The support desk is also available every day if you want to chat to someone in person
I'm sorry to hear about your father. I had rectal cancer and was treated with chemo radiation, full chemo, then surgery. The MDT will advise you on the best course of action for your father's specific case.
Surgey depends less on his age than his overall health. My 85 year old mother just had elective knee surgery. No problem. So if your father is healthy enough, surgery is an option assuming the MDT thinks it is appropriate.
HI moryn sorry to here about your dad . I went through the same colon cancer. had part of my bowl remove. just to let you know im 73 years old mine had spread to two of my lymphnods but the good news your dads not spread so hope fully all will work out fine good luck and best wishes
Thank you. This is such good advice and also shows that there is hope. At the moment my poor dad is breaking down constantly and although we are trying to be positive its almost as if hes given up even before the Mdt.Thank youx
My dad has had a phonecall today grom his specialist nursd saying they wont discuss his case in the mdt meeting until hes had am upper ct scan. The lower ct had shown the cancer hadnt spread but we hadnt realised he woukd need an upper one too. His recent chest xray was normal. Pardon my ignorance but is this to check the lymph nodes too?
