Hi there
I was diagnosed with bowel cancer about ten days ago. I was pretty sure i had some kind of cancer but I thought it was elsewhere in my abdomen, so it wasn't a terrible shock.
I've been feeling unwell with tiredness and lack of appetite since at least early December but at the time I was under a *lot* of stress, and so many of these things can be attributed to stress. And I had been ignoring some of the more regular symptoms because I've had IBS for forty years and I assumed it was all due to that. In retrospect, and knowing how long bowel cancer can take to develop, I realise that things have been gong wrong in that department for some considerable time!
The diagnostic colonscopy was not very successful, my bowel just didn't clear I think because I was so constipated. They found a 4cm tumour and quite a few polyps of various sizes. So i have to have another one for them to have a better look before surgery, and I think they are going to remove some polyps at the same time. (But I have had mixed messages on that.)
Things I'm stressed about - I'm sure most people have most of these.
- Waiting for the appointment for the second colonscopy. I have an important (to me and family) short holiday booked and I don't know if I will need to cancel.
- Having to have a double bowel prep for the second colonscopy. And the pain, the first one was agony, even with sedation and gas and air.
- Waiting to find out what stage the cancer is. I have had a clear CT scan so that's good, but I really want to know if I'm going to need chemo so I can get myself organised work wise.
PLUS my OH has just be confirmed as having a meningioma on the spinal cord in his neck, which he will also be having surgery on at around the same time as me. It's not something that can be put off.
And finally, my mother has dementia, which is going to be a nightmare. I might find a different forum to post that on.
