Hi, my husband and I are new to the Macmillan site and are hoping to hear from others about their experiences.
My husband was admitted urgently with a suspected bowel stricture, 8weeks ago.
During surgery to remove the affected area the stricture was found to be stage 4 small bowel adenocarcinoma which was removed, and in order to protect the rejoining of bowel an ileostomy was formed.
Due to the grade of the cancer and the high likelihood of the cancer reoccurring my husband was offered chemotherapy but was told by his oncologist that there is no evidence that chemotherapy is effective on small bowel cancer, and that the side effects can be particularly difficult for patients with an ileostomy. He was also told that a reversal of his ileostomy would not be able to take place during the six months of chemo and that the chemo could not be delayed until after any reversal surgery.
We would like to know if this tends to be the consensus or if anyone has been advised differently?
With thanks and best wishes.
