Hello Annealise and thanks for posting, 

I am sorry to learn about your husband's recent diagnosis and can understand you wanting to be prepared for his consultation.

Treatment for cancer is tailored to how fit someone is and the stage of the disease, individual preferences are also taken into account.  Our website has general information about rectal cancer treatment at this link 

In rectal cancer surgery when needed colostomies can often be temporary to allow for healing and reversed later once everything has healed up, but this will depend and the location of the cancer in the rectum may be a factor.   

You mentioned trials which all have entry requirements, so at the moment I don't think it would be possible to say if there is a trial that would be an option, but there may be. You and your husband might like to look at what is currently going on trial wise on our database .   When I refined the search result for rectal cancer trials I found 9 trials.   If your husband wanted to be considered for any of these he would need to talk it over with his consultant and asks to be referred to the doctors running the trial at his nearest centre. 

You may also want to look at the treatment section on the website of another charity, Bowel Cancer UK.

I think it is useful to be prepared and read things up a bit, but it can be easy to get overwhelmed on the internet so, have a general read around but try not to get bogged down. 

Feel free to give us a ring if you want to talk anything over, our number is  Freephone 0808 800 4040 and we are here weekdays (not BHs) from 9-5.

Best wishes,

Julia