My husband diagnosed with bowl cancer

Hi I'm new only just discovered this chat, my husband 47 has just been diagnosed with bowel cancer not sure of the technical terms of where it is ect but it started when he was admitted for acute diverticulitis which showed red flags on the x-rays, fast forward to having a colonoscopy of the lower bowel they removed polops which he had a lot of, he had to have a second colonoscopy because the diverticulitis was still inflamed and didn't want to risk it.  So  after a month we finally been told he has cancer but it's not grown from the first procedure and seems to be early stages.  We have our first consultation at the end of the month and our biggest concern is since he went in for diverticulitis up to now he has lost 2 stone in weight (my husband is over 6ft tall) in a month, he looks so bony and our kids say "daddy your bony, they sticking into me" they only 3. His diet is the same eats all his meals but he is just wasting away and I'm concerned there is something more sinister going on.  On another note can diverticulitis kick start or wake up cancer (sorry if that sounds crazy).

 

just worried and with another two weeks to go I'm concerned he will have lost more weight.

 

thank you for reading Jess xx

  • Hello Jess and thanks for posting

    I am sorry to hear about your husband's recent diagnosis and appreciate this must be a worrying time and understand you have some questions.

    Weight loss can be a concern but this can be a symptom associated with bowel cancer so try not to read too much into it for now until you have all the information from the specialist doctor.

    Whilst waiting for the appointment encourage your husband to eat regular meals as well as snacks to try and keep up his calorie intake and there are some useful tips here about how he can do this.

    There are risk factors associated with bowel cancer that you can read about here. Inflammatory bowel conditions such as crohns disease and ulcerative colitis can increase the risk of bowel cancer as can polyps but often it is difficult to be able to say what has caused a cancer in any individual patient.

    Hopefully you will know more soon about what the plan is moving forward. Do speak to your husband's doctor if you are concerned in the meantime or notice anything else worrying.

    Do get back if you have more questions or you may prefer to call us on 0808 800 4040, we're here weekdays 9-5.

    All the best to your family

    Naomi