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Pressure to surgery - distressed

mab30
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Rectal cancer confirmed 4weeks ago. Met professor. Met surgeon. Met medical oncologist. Decided on chemo radio. Now been told to have more meetings to discuss excision surgery. Have said I don't want surgery. I feel bullied to surgery. I feel so angry and frustrated. I have lost so much trust in the medical care. I feel awful and lost.

  • Hello and thank you for posting.

    I am sorry that you are feeling bullied into a decision about your care. The team looking after you will want to guide you to the best outcome they see possible for you. This will have been decided at an MDT ( Multi Disciplinary Team meeting) where bowel specialists from your hospital trust have decided a treatment plan.

    It is your decision about what treatment route you decide to go down, but ethically the doctors have to ensure you fully understand the decision that you are making.  This is called an informed choice. This is particularly the case if you settle for a treatment that the MDT do not feel is the better option for you. 

    Do talk this all through with your team further. Here is a link to our page on anal cancer treatment in case useful.

    Here is a link to the bowel cancer UK forum,. You might find speaking to others in a similar situation helpful. 

    Take care and I hope this all gets sorted for you soon. If you want to talk things through with one of the nurses on our helpline the number is Freephone 0808 800 4040, and lines are open 9 till 5, Mon to Fri.

    Sarah.

  • Offline in reply to CRUK Nurse Sarah

    Hi Sarah, thanks for the reassurance. I just don't understand how we've done all that and now I'm told the informed choice was not an informed choice. We also discussed the options at length. I was asked how I felt and that I needed time to consider. I'm still comfortable with my decision and I believed that is also my prerogative. At least 2mdts have taken place, another will happen next week and another one in a few weeks. It's almost like they want the cancer to have time to get worse so that I am only left with the radical option. For me that isn't giving me any options, rather that I just give up on it all and have no treatment at all. For something flagged start of year to get pushed back to May or even further feels terrible.

     

    Thanks for the links etc.  and your time to reply. I als hope it gets sorted soon.

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