Hello and thank you for your post,

I am sorry to learn of your situation, this must be a difficult time for you. I can understand you have a lot of questions.

You may have seen this already, we do have information on our website about bowel cancer, how it is diagnosed, and how it is treated which you can read here. You may also find it helpful to read Bowel Cancer UK 's information here.

It can be a worrying and anxious time, whilst having a diagnosis but waiting for test results. It is difficult because you aren't getting to speak to anyone at the moment. It sounds like the doctors are gathering all the information with the scans to see whether or not the cancer is just in the bowel or whether it has spread. This is so they can stage the cancer

Knowing this information helps the doctors to decide your treatment plan. Other things that are taken into account are your age, how well you are, and whether you have any other health conditions. Once the doctors have all the information your situation will be discussed at the Multidisciplinary Team Meeting (MDT). This is where several doctors including surgeons and cancer specialists along with nurses and radiographers all meet and go through each case and plan treatment. 

Once there is a treatment plan, the surgeon and nurse specialist will go through everything with you and discuss your treatment options. It can feel like nothing is happening whilst you are waiting for scans and scans results but some things will be happening in the background.

I don't know if you have been introduced to a nurse specialist (CNS), if you have it may be worth having a chat with them about what happens next for you, as they will know more about your situation.

I hope this helps. Please get back to us if you need any more information or support.  You may find it helpful to talk things through with one of the nurses on our helpline.  The number to call is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and the lines are open from 9am till 5pm Monday to Friday.

Take care, all the best

Jemma