Hi, i'm a 37yr old male self-employed plumber, with a full time working wife and mum to our 2 beautiful young girls, who was diagnosed with stage 3 colo-rectal cancer in October 2023.

I suffered symptoms of piles for the 1st time in Jan 2023, seen doctor, prescribed anusol, cleared it up...job done. 'Piles' came back couple months later, self diagnosed and bought anusol over counter, cleared it up.. job done. Came back again couple months later (now August), seen doctor...blood tests, colonoscopy (polyp biopsies taken), CT scans, MRI scans all came back positive.

MDT decided upon a treatment plan of targeted radiotherapy, chemotherapy (RADOX trial) and then surgery.

Radiotherapy - done

Chemotherapy - undergoing

Surgery - expected May 2024

This thread is really to help those newly diagnosed and for those who are undergoing a similar diagnosis/treatment and to share any helpful advice on how to deal with diagnosis, treatments & side effects of those treatments. What to expect and what might happen next.

What you're going through is absolutely *** and you're not deserving of this at all. If you need help pointing in the right direction for somewhere, help filling out any paperwork, talking to people in the same/similar boat then please don't hesitate to jump in. I'll do what I can to make this journey as easy as possible. 

All the best, Matt