Hi, I had emergency surgery 2 weeks ago to remove a tumour from my bowel the biopsy came back today and the tumour was cancerous. I see the consultant Thursday. It’s all abit overwhelming can anyone recommend questions that I should ask? Thanks xx
ask your consultant the staging of the tumour and for an explanation of the staging grades. From there that should give you indication of any possible outward spread. From that any follow up treatment, what if any and why, its effectiveness and any side effects.
I was diagnosed with anal cancer in March. Had intensive chemoradiotherapy. I feel the treatment side effects were "downplayed" at the beginning! Thankfully, the prognosis was to cure, and Im so grateful was "caught early enough" to be told that. But the treatment was so awful. I was admitted for 2 weeks of the 4. I also realise (in hindsight), i was too compliant and embarassed to complain about how awful i was a week in to the treatment. Speak up at every stage ahead of you. The docs/nurses will listen. 8 months later im still having some issues, with urgency for toilet and the embarassment. Plus the gift of the perimenopause. Again, my advice would be, be honest with those around you at every stage. Ive fallen back in to a pattern of reassuring everyone im better. Im not sure i truly ever will be the same kind of better again
that's a difficult issue when you say downplayed, where do you draw the line given that we are all different, we can all respond differently. Do you think it right to give out the very worst case scenario that only affects a small percentage of people each year and scare off some going forward to have a highly successful outcome?
l say that as one of the few that live with knock on effects after ten years, as my consultant suggested at treatment l would emerge as the "New you". This was an acknowledgement of changes, not to the extent of them., they will vary person to person.
Faced with the alternative l think asking my body to adapt to my new situation is not an unreasonable exchange for a good life continued to be lived well.
Given my journey l would like to think it is still early days for yourself and there is still time for continued improvement, albeit slower than you would like, l hope this proves to be the case,
