My 60 year old husband was diagnosed with stage 2 rectal cancer before Christmas. We were told a resection was the treatment and felt positive about things. . Now he has had a PET scan and we've been told it has spread to his pelvic lymph nodes. Has any one else experienced this and had a good outcome? I believe this only happens to 30% of rectal cancer patients and is now complex.. My husband now has to have chemoradiation. We thought this treatment was just a foregone conclusion to kill off the cancer in the lymph nodes.
We went for the results of the PET scan yesterday and I now actually heard the words ' IF' the chemoradiation doesn't kill off the cancer in the lymph nodes then an operation may no longer possible. A day ago our worse fear was a resection with a stoma and now we hear this news.... I physically now can't eat or sleep hearing that information.
