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Bowel intussusception and right hemicolectomy

SukiSoprano
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Hey all! New here ! 

I initially thought I had gallstones. Knowing what I know now, it was clear I had symptoms of Bowel Cancer however these were easily explained away. Presented at an and e with extreme pain, diagnosed as a bowel intussusception  which is apparently very rare as an adult.  A right hemicolectomy was performed laparoscopically. I was informed after surgery that ‘whatever was in there, we got it all’ …. No one used the word cancer. No one explained it could be cancer but everyone treated me like someone who knew they had cancer. It wasn’t until I looked into my symptoms and surgery that it even occurred to me it could be cancer. I then understood why ‘pathology have been sent ‘it’ marked as urgent ‘ that I even knew what that meant .

so I’m day 42 waiting on results ‘urgent presumed cancer’ . My surgeon said whatever ‘it’ was had spread from my large to small bowel but that she believed she had successfully removed it all. 

what am I facing here ? The Google odds are not in my favour. The odds of it being malignant are not in my favour  

is waiting 42 day for results good or bad or Indifferent? Some people say you get a result quicker if it’s not cancer ? I have a 2 children, one is newborn. I’m frightened but defiant. 

any help appreciated !!  Also I really don’t know if it’s relevant but my vowels do not move at all on their own. Only by taking picosulphate 

  • Hello SukiSoprano,

    It can be a worrying time while you're waiting for results, so I can imagine how you're feeling. We have some tips on our website around how to cope with waiting for news, which I hope could be useful for you. The length of time to wait varies and is not an indication of what the results might be. It's encouraging that the surgeon believes she's removed it all though and I do hope you get your results soon, but it can also help to try to focus on other things. When you’re worried that you may have cancer, it can be tempting to look for answers online, but this can end up increasing anxiety rather than making you feel better. And the only person that can diagnose you is your doctor.  

    I hope this is helpful,

    Moderator Anastasia  

  • Hi

    I hope that you soon get your results and that they will hopefully come back as benign.

    In August I had surgery to remove a large tumour from my liver, due to the size and the position, it has to be removed even if it turned out to be benign.  Because of that, no biopsy was done prior to surgery, so even when it was removed, I had to wait for the histology results to come back.  It took 8 weeks for me to be told that it was benign!  I got through the waiting by telling myself that the surgeons had removed the whole tumour, so I wasnt worrying about it still growing inside of me.  I also told myself that even if it came back as cancer, my body had to heal properly from surgery before any further treatment could be done, so waiting for the results wasnt delaying further treatment.

    As you can see from my case, results for even benign tumours can take a long time.  Dont lose hope yet!

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