My dad has just had a colonoscopy and it looks like he has bowel cancer

[pinkchampagne1]

He has had symptoms for a while (mucus and rectal bleeding) but has put off getting checked out until recently. His FIT test was very high so he was fact tracked for a colonoscopy which he had today. Just phoned my mum and it looks like they have found a large growth which looks to be cancer. My dad is 83 and I adore him so I am so upset. 😢

How is your dad doing?

My dad hasn’t started his treatment yet. He had an appointment at the cancer clinic last Thursday with the hope they would start treatment yesterday, however they couldn’t get him in in time for the fitting of his pic line so it is now hopefully starting next Tuesday.

Big week for my dad coming up. He has just received a message that he has a surgery appointment at Kings hospital on Monday which was a surprise as hadn’t heard anything from Kings. This will be regarding the liver lesion.
He then has his pic line fitted and starts his new chemotherapy on Tuesday.

Best of luck to him and fingers crossed all goes well 🤞

Thank you. Hope all is okay with you. 💐

Sounds Like things are moving @pinkchampagne1- good luck hope all goes well 💐💐

Good news @pinkchampagne1I hope all goes well for your dad.

We have just dropped my parents at the train station. We have suggested that it might be an idea to record what the surgeon says today as it might be a lot of information to take in.

Good idea - it can be alot to take in. Hope all has gone ok

Dad’s appointment went ok thanks.
Looks like they are planning surgery for his liver lesion in the next 3-4 weeks. They hope to do an ablation procedure as it is less invasive, but his lesion is on the cusp of the size limit so they need him to have another scan first. If they can’t do that then they will have to do key hole surgery.
They said they will halt his chemotherapy to get the procedure done as quickly as possible.

Sounds like they are trying for the least invasive options with the ablation procedure or key hole. Hope you feel supported by your dad’s clinical team and that he’s getting good care. I know it’s not been straightforward but it does sound like they are exploring the best options for him. Take care

Yes I agree, it feels quite positive. I am glad they plan to do this surgery quite soon as I thought we would have to wait another 3 months so he can finish his chemo first.

Today my dad has gone off for his first day of the new chemotherapy. It will be a long day as he needs the pic line fitted first and then another 3 hours plus for treatment. I hope he tolerates it okay.

Chemo can be quite gruelling as much because it is so time consuming, so makes it a long day. Hope it all goes to plan and you get a date soon for scan & the procedure.

Well all hasn’t gone to plan. My parents arrived at 9 am for Dad’s chemo and they didn’t have any record of his appointment! Evidently the consultant thought he was going to London for his liver surgery yesterday so postponed his treatment. They now have to wait for the two consultants to organise another appointment. 😣 So yet another wait for my dad to start treatment. 😞

Oh no! That is very annoying. Sorry to hear about this 😞

I feel so frustrated and worried now. I am scared that the cancer could be progressing in his body with all this time that he hasn’t had any kind of treatment, and now we will have to wait even longer.
Yesterday I felt quite positive and now today I feel he is being written off. 😢

@pinkchampagne1 I’m so sorry to hear that. You must be so worried and feel so let down after what you expected to happen today. Praying that the next appointment comes through asap.

That’s not good @pinkchampagne1 - sounds really frustrating. If you need a bit of help navigating all this and getting your dad’s care joined up his CNS or the PALS team can help. Hopefully it gets sorted asap

I wasn’t aware of the PALS team.
I am so frustrated and frightened that he is going to be left so long that the cancer will become untreatable. I tried to tell my mum that she needs to push to get him another appointment asap. My mum gets stressed though and I don’t want to stress them out further. I just feel so powerless right now 😞

I am so sorry you are going through this. It does sound like your dad’s treatment plan has been stop start.

I totally get that you are worried that not much has actually happened. For your own piece of mind can you call your dad’s CNS or Consultant? Would your parents be ok with this? You just need an explanation of what is happening and when. You have chemo & surgery departments involved and I wondered if they are communicating effectively?

If you don’t get the answers you need or want talking to PALs might be helpful. Sometimes they can just support the communication or resolve any issues.

Thanks for the advice on who we can contact for support.

My mum did phone the hospital secretary who initially gave my dad an appointment for the week after next. My mum got very upset with this as he has already gone over 6 weeks with no treatment. Eventually they phoned back and offered an appointment for his pre cancer check and pic line fitting next Tuesday at a different hospital, then next Thursday for his first round of treatment.
The cancer nurse at Kings was very good though. He has requested an urgent CT and MRI to be done locally, plus he is going to push for his liver surgery asap.

This sounds like progress! Sorry your mum got upset though to get action. It’s a stressful situation being made harder.

is your dad having treatment at two different hospitals for his cancer? Bowel cancer being local & liver at a different (tertiary) centre? Or is he under the care of one treatment centre/hospital?

@Meredusoleil Will be thinking of you and DH on Tuesday. It's a scary time but I've been there and fingers crossed once the surgery's done that will be then end of the cancer (just an annual colonoscopy to look forward to!).

My dad is having his treatment locally (we are in Kent) but the liver is being dealt with at Kings in London. The London team seem
a lot more on the ball.

The pic line should be fitted on Tuesday after his pre chemo check and then hopefully he will start treatment on Thursday. My mum is fearing it might not happen again after the last treatment being cancelled, but hopefully it will go ahead this time. 🤞

Thank you. That's the best case scenario that we are hoping for. I think he is having a high anterior resection based on where the tumour is located (near the rectosigmoid junction), so am holding on to the belief that he won't need a stoma, even temporarily and that they will manage it via key hole surgery to help with a quicker recovery 🤞