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Original poster

my dad has just been diagnosed with colon/bowel cancer.

23 replies

pud1 · 25/02/2013 19:07

My Df has had colitis for about 10 years. After a recent flair up he has had some tests including the camera and biopsy. He has been told that he has colon/bowel cancer. They live about 2 hours away so I have only talked on the phone, I am going to see him tomorrow so will know more then. He has told me that it's in the early stages and that he will need an opinion to remove part of his colon. I am resisting the urge to Google it so I have turned to mumsnet instead. Does anyone know anything about colon/ bowel cancer

OP posts:

WynkenBlynkenandNod · 25/02/2013 19:14

My Dad had bowel cancer about 6 years ago, also in the early stages. He had a similar op I think. I had underestimated how much it would knock him as he kept saying it's nothing really. But he made a very good recovery after a few weeks and didn't need any chemo or radiotherapy . Fingers firmly crossed for your Dad

LIZS · 25/02/2013 19:19

:( DM had this last year. A fairly major op and recovery was slow (3 months-ish) but 9 months later she is much better. She decided against chemo as it hadn't spread and statistically made little odds.

Original poster

pud1 · 25/02/2013 20:04

Thanks. It's the recovery that brothers me most. He has a very stressful and physical job (chef) and does not know the meaning of taking it easy

OP posts:

Showtime · 25/02/2013 23:11

I've recovered from this after surgery, had both chemo and radiotherapy to shrink the thing, which was not nice, and unable to lift/drive for weeks after, but we're all different. Best wishes to your DF.

tallulah · 25/02/2013 23:27

I had bowel cancer 2 years ago. You can't work/ drive for 6 weeks after surgery, then in my case I'd just got over that and had to have chemo.

They remove part of the bowel then stitch it back together. If you are unliucky you end up with a stoma which can be permanent or temporary. Depends where the tumour is located.

CuttedUpPear · 25/02/2013 23:31

My dad had it 5 years ago at age 67. He had had a lifetime of eating meat and no veg, drinking too much and generally not looking after himself.
He had the op to remove part of his colon.

Glad to say that he's now been 5 years clear and is alive and kicking and still a grumpy fecker

Hope all goes well for your dad OP.

bext · 25/02/2013 23:33

My mum had bowel cancer fifteen years ago, and at 72 now she's fit healthy and active. They caught it fairly early too so she had radiotherapy first, then surgery, then chemo. It was a fairly long slog but she came through it.
She was terrified about having a stoma, but luckily the surgeon fashioned a pouch from the remaining colon. She has to be really sensible about what she eats now, but for her that is preferable to a stoma.
I remember reading at the time that bowel cancer caught early has one of the highest survival and recovery rates so I hope that is the case with your dad. Good luck.

overthebliddyhill · 25/02/2013 23:38

Another survivor here......it is very treatable in the early stages.
I found the chemo and radio quite tolerable and fully back to normal by 6 months after surgery. All best wishes to your Dad.
And remember...GOOGLE IS NOT YOUR FRIEND!!!!

BlueyDragon · 25/02/2013 23:44

I'm going through it at the moment - diagnosed last August, op in September and started chemo in October. The surgery was the easy bit for me, the chemo harder for both physical and mental reasons. Recovery from surgery was 6 weeks for me (keyhole resection, no stoma) but I was up and about from day 2 post-op as they don't let you lie about for long. Driving again around week 4 I think. At a guess - and everyone's experience is different - there won't be any final decision on treatment until they've analysed the section they remove.

Do Not Google. Tis terrifying and wildly inaccurate. Macmillan is great and has a very supportive bowel cancer forum for those with the cancer and anyone connected to them. Beating Bowel Cancer is about the only other site I'd trust. PM me if you have any questions and I'll try and help, if you would like me to.

Best wishes for your DF and you and all your family.

LIZS · 26/02/2013 08:26

Well he may not have much choice but to take it easy. She was out of bed next day and up walking day after but they wouldn't let her out of hospital until eating properly and with some help at home. Also the anaesthetic and pain releif takes its toll. It was about 8 weeks before she could drive (you need to be able to do an emergency stop etc as per post c-section) and even now lifting and stretching are difficult . On a practical level things like long handled grabbers, bathseat and stairrails helped

digerd · 26/02/2013 09:13

The majority if not all cancers are curable if caught early. Some are not and a 40 something male neighbour had been misdiagnosed with IBS for ages by GP, but turned out to be bowel cancer. He died last August.
A husband of a friend of mine at 62 was diagnosed with the over 60s bowel cancer screening, and his was also in the early stage.

It does depend on where the cancer is and his was in a difficult position, but is cured. Did have a colostomy bag, but this will be reversed and he won't need one later.

Londonderrysue · 26/02/2013 10:55

Beating Bowel Cancer is the best site to use, but there will be very few people on there who have had bowel cancer secondary to Colitis. People with colitis (proper name Ulcerative Colitis) have a twenty per cent higher chance of developing bowel cancer.

It's likely that the surgeon will recommend the complete removal of the colon (sub total colectomy) as otherwise the colitis will remain. I'd be very wary of anyone that suggested only removing part of the colon in a patient with UC. This surgery doesn't necessarily mean the need for a permanent ileostomy (Stoma) as restorative surgery to create an ileo anal pouch (internal pouch/j pouch) may be possible.

The Ileostomy and Internal Pouch Support Group has some great forums and there are a few people on there with internal pouches who had surgery due to UC developing into either high grade dysplasia or cancer.

Ileostomy or internal pouch, life is perfectly normal with either one, the only thing that stops people is their own fear. I've had a permanent ileostomy for nearly eight years ( had it done aged 29) and I could not be happier with it.

Ilovemyteddy · 26/02/2013 11:06

DH has bowel cancer four years ago. He had keyhole surgery, no chemo, and was out of hospital after a couple of days and off work for 6 weeks (he has an office-based job, so someone who has a more physical job may have to have longer off work.) DH did a lot of walking as soon as he was able, as the hospital said that it aided recovery.

DHs cancer hadn't spread, so no further treatment was needed. He has six monthly scans and a yearly colonoscopy to make sure nothing has returned.

As another poster said the Macmillan forum is really supportive, as is the Beat Bowel Cancer website. Do NOT Google, though, because you will just scare yourself with all the inaccurate stuff that's on the 'net.

Good luck to your DF, and to all posters currently going through treatment/recovery

bext · 27/02/2013 21:48

Just to give you the long term view - I've just spoken to my mum who had her fifteen year anniversary colonoscopy today and got the all clear. Hope your dad recovers as well as my mum has

Original poster

pud1 · 27/02/2013 21:51

Thanks all. I saw him yesterday and the next stage is mri scan. His doctor is quite sure it is in the early stages but canter 100% until after his scan.

OP posts:

digerd · 28/02/2013 10:03

Good luck with the MRI scan. Have you got a date for it, yet?

BlueyDragon · 28/02/2013 21:38

The MRI should show any spread - the usual sites seem to be liver and lungs - and that alongside biopsies will give the medical team further info to decide how to proceed from here. Just to warn you though, spread into the lymph nodes can sometimes only be picked up by removing those nodes, which may be part of the surgery your DF will have.

Let us know the date and please keep updating - thinking of you and your family.

Original poster

pud1 · 01/03/2013 13:50

thanks for all your messages and kind thoughts. just a little update..

got a phone call yesterday morning from DF informing me that the hospital has contacted him and they want his to come in at 2pm to have the camera procedure done again. i spent all day worrying and wondering why they had called him back at such short notice. he called straight after to tell me that they just wanted to double check as they could not get a clear picture of the tumor on the previous procedure as there was a stool blocking view (tmi). he informed me that he has seen the tumor and its only small ( not sure what he is comparing this too) and that its 20cm in and the inflamed area is 5cm long. TBH i am not sure that i believe that he has told me every thing as he does keep things to himself so as not to worry us.

he was also told that if he is called for his scan on Monday or Tuesday he will have the results by Thursday.

we are just sitting tight now waiting for the scan appointment.

OP posts:

Longdistance · 01/03/2013 14:11

Hey pud1. My mums had bowel cancer. Tis was about 6 years ago. My mums had polyps removed when she had an endoscopy, but needed to go into hossy for an op. She wasn't offered chemo, but had lymph nodes removed, so the cancer wouldn't spread to her liver, which would have been the next port of call for it.
Unfortunately, it did spread to her liver twice. This was treated immediately, and is now constantly monitored. Her last op was 4 years ago. She's had the all clear, and is fine now, but what a bloody journey that was. She gets regular MRI scans, and blood tests, but all's well now. But, this is probably a worst case scenario.
It is a rocky road not knowing what's going on, and very stressful at times.
Just keep finding out what treatment your dads having next, so you don't get lost in the loop, which is easily done.
Wishing your df a speedy recovery, and hope I haven't made you worry. Just sharing my experience of it x

BlueyDragon · 03/03/2013 06:07

Hang on in there, pud1, the waiting around is one of the worst phases. Your DF won't have any better idea than you, really, until you speak to the specialists who have the whole picture.

Original poster

pud1 · 16/03/2013 12:25

Sorry taken a while to update but here goes.

He has had all his scans and a meeting with the consultant. He has been told he will have to have a permanent bag doe to the positioning of the cancer. He has taken this quite hard. It is going to take time for him to get used to the idea. The good news is it hasn't spread so his prognosis is very good. He is quite down as he has got to wait 4 weeks for the op he is having the camera under sedation in the mean time.

Thanks for all you kind words and support

OP posts:

BlueyDragon · 18/03/2013 03:54

Thinking of you all during the wait, pud.

digerd · 18/03/2013 09:45

If it hasn't spread he is going to survive this. Many bowel cancer patients have a bag, but this can later be reversed, but does depend on where the cancer is.
Did they say his was not able to be reversed later?
Hope the camera endoscopy discovers some good news.

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