I wanted to add a comment about a few LARS interventions I didn't try, or didn't really do much for me. I had LARS for the outset. I was referred to a nice PT, who had seen many ultra low anterior resection cases. She had me do some pelvic floor strengthening exercises, but I can't say PT helped muc...

Haven't been here for ages but thought I would weigh in on this important topic. I have been doing daily enemas for years (4?) and have been pleased with the result. My routine evolved over many months of trial and error. Fortunately the ‘errors’ were never catastophic or even embarrassing, merely i...

I also recommend reporting that aide. But then I would try and let it go. It is not the part of husband's life that you want to carry with you. Your husband's awful experience with that aide was only one small part of his life, and it can't rob him of the strength and dignity that you remember him b...

Good question. I am getting colonoscopy followup from the same GI doc that found my cancerous polyp in the first place. He specializes in screening, and does colonoscopies every week. I am sure he has seen more colons from the inside than my surgeon, whose experience with colons and rectums is mainl...

Rebequita, People have different outcomes. Many achieve a high QOL fairly quickly, others have continuing trouble. Hopefully you will do fine after your reversal. There are many factors that affect outcome: how low they went with your LAR, whether you had radiation, how long you had an ilio, and who...

Charley, I had surgery at Hopkins and I can't recommend anyone - but my experience is limited to only two of their surgeons. I sent you a PM with my impressions.

Sorry you have a recurrence, but hopefully you can rebound. If I were going to get a permanent colostomy, I would want to have a long talk about options regarding where it will go. Specifically above or below the waist band of your pants or skirt. An inch higher or lower may be very important, even ...

I'm 12 mos post reversal and I think my experience has been a bit worse than most others described here. I've had ups and downs with gradual improvement. Throughout, my surgeon has been generally unhelpful. I guess he is more concerned with doing surgical procedures than providing follow up care. I ...

Sorry you are here but you came to the right place. Your course of treatment so far sounds pretty typical of many of us. I would guess that most of us opted for chemo after resection, but some chose to forego chemo. My oncologist told me chemo would improve my chances. However, some members have poi...

Sorry you ended up in this forum but it sounds like you are taking a positive approach to your upcoming treatment. I had a similar course of chemoradiation. Not really bad for me, and I was quite productive throughout. The daily visits for 5 weeks was the biggest issue. I was able to work from home,...

Amazing news...congrats!

I am so sorry. I understand your desire to shield your husband from the full impact of his condition. This is difficult to do for very long but it might help him recover somewhat before coming to terms with the news. We all know the turmoil you are going through now. I hope your providers can help f...

I'm an empirically minded person, so I try to understand cancer from the standpoint of physical causes. I learned a lot from the book peanut mentioned. When cells replicate sometimes they go wonky. I guess thats an opinion because the facts are suggestive, but not conclusive.

Terrible news. I am so sorry. I agree with Elise to look at surgical options first. People on this forum strongly recommend the HAI but it isn't a practicable option for many due to cost, geography, family, etc. I hope surgery is an option for you. If not, your providers may have other ideas. Let us...

Sorry it has been so rough. I can only echo what others have said. Calmoseptine, desitin, preparation H, tucks wipes, sitz baths, immodium and lomotil all helped. I also ate small, low fiber meals, like white rice, corn flakes - maybe five little meals per day. Also started taking Citrucel to bulk u...