Hi everyone, I am a newbie here, but I' ve been reading posts for a while. My wonderful, 47 year old hubby, was DX w/ stage 3 rectal cancer in Jan.2012. He underwent 6 weeks of chemo/radiation 5fu pump, & 28 rad. treatments & did exceedingly well thru this. He had the usual skin irritations from rad.& handled it well. he will have APR surgery on may23. He tested negative for Lynch Syndrome. He is young, thin and in excellent shape, except for the dog-gone tumor. We have done our research on the surgery & the perm.colostomy that comes with it. We have an "ace" of a surgeon, who is the known in our parts as "THE" doctor and also the doctor that doctors would have do their surgery if necessary. We have had exc. onc's & a wonderful ostomy nurse, who will mark the spot 2 days prior to surg. Also, our Dr. is a man of great faith, as we are, and we know God has assigned him to our case. No doubt about it...Now...I just need to hear your stories, words of encouragement, or anything you can offer regarding the surgery. We are ready to take it on. Yesterday, our surgeon found that he could not do an acurate exam in his office, without hurting my hubby, so he will do a colonscope the day prior to surgery, so he will know exactly what he is dealing with before he goes in (using robotics and laproscopy and normal inscision below navel). this means 2 days of liquid diet before surgery, instead of one
..any way. My husbands tumor was very low, so he will have rectum & anus removed and sphyncter (sp?) . He is not afraid..but I am..so any words would be appreciated. God Bless you all in advance and I pray for you all each day.
Mamalea