The Colon Club

I was diagnosed this past April and have had 28 days of radiation. I currently am scheduled for surgery this Tuesday the 7th of November. scared and feeling alone.
My main question is being left with a two inch rectum and having this bag until I can get the plumbing reconnected to function in a more normal manner.
Can anyone tell me the length of the rectum that they have and issue that me be in having only two inches.

Hello and welcome to the board.

I had colon, not rectal, cancer so I can't really speak to your question regarding residual length of your rectum. I can reassure you though that there are many folks on this forum who have/had rectal cancer so you will have plenty of people to get advice and support from. I know just from reading here for many years that there are many things that can be done to deal with your new shortened rectum.

Good luck with your upcoming surgery.

Bev

I had surgery last week and have a temp ileostomy right now and I’m getting used to it. My distance to the anal verge was 5.1 cm which is not that far from two inches. The surgeon said that things went well so I assume I have enough sphincter muscle remaining to function when it’s reversed. The surgeon will make the final decision during surgery on temp vs permanent.

Is that what you were asking or were you asking about the level of functionality after the reversal. I’m not there yet so I can’t comment.

I hope your surgery went well!*hugs*

Yes all has been good. I will have reversed ileostomy on 5/29/18. 6 months of chemotherapy over with yes!!

you will be fine I had all my colon removed. check my posts


Good luck.