Postby sinewaves » Wed Jun 26, 2019 8:40 am
I had an APR in late April. I was also told by two surgeons that they wouldn't be able to get enough margins to save the muscles down there, so a total APR was my best shot.
I'm still getting used to life with the colostomy, but honestly it isn't as bad as I imagined. The worst part for me is sleeping, since I was a stomach sleep before, but all things considered I see it as a small adjustment.
The APR recovery wasn't bad at all for me, but they also performed a perineal reconstruction at the same time. They took tissue and a small muscle from my inner thigh and transplanted it to close up my backside. The recovery from that was no sitting or bending more than 20 degrees for 6 weeks, which was much harder for me. I got through that too - it helped a lot that my wife got some bed slats to raise our bed and make it easier to get into and out of without bending too much.
DX @ 40, married, no children
11/2018 - Dx "MALIGNANT NEOPLASM of DISTAL RECTUM" (Stage 3a, T3N1M0)
1/7/ - 2/14/2019 - Radiation + Xeloda
4/26/2019 - APR surgery, removed rectum. Permanent colostomy.
5/10/2019 - Started Xelox through IV (didn't get port put in)
8/30/2019 - Ended Xelox after 4 rounds (out of scheduled 6)
1/2020 - Lung nodule found in CT, ruled met from previous malignancy, re DX stage 4
2/2020 - Nodule removed, recommended another 6 rounds of Xelox
