The Colon Club

Hello and Happy New Year,
I am new to this site and wanted to introduce myself. I was diagnosed with stage 3 rectal cancer on September 18, 2006. I am 32 years old. My petscan showed 2 localized lymph nodes involved near my tumor. I started chemo and radiation on October 23 and finished on December 1st. Came through it pretty well except for a very painful behind Much better now. My oncologist gave me the rest of December off. Will start meeting with surgeons the week after next. I am meeting with a OB/Gyn surgeon to determine if they can do a full hysterectomy at the time of my resection. I am starting to get really nervous about the surgery (I think the pain and very likely possibility of a colostomy are freaking me out). Could anyone share their experiences with surgery with me???? After surgery I will begin FOLFOX and Avastin for 4-6 months.

Kiersten

Hello Kiersten,
You came to the right place! First of all, I am sorry that you are going through this but you will perservere! I was not nervous about my surgery. I was so anxious to have the tumor removed that I did not think past that. My recovery was slow and painful (in my abdominal area) but very managable. I do understand your fears of having a colostomy. That is not something anyone wants at any age. I understand that there are surgical procedures that could spare you of one....you may want to look into this more with your surgeon. I completed 12 rounds of Folfox. I wish you the best in your journey.
Margot