Help! I’m scared!

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mcac15
Posts: 14
Joined: Wed Jun 06, 2018 9:27 pm
Facebook Username: mcac15

Help! I’m scared!

Postby mcac15 » Tue Jun 12, 2018 6:08 pm

I need some words of encouragement. I had a first screening colonoscopy at 51. Doc found a small submucosal cecal mass by my appendix. Apparently he couldn’t really biopsy it since it’s in the intestinal wall. CT scan inconclusive. I saw a surgeon who said I needed a right hemicolectomy. I pray the mass is benign but I also don’t relish losing part of my colon for nothing. I’m depressed about how my quality of life will be post surgery. Will I be able to eat in restaurants, go on vacations, ... I’m sorry to be such a downer but I’m terrified.

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betsydoglover
Posts: 978
Joined: Mon Aug 14, 2006 2:31 pm
Facebook Username: Betsy Lindh Williams
Location: Maryland - outside DC

Re: Help! I’m scared!

Postby betsydoglover » Tue Jun 12, 2018 7:20 pm

I haven't had a right hemicolectomy, but I had a sigmoid resection. After a few weeks I was perfectly normal in the colon department. Nothing I couldn't do until chemo started, but even then - tolerable. I would suspect that the surgery should leave you just fine once you are healed.

Good luck,
Betsy
diag. Stage IV, 5/05, liver met
lap sigmoid colectomy, 6/05
6 cycles Xeloda/oxaliplatin/Avastin (NED after 2)
11/08 9x13mm right lower lobe lung nodule; removed via VATS 4/09
NED
6 cycles Xeloda + Avastin
Avastin only 10/09-5/11
Still NED 06/18

hawkowl
Posts: 132
Joined: Sun Dec 14, 2014 5:29 am
Location: MN/FL

Re: Help! I’m scared!

Postby hawkowl » Wed Jun 13, 2018 1:10 am

I am hoping everything turns out to be benign. My primary is in the rectum, but I am definitely able to eat out (spicy Thai curry and ice cream today) and travel (uganda last summer, Brazil next month). The first few weeks are frightening, but it will get easier.
Dx 12/2014 T3N2MX (distant LPLN) low rectal
12/2014-4/2015: FOLFOX (8 cycles)
4/2015-6/2015: 28 cycles of chemoradiation with xeloda, SBRT
8/2015: Robotic APR with iliac node dissection; path showed ypT0,ypN0 (complete pathological response).
11/2015 scans clear, CEA 2.1
11/2015 parastomal hernia repair
3/2016 CEA 1.7, scans stable...
6/2020 5 years of normal CEA and stable scans
Now dealing with pyoderma gangrenosum.
Totally disabled due to oxaliplatin induced neuropathy and dysautonomia

boxhill
Posts: 789
Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2018 11:40 am

Re: Help! I’m scared!

Postby boxhill » Wed Jun 13, 2018 6:50 am

I had a right hemicolectomy in March, and I'm now on FOLFOX.

I love to cook and eat all kinds of authentic "ethnic" foods: Indian, Thai, Chinese, etc. I don't hold back on the spices. :D

Last night I fixed very spicy kofta meatballs, falafel with lots of spices, and tzatziki sauce with lots of garlic and fresh mint. Yum!

Yes, I have to say that my innards are somewhat likely to make more post-prandial noise than previously on occasion. But really, it is a very minor thing and you should have no trouble at all. Don't worry.

The only thing affecting travel would be your chemo schedule, IF you have chemo, and ONLY while you are actually being treated.
F, 64 at DX CRC Stage IV
3/17/18 blockage, r hemi
11 of 25 LN,5 mesentery nodes
5mm liver met
pT3 pN2b pM1
BRAF wild, KRAS G12D
dMMR, MSI-H
5/18 FOLFOX
7/18 and 11/18 CT NED
12/18 MRI 5mm liver mass, 2 LNs in porta hepatis
12/31/18 Keytruda
6/19 Multiphasic CT LNs normal, Liver stable
6/28/19 Pause Key, predisone for joint pain
7/31/19 Restart Key
9/19 CT stable
Pain: all fails but Celebrex
12/23/19 CT stable
5/20 MRI stable/NED
6/20 Stop Key
All MRIs NED

NHMike
Posts: 2555
Joined: Fri Jul 21, 2017 3:43 am

Re: Help! I’m scared!

Postby NHMike » Wed Jun 13, 2018 8:51 am

I have an illesotomy which is a tap on my right side off my small intestines so food doesn't even make it to my large intestine. I've had this since October 2017 and I've lived with it since then. There are some inconveniences but you get used to it. I've heard that a colostomy is a lot easier than an illeostomy.

I don't have problems with most food - I have to be careful with some things. I don't think that you'd have those problems with a colostomy.
6/17: ER rectal bleeding; Colonoscopy
7/17: 3B rectal. T3N1bM0. 5.2 4.5 4.3 cm. Lymphs: 6 x 4 mm, 8 x 6, 5 x 5
7/17-9/17: Xeloda radiation
7/5: CEA 2.7; 8/16: 1.9; 11/30: 0.6; 12/20 1.4; 1/10 1.8; 1/31 2.2; 2/28 2.6; 4/10 2.8; 5/1 2.8; 5/29 3.2; 7/13 4.5; 8/9 2.8, 2/12 1.2
MSS, KRAS G12D
10/17: 2.7 2.2 1.6 cm (-90%). Lymphs: 3 x 3 mm (-62.5%), 4 x 3 (-75%), 5 x 3 (-40%). 5.1 CM from AV
10/17: LAR, Temp Ileostomy, Path Complete Response
CapeOx (8) 12/17-6/18
7/18: Reversal, Port Removal
2/19: Clean CT

zx10guy
Posts: 233
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2013 12:54 pm

Re: Help! I’m scared!

Postby zx10guy » Wed Jun 13, 2018 9:03 am

You'll be fine. I have the rare distinction of first having a left hemicolectomy and then a few years later having a right hemicolectomy. So I'm currently functioning with only half of my original colon. Haven't had any dietary changes. Bowel habits are pretty normal but there are times I have to urgently find a restroom.


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