galee wrote:My adenocarcinoma was about 12cm from the anal verge. It was not recommended that I have treatment prior to LAR. I consulted with two surgeons. I chose a surgeon who specializes in colorectal procedures - That is all he does day in and day out. He did a flexible sigmoid procedure three days prior to my resection to make a personal determination of location, decide on laparoscopic surgery and to tattoo parameters. He stated there was about a 10% chance of temporary ileostomy. He did document as rectal cancer in my records. Resection was successful. No ileostomy was needed. He removed about 8 inches of colon. Leaving me with 6-7cm of rectum. Post surgery my bowels are a real challenge, but I’ve been told it’s still early. I have numerous symptoms of LARS but I am hopeful I will find a new normal.
I know it’s almost impossible, but try not to look back. Move forward with hope and positivity. I wish you all of the best in the days to come! If you are able to do so, meet with a couple of surgeons. Ask all your questions. When I met with the surgeon I chose, I felt the first sense of peace since my diagnosis. Prayerfully, surgery will be soon to remove your cancer. At that point your pathology will be thorough and you will gain a better understanding of the beast.
Sounds like we had very similar surgeries. My surgeon took out my sigmoid and a little less than half my rectum, about 12 inches total.
I also did not have an ileostomy.
I think we will fare better than most due to the remaining rectum. I’m not “normal” but then I wasn’t “normal” before either.
It’s definitely a challenge to hit the sweet spot in terms of getting things moving smoothly.
Lately I’ve found that having a small glass of kefir every 3 days or so seems to really help. Any more than that and it slows things down too much.
I’ve also been able to identify a few foods that are trouble.
When I do have a movement, my main complaint now is that it is almost always a one log event that quite often breaks off so it feels like there is more to come, but it won’t come out until later.
I’m about 10 months post surgery now. With some planning ahead I’m able to live a pretty normal life, at the moment.