Bowel Cancer- tell me all about it.

Gassage

One of my relatives was diagnosed with this yesterday. Has anyone any first hand experiences? Prognosis? She is 74.

Depressing thread- for which I apologise.

mike_l

Not directly bowel cancer, but I have got Crohn's which has similar symptoms/treatments (until chemo/radio therapy).

PM me if you have any questions I can answer.

Gassage

mike_l said:

Not directly bowel cancer, but I have got Crohn's which has similar symptoms/treatments (until chemo/radio therapy).

PM me if you have any questions I can answer.

Mum diagnosed yesterday.... Pretty down at moment.

guitarfishbay

Really sorry to hear that Gassage.  Wishing you and all your family all the best.

chillidoggy

Oh man, sorry to hear that, not really sure what else to say, though.

fretmeister

One of the chaps I went to school with had it.

He did not survive it (he was 40) but I have to say that I have no doubt his death was partially due to male pride. He would never go to the doc, even when he was losing weight like it was being chopped off him. He just didn't like the idea of medics having a look up his bum.

When he finally went to the doc it was too late to do anything, so I hope your mum has caught it quick

Pain Management will be the key thing though, it's a very painful disease and getting the right pain meds for my mate seemed to take ages.

Not wishing to speak ill of him when he can't defend himself - but he, err, discovered that supplementing his formal pain medication with additional grey import own brand opiate based medication was very helpful. Ahem.

RocknRollDave

FWIW, I have two experiences:

My granddad passed away from it, but something like 14 years after his initial diagnosis, so we're probably going back some 35 years since that first diagnosis...oncology has no doubt progressed somewhat since then...but either way, he had a long time and a good quality of life between his initial treatment and its recurrence many years later.

Also a friend's mom had it years ago, and has been in remission for donkeys years since then.

There's a lot of bowel in us humans, we can afford to lose a bit to surgery.

Wishing you all the best and sending positive thoughts.

ChrisMusic

I don't have any helpful knowledge I can share with you.

But I want to extend a hand of friendship, and give a little moral support by posting here.

I wish you and your mum and family all the best in a difficult and worrying time.

I do hope things work out for all of you.

Chuffola

No knowledge either but sad news and hope things work out ok. Try to keep positive.

EricTheWeary

Sorry to hear the news.

Having gone round the close relative has major illness thing ( although not with the big C) I know there is a temptation to Google it endlessly. My experience is that this wasnt really helpful. Massive amount of on line quackery. Find a reputable support/ charitable group and join/ read up. B Being properly informed takes away some of the fear at least and helps you follow the jargon her doctors will throw out.

RocknRollDave

^Good advice that, I would endorse the DON'T GOOGLE STUFF ethic

Strat_a_tat_tat

Gassage, really sorry to hear about your mum's illness. Hope the treatment is effective.  Stay strong.

lloyd

Horrible news for you pal. 

My mate was diagnosed with it  5 years ago-she's been in remission for a few years, caught early it's treatable and as 'curable' as these things can be...not to down play it as she's been through it with quite a few operations and it hasn't been an easy road, but she's alive and kicking, which is the important thing-sure your Mam will be 5+ years down the road.

Got my fingers crossed for you all

Gassage

EricTheWeary said:

Sorry to hear the news.

Having gone round the close relative has major illness thing ( although not with the big C) I know there is a temptation to Google it endlessly. My experience is that this wasnt really helpful. Massive amount of on line quackery. Find a reputable support/ charitable group and join/ read up. B Being properly informed takes away some of the fear at least and helps you follow the jargon her doctors will throw out.

I guess it's the modern equiv of bar room diagnostics

Phil_aka_Pip

Sincere commiserations @Gassage

drwiddly

Sorry to hear about your Mum. Organisations like Marie Curie Cancer Care and MacMillan have counsellors and support services. They can provide you with lots of information and support so worth contacting them.

PolarityMan

My Dad died of it about a year and a half ago, unfortunately by the time it was found it had already spread. I would echo what drwiddly says. MacMillan were really helpful.

I hope in your relatives case she has been diagnosed early enough to make a difference but one thing to beware of is that surgery becomes increasingly risky with advanced age. In my Dad's case he was 57 and had 2 surgeries both of which made him significantly weaker, it is not at all clear to me, in retrospect, that they were a net benefit.

It's still something I'm not very comfortable talking about but you have my sympathies and best wishes.

MazzaG

Really sorry to hear your bad news brother.

My Mother's boss had it and beat it, he has been clear for I think 4 years now. What shocked me the most was how well he dealt with the Chemo, it really didn't affect him too badly at all apart from making him very lethargic.

Be strong for your mother.

gusman2x

Nothing to offer I'm afraid, but I'll spare a thought for you and your Mum. Good luck, and positive vibes.

breakstuff

No experience or the subject but best of luck and wishes to your Mum.

Grunfeld

I lost my step-dad to it. 

However, "any cancer?" is one of the standard questions I have to ask a new patient and one of the brilliant things about practising now compared to when I started is that now I regularly hear things like, "I had x cancer 10 years ago".  I never heard that years ago.  And yep, "x" can be "bowel".  Basically, things have clearly improved a lot.  The devil is always in the detail of course but that will become clearer in time.  Best wishes to you and your mum.