At the beginning of 2008 I had a routine checkup & it was discovered I was Iron Deficient Anaemic through a blood test. There had been a slight change in my bowel habit but didn't realise what was going on. I spoke to my GP & she managed to arrange an urgent Gastroscopy and Colonoscopy.
It was discovered that I had 3 tumours in the large intestine, following that I had CT and MRI scans. A second Colonoscopy was performed & confirmed I had 3 tumours. On 2 of them, the lymph nodes were clear. The 3rd had 3 clear but 2 had minute cells affected.
I was admitted to JR at Oxford for me to have a major operation to remove the large bowel (6 - 7 hour op). I was terrified and scared of what was going to happen. All the nursing staff were really nice, very caring & I was looked after very well by all the staff. I spent 11 days in hospital with only one setback during that time to do with my ileostomy bag & I wasn't at all well for a couple of days. (They said it was due to the trauma & delayed shock from the operation). It was dealt with very efficiently by the nursing staff. I recovered well & coped well with my temporary stoma.
About a month later I was assess for Chemo & commenced 8 three week cycles of tablet form chemo. I was very lucky to only have one type of side effect from the chemo, which was very painful soles of the feet & palms of the hands. I had the reversal of my stoma the following year & began the difficult time to retrain my internal J-Pouch to operate reasonably properly, which could take about 4 years if I am lucky. I had been all clear till April 2011 when a CT showed I had secondaries (one in each lung). These were ablated (one at a time) in 2012 & up to the time of writing this, nothing has been discovered.
"My Cancer story"
About: Churchill Hospital / General surgery Churchill Hospital General surgery OX3 7LJ Horton General Hospital / General surgery Horton General Hospital General surgery OX16 9AL John Radcliffe Hospital / General surgery John Radcliffe Hospital General surgery OX3 9DU
Posted by lollipop (as ),
Responses
See more responses from Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust
See more responses from Churchill Hospital