My husband finished his post op chemo (Xeloda) two weeks ago. Dx w/rectal cancer Oct. 03, surgery to remove tumor Feb. 04. Transanal Excision surgery (removal of tumor only)...

Anyway, he saw his surgeon today and he said everything felt good and that he wants to do a colonoscopy Monday and again every 6 months for two years. Is it the norm to have a colonoscopy this soon after surgery/post op chemo? Has anyone on this board had a tumor removed and not had a colostomy as a result?

Naturally we are about to panic about what the colonoscopy might show, but we pray for good results.

Please pray for us that my husband is cancer free..

All of you are in our prayers daily.

God Bless...

I am not surprised. I had one polyp removed and the want to check me again in 12 months.

I am praying for you right now that will find no cancer.

Since it was cancerous and they did not remove part of the colon, only the tumour, the Dr. wants to keep looking at the area where the tumour was to ensure that he cannot see any signs of cancer returning.

Cancer does not truly grow in a tight mass, it consists of tendrils that can be as thin as a cell or two wide that cannot be seen by the doctor. This is why they like to take "margins" removing tissue near the tumour to try to make sure they get it all. The doctor is trying to keep the colon intact, likely the pathology showed that the tumour did not extend further than the mass he took out and that would highly suggest he got it all but the only way to be sure is to keep monitoring the colon.

I had a colonoscopy 6 weeks after colon surgery. When I went to the surgeon 3 weeks after surgery, he said it would be okay to have a colonoscopy. I had a resection so I was really in no rush to have the colonoscopy. My oncologist wanted me to wait until 6 weeks after surgery, and even when I made the appointment for the colonoscopy the person taking the information was concerned if I had healed enough. If your doctor says it is ok, I would do it. I think the hardest part is waiting for the procedure and then waiting for the results.

Husband had colonoscopy 6 months after anterior bowel resection. One of the reasons stated was that he had so much scar tissue down there that it was difficult to read/interprete his scan results

He is due to see his bowel surgeon in October so i will let you know if he is due to have another one.

regards
ktee

My husband had his colonoscopy Monday. The doctor said everything looked good but that he can't say he will not ever have to have the "big" surgery. (Colostomy).
He said two of his patients that had the transanal excision surgery like my husband had come back over the last two months and their cancer had returned. One was after five years and the other after seven years. He was visiable upset when telling us this.
Anyway, he sent my husband down stairs to have a CT Scan and we go Wed for his ultrasound. I pray that he is still cancer free. We just take a day at a time and trust God has a plan for us.