Hello Everyone!!
I am new to these boards and hope I am in the right place. My husband is 58 and during a colonscopy has been told that he has a malignant tumor which has come back as rectal cancer. We have in 1 week undergone a series of test scans sonograms blood test cardio scans test stress test you name it and we did it. He is 58 years old and we needless to say are still trying to understand all of this. So much information and decisions in so little time. Anyone who is or has gone thru this would love to speak we are so confused about options to do. Thanks for listening and may God Bless you!! Ellice

Hi Gemlee.. Have they told you what stage the cancer is at? What is the treatment being offered??
Know its all so scary right now, but youve defiantely come to the right place. You will find comfort, support and knoweldge here for sure.
Just post any questions and concerns you have on the board here and someone will get back to you.
Take care and take time for you too
((Hugs))
Maz

I agree with Mazrose....if you had to be here, it is the best place to be in these circumstances. Do as much research as you can so you know the right questions to ask, to ensure the best treatment. When we know the staging, we can be more helpful. But do not despair...we have stage 1V's here who are doing well.

My husband, dx Stage 3c July 2003....age 65 at the time...complications during surgery but doing so well today, working full time in a demanding job, looking and feeling quite well. There are lots of stories here like his.

Take care,

That is a long drawn out procedure and would be raher uncomfortable but major surgery is very taxing on the body and takes a long time to heal from.

A permanent colostomy isn't the end of the world either. I have one. My tumour was very near where his is, mine was actually closer to the anus.I was 45 at the time of sugery.

Hi Gemlee,

Welcome to the board. This will be a very testing time for both you and your husband as you both come to terms with the dreaded C word and make decisions about treatments etc.

The only advice I have to offer is to get as informed as possible to enable you and your husband to make the best decisions for yourselves.

Jaydees is right, my husband has a colostomy bag also and it's not the end of the world, eventually, your husband and yourself will get used to it, if he needs to have one.

My husband has stage iv rectal cancer with mets to liver and lungs and was dx in April 2005 and we can relate to the shock you will both be going through right now.

Even though you may both be feeling overwhelmed at the moment please try and remain positive as Stage 2 colorectal cancer has a very high cure rate.

Wishing you and your husband all the best

maria_z :wave:

Thank You all for your posts it really helps to know that you are not alone. We are doing as much research as possible. As I said my husband isn't the most fit 290 pounds and a real big guy. The Doc just feel surgery of 14 hours would be putting alot of stress on his heart and they are concerned with stroke heart attack blood clot,they said if he was a smaller guy or just not so overweight it would not be complicated. He also has a blocked artery that we just luckily discovered. Thank you again looking forward to hearing from you. God Bless! Ellice Gemlee53@aol.com

I just wanted to say God Bless you and I will pray for your husband.

Please read and follow the posting rules.

Hello Everyone.

I only posted a couple of times regarding my husband who was diagnosed with rectal cancer. He has opted and began enodcavitary radiation for the treatment instead pf surgery. The only place that does this type of treatment is in Rochester New Yorrk. Our surgeon reccomended that we go there for an evaluation to see if he was a candidate. You have to meet a certain criteria. he was and has began treatment. Will be getting his third treatment this week. I want to thank all who have prayed and responded. I pray we all can find a cure to this scarey disease. thanks Again Ellice

Hi Gemlee, I hope and pray that all goes well with your husband's treatment. I am curios about it. Is endocavity radiation an implant? Will he need chemo also? How will they be able to tell if the cancer is completly gone? :confused:
My husband.also a big man(300+ lbs) was diagnosed with stage III rectal cancer July of 2005. His treatment consited of 5 1/2 weeks of radiation along with round the clock 5FU chemo via a portable fanny pump. The end of Oct, our very skilled surgeon was able to remove the tumor and do a straight resection :) (Because of my husband's size we were told not to expect to be reconnected) Pathology came back with good news (No lymph nodes possitive) so he is now stage II. Because of the high probability of reacurrance he is currently having chemo(FOLFOX) every other week. Next Tues. he will have his 8th out of 12 treatments. In July he will have his illieostomy reversed. All this has been really hard on him. He has not been able to work since his surgury. His diagoses came as a complete surprise to us(no symptoms at all) so it makes it all the harder to have him so weak and sick from the "cure"
Please let us know more about this treatment,
Hugs and Prayers, Larbo's wife

Hi !

Sorry I did not reply quicker but we have been on a whirlwind as I know you can identify with. My husband had his treatments Endocavitary radiation where they insert a large tube directly into the rectum and internally give you the radiation for 3 minutes. It is 4000 rads of radiation. This was done in Rochester New York the Hospital is called Strong Memorial. You have to be in stage 1 and sometimes stage 2 . The tumor needs to be in a certain location and a certain size. The sucess rate is 87percent. How is your husband doing now. My husband is cancer free at the moment but has other issues he is dealing with. He has a heart problem must lose weight and exercise and he has stopped smoking but needs to see a pulmonary doctor. Please let me know how you are doing? Thanks for the response.. Speak soon and God Bless! Ellice

Hi Ellice, I am so happy that your husband is now cancer free. He was very fortunate to have been diagnosed at such an early stage.
My husband just finished his 10 cycle of the folfox. He also is considered to be cancer free but with his stage III diagnoses, needed the chemo regiman to hopefully keep him cancer free.
He had an unexpected hospital confinement a few weeks back. He had blood clots form in his leg and they moved to his lungs. He spent 5 days in the hospital and needs to take coumadin to prevent new clots. He also has to go to the clinic 2 to 3 times a week to have a finger stick so they can check his proton or INR levals so they can regulate his coumadin dosage. Too low and he can develope new clots. Too high and he can bleed too easily. :eek:
He has only 2 more chemo cylcles to get through and then will have his ostomy reversed mid July. :bouncing: He hopes to be able to return to his job as a chef the following month. He is hoping that the pain and tingling in his hands will be gone by then. (one of the side effects of the oxaliplatin in the folfox is an intolerance to cold temperatures) He needs gloves to take things out of the fridge and I just don't see how he can do his job if he can't touch cold food or enter a walk-in freezer. :confused:
He is trying to get out and walk a bit more now that it has warmed up some. It is hard for him as he gets short of breath easily and is very fatigued from his treatments. He is trying to get stronger so that he dance with me at our son's wedding, that is coming up in June. :D
I wish your husband success with his weight loss. My husband also needs to lose weight. He did lose some weight from his first surgury. It is really hard to tell if he is losing weight as he has been retaining so much fluid lately. :confused: He has been put on diarectis and tries to drink lots of water(hard to do after chemo when NOTHING tastes good, and water in particular tastes nasty) :p
Hugs and Prayers, Kathy :wave:

Dear Kathy,

So glad to hear from you. Sorry about everything your husband has gone thru and still is going thru,its truly such a trying time. My husband too really has not felt too well since all this has happened ,but thank God the Cancer is gone. He was having some problems with the heart and a blocked artery and also he was a heavy smoker so they want him to have his lungs checked as he is always coughing and congested. The Doc said HE MUST lose weight he is 6 foot 1 and 290 pounds. He has tried to start exercising me bought a tread mill and he is watching his diet. He has to go every three months to get checked for the cancer to be sure it has not returned. He also has to get scans every six months. Did you say your husband had rectal cancer as well? Well it is nice talking please let me know how you both are making out. I am sure he will be up and dancing at the wedding ..Take Care and God Bless Ellice

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I too always thought that the way they did the staging was what made it be stage 1 2 3 4 depending on it having lympth node involvement and spreading. however after doing the surgery you said they did not find it spreading to lympth nodes so that is a GOOD THING REAL GOOD THING!!! Ellice God Bless All!!!