Second Surgery

[Bowler70]

Having had debulking surgery in June and 4/6 of Carboplatin and Taxol treatments I have now been told that I have 2 tumours on my sigmoid colon not responding and it has been recommended that this part of my bowel is cut out and rejoined. I am shocked to have to face surgery so soon as I thought treatments would be chemical from now on. Has anyone had this and can give me any recovery times? It took me 8 weeks to recover the last time and looking for some optomistic reports

[delia2]

I haven’t experienced this but since your tumors are apparently platinum refractory I think you are lucky they can cut them out and it sounds like they can do it without a colostomy. I would leap at it if I were you. It won’t be pleasant but it will be effective. My father had that surgery at 82 and bounced right back. Everyone is different but I prefer surgery to chemo myself. Of course it would be best not to have the beastly disease in the first place! I wish you the best!

[Bowler70 in reply to delia2]

Thanks Delia, They say if it a planned operation there is little likelihood of a colostomy but of course they mention accidents! How long did it take your Dad to recover?

[delia2 in reply to Bowler70]

Like 3 weeks. But he was kind of amazing that way.

[Bowler70 in reply to delia2]

Wow

[ruthg55]

Hi ... I agree with Delia re surgery over more chemo. I'm under the impression that if surgery is possible then it's first choice (well, here in Australia anyway). I had second surgery last year for recurrence in one para-aortic lymph node, so not the same as you. It was really tricky to operate on as it was so close to the aortic and renal blood vessels, so I had to have major surgery (ie cut from diaphragm down to pubic bone). It did take longer to recover, but I was out of hospital on day 4 and out walking a couple of weeks later. It took a couple of months before my diaphragm felt not so tight. Even though I now have an incisional hernia (doesn't bother me), I would still prefer surgery. Wishing you all the best and hopefully this surgery will do the trick!!

[bamboo89]

I had 15 cm of bowel removed (sigmoid downwards) and had a resection during my original debulking surgery - they warned me beforehand that if they found anything visually suspect on the bowel, they would remove it. I didn't have tumours, just 'spots' in that area but they took it out anyway. And yes, I was warned that I might wake up with a colostomy, which might or might not be reversible...

It's a pain to have to have a second surgery to get it done, but honestly, I'd go for it - as some of the others say, I prefer surgery over chemo any day... Sometimes you can have the surgery done and they do a temporary colostomy which they will reverse later - ask them how likely a permanent or temporary colostomy is for your situation.

Probably the worst thing is not being able to eat for a few days - they give you those ghastly Ensure drinks (I think that's what they're called) for a while to give the bowel time to recover, at the same time as lots of Movicol, then usually a low residue diet is recommended for a few days/weeks. The bowel does not like being handled, so it can take time to start working properly again, but its not any more painful than if it started working again rapidly. You may find your bowel is rather 'fussy' for some months afterwards, so keeping Movicol to hand is a good idea, but I'd say absolutely go for it... especially as the chemo isn't touching those tumours.

As for recovery time, given you only had major surgery fairly recently, how they access the bowel might be an important question to ask, as in where will they cut, and they should be able to give you some clue about how long it will be afterwards before you're able to function normally in terms of lifting and so on.

The only other thing I'm wondering is, if you only had your surgery in June this year, why didn't they do the bowel surgery then? It's only been 4 months, so surely there was evidence of cancer on that part of the bowel during your debulking surgery if you now have two separate tumours there...

Miriam

[Bowler70 in reply to bamboo89]

Yes you are right there was a tumour there but they decided to leave it as was 1 cm in size and adhered. The other is described as plaque long and narrow . Was 2 cms now 2.6 but no wider. Something was mentioned in passing like ‘ if there had been a bowel surgeon in attendance they might have been more inclined to remove it at the time’ ! Wish they had as I am finding it daunting to contemplate having no symptoms .Colostomy unlikely if op is scheduled rather than emergency I was told. Waiting for scans and appointment with bowel surgeon.

Thanks for taking time to give me a detailed reply.

Bowler

[bamboo89 in reply to Bowler70]

Infuriating that they didn't do it during the debulking - my gynaecology/oncology surgeon did mine when debulking, they didn't get a bowel specialist in. I suspect I was very lucky with my surgeon (Prof Farthing at Queen Charlotte's)...

I'd be cross about this, but to be honest, what's the point😊.. you are where you are, and now it needs to be done. I'd just add that when I had my debulking, I had no symptoms other than an enlarged inguinal lymph node that I'd found myself, and I felt perfectly well, so I know what you mean about the surgery being even more daunting because you feel ok. Amazing really that I felt fine, when I had a tumour on the pelvic wall, two cancerous ovaries and fallopian tubes, and a very large cancerous lymph node, with cancer spots all over the omentum and the bowel... feeling well made the need for surgery hard to accept. But do ask questions about how they're going to go in and recovery time, especially in regard as to what you'll be able to do physically after the surgery. Good luck!

[Rlenesue]

Sorry to hear this. Although I dont have experience with this, I suppose recovery would be based on how the surgery is performed (laparoscopy or opening you up) chin up, we're here for you

[Bowler70]

Thanks Rlensue dont think they can do that laparoscopy but I will find out

[cd25]

Sorry to hear you are facing surgery so soon again.

I had similar surgery when l had a recurrence and lost 30 cm bowel, but there was just enough healthy tissue left to avoid a colostomy bag although l was told just before surgery that l might end up with one.

I found recovery slow, with the bowels learning to function again and wondered for a while if l would ever go for walks on the beach again or be forever keeping an eye out for the nearest toilet and not daring to stray too far from it.

But life did get better again and l live a normal life again.

Pain was well managed,it just took a while to work out what to eat. I found that eating potatoes helped and that l had to be careful with fruit and fiber, the opposite of what I ate before. But it all recovered well.

Although my tumor markers are up again there is no sign of recurrence on the resection site.

I wish you speedy recovery!

Cari

[Bowler70 in reply to cd25]

So good to hear you are doing well. How long was your recovery. .? I would say it took me 8 weeks to get over my original op

[cd25 in reply to Bowler70]

The physical recovery was probably 4 to 6 weeks, the bowel recovery was much longer. I could go out to see friends and go for walks if l took gastro stop before I left the house. But it took about 8 month before the bowel developed a new normal pattern.

But recovery is hard to measure while on chemo. I started on Carboplatin and Caelix two weeks after surgery.

Are you still on chemo?

Cari

[Bowler70]

2 more to go and they said would be after that .I hope I get some recovery time. I dont know about you but I am finding even the smallest scratch takes ages to heal. I had a blister on my finger and it took 10 days to heal. Never heard of gastro stop is that prescribed?

[ARamage]

I had a colon "resectioning." I had stage 2 Endometrial cancer, and it was on top of my colon and on top of my bladder but not in my lymph nodes. It began with a tumor in my uterus. Both areas were operated on. The doctor also removed the fatty layer in my abdomen that all of us have, because he said "cancer likes to hide out" in areas like that. He took out my appendicitis and cleaned up any sign of endometriosis. I had already had a radical hysterectomy. This operation really helped to prevent further spreading of this horrendous disease. After my operation, I went through six rounds of Chemo—three of which were IP belly washes. Recovery: months. Two years later, I still feel the pull of scar tissue. The Chemo left my joints hurting. I also battle mouth sores from my immune system being low thanks to the Chemo, but I'm NED, and my CA125 is low at 7 and 8. I would do the operation and the Chemo rounds all over again. I'm here and I now hike fairly high mountains with friends in the States. I'm 66,so recovery takes a little longer but I feel very good about where I am, especially given what Chemo can do to our bodies. Wishing you the best!

Angie

[Bowler70 in reply to ARamage]

Gosh that’s inspiring. Thankyou