During the spring of 2016, I noticed that my energy level was not where it use to be and I started noticing a red tinge in the toilet water. My wife told me to schedule an appointment at the Little River Clinic in East Corinth VT. I was recommended for a colonoscopy at Alice Peck Day Hospital in Lebanon, NH. The procedure was done by Dr. Ivatury and after I was informed of the cause of my symptoms. I have Colorectal cancer.
I had difficulty processing the news since I didn’t have much understanding at the time on what was in front of me. The one thing I do remember is Dr. Ivaury’s saying the cancer was ‘very beatable’. This gave me something to hold onto for the rest of the day. What followed was a series of procedures to establish the staging and to set up my treatment plan. I was fortunate that the cancer was contained to the area around my rectum and had not spread.
My treatment consisted of 28 sessions of radiation and chemotherapy, surgery to remove the cancer tumor, and then 8 sessions of chemotherapy infusion. This happened between August 2016 and April 2017. During that time, I found the team assigned to me, Dr. Ivatury, Dr. Russo, and Dr. Hourdequinn to be excellent and reassuring. Most importantly, I found I could trust the information given to me.
My treatment plan consisted of :
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- 28 rounds of radiation and chemotherapy
- Ileostomy surgery to remove the cancer tumor and create a stoma
- 8 sessions of chemotherapy infusion
- Surgery to hook the stoma back to the small intestine
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I was told that every person will have their own response to treatment and some reactions are more likely to happen than others. In my case, the ‘most likely’ reactions were the ones that I experienced and not the outliers. I experienced a lot of discomfort around the rectum about 3 weeks into my radiation therapy that lingered for about 3 weeks after the radiation treatments ended. For the chemotherapy infusion that followed surgery, my major issue was fatigue and neuropathy.
The biggest drawback that I had was after the ileostomy surgery, my ostomy took a while to work correctly. This extended my hospital stay to 2 weeks instead of the expected 5-7 days. In May, I had surgery to reverse the ostomy. Since then, I have had Cat scans and sigmoidoscopic examinations to verify that the cancer is in check.
With family support and confidence in my care, I was able to keep a positive attitude during this time. My biggest challenge mentally was dealing with the possibility of a permanent colostomy bag, because my cancer was so low in the rectum. At first, it’s sounded like it would be an alien being attached to your stomach but more research found that people lived full productive lives with them. I was fortunate that I had a choice for an ileostomy reversal, so I chose that. My sister knows someone that had the same choice and went with a permanent ileostomy. She felt it would be less hassle.
It’s important to note that after the ileostomy reversal, going to the bathroom was an issue. Earlier on, I would need to go in a hurry and not make it to the toilet. This got better over time, but it’s still on my mind in a way that it wasn’t before. Despite all this, I’m happy with my decision to go with the ileostomy reversal.
I found information on the internet to be a two-edged sword. On the one hand, there are chat room type sites that are targeted at people with rectal cancer. I found one site about people living with an ostomy to be very helpful. However, one of my darkest days early on was when I was researching rectal cancer on-line. On some of the medical sites, I became confused and laser-focused on the worst-case outcomes. I think it is important to trust your health care providers. I was encouraged and never misled about what was in front of me.
It has been over 4 years since I was first diagnosed with rectal cancer. I feel very fortunate. I had the full support of my family. My employer, TomTom, was very flexible so I did not have to worry about work. I have total confidence in my care. I will be forever grateful for the support that I received.