Diagnosed with stage 4 cancer - the long winding road it has become

[The Ghost]

Bless you Cois.

[BigDL]

Just got back from the surgeon. Will be booked in on either Tuesday or Wednesday for surgery.

Will get a stoma again.

There is damage to my sphincter so I do not have control over my bowels and with the first surgery to remove the cancer the doctor said there was a very slim chance that a reversal will work because the cancer was growing lower than we thought.

The surgery will not be a small surgery. The chance of being completely opened up again is there, as we do not know what new damage and cancer will be found. So no laparoscopic surgery.

 

That said, it all depends on my bloodwork (as I am still anemic and my blood counts are low) and my sodium levels.

**** bru - let’s trust that there will not be any new damage.

[MudLark]

'cois, my thoughts are with you and I pray for the best possible outcome.

[RobertWhitehead]

All the best Cois, hold on to positive thoughts and do not let this thing take control of your mind

[River Rat]

Hang in there.

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

Just got back from the surgeon. Will be booked in on either Tuesday or Wednesday for surgery.

Will get a stoma again.

There is damage to my sphincter so I do not have control over my bowels and with the first surgery to remove the cancer the doctor said there was a very slim chance that a reversal will work because the cancer was growing lower than we thought.

The surgery will not be a small surgery. The chance of being completely opened up again is there, as we do not know what new damage and cancer will be found. So no laparoscopic surgery.

 

That said, it all depends on my bloodwork (as I am still anemic and my blood counts are low) and my sodium levels.

 

You have tons of support, best of luck.

Keep us updated please.

[Cois]

Hi guys and girls.

Dr said the operation was a success. Just in a world of pain. They had to put in a catheter in as I could not pass urine. Doctor said it was possible to remove it tomorrow to see if I could still urinate.

 

The incision is about 20 cm long, and a colostomy was put in place. The stoma nurse swung past me this afternoon. She wants to get me on a Stoma trail for a new product to test it due to all my scars and drainage holes making the normal products very tricky to fit.

It also sounds like they redesigned the locking mech so things have changed in the past 3 months.

 

I just made one huge mistake... I drank a bottle of juice (supplied by the hospital as part of the diet I am following) but it caused a huge amount of gas and severe abdominal pain. So the hospital's idea of right and will work for you is not always right.

[Robbie Stewart]

Hang in there Francois. Glad your op went well. I am praying for you.

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

Hi guys and girls.

Dr said the operation was a success. Just in a world of pain. They had to put in a catheter in as I could not pass urine. Doctor said it was possible to remove it tomorrow to see if I could still urinate.

 

The incision is about 20 cm long, and a colostomy was put in place. The stoma nurse swung past me this afternoon. She wants to get me on a Stoma trail for a new product to test it due to all my scars and drainage holes making the normal products very tricky to fit.

It also sounds like they redesigned the locking mech so things have changed in the past 3 months.

 

I just made one huge mistake... I drank a bottle of juice (supplied by the hospital as part of the diet I am following) but it caused a huge amount of gas and severe abdominal pain. So the hospital's idea of right and will work for you is not always right.

 

Sounds like a successful procedure.

Praying for you....

[Cois]

Had a few fallbacks this weekend.

Started vomiting yesterday morning and again this morning. Yesterday at 04h00 and today at 00h10. Was given an NGO tube to help stop the vomiting. I have not eaten anything since Saturday evening.

They do not know why I turned sick all of a sudden.

 

Also one of the weirdest things happened yesterday. We walked to the cafeteria to get a coke to help with nausea.

When we were 30 meters away from the room, I noticed that my fingers went from reg to white and it was spreading.

I made it to the bed where I started shaking. My feet started going white. My wife called the nurses and was surrounded by 4 nurses a few seconds later. They fried getting a pulse and O2 saturation reading but got nothing. Even the Apple Watch could not get a O2 reading. They wanted to get me on Oxygen but there was a problem with the coupling system. After about 20 minutes my vitals started returning to normal.

They drew some blood to check what might have caused all the problems, but they can’t find anything wrong.

Two hours later I was in serious need of a shower. 10 minutes into the shower started seeing the blood draining from my hands and feet again. I was busy towing myself off and asked my wife to get the nurses again.

This time the same results. But they monitored how long it took to return to normal.

 

So they did an ECG on me to check if it was a cardiac problem, but the ECG came back as clear.

 

So hope the surgeon might know what if going on. This tube is a bloody nightmare.

[RobertWhitehead]

All the best man, this really sucks 

 

Snip

[MrJacques]

That sounds similar to Raynauds (which I get when it's cold).

[Cois]

That sounds similar to Raynauds (which I get when it's cold).

Will do a bit of reading on it.

[Red Robin]

Hope things improve a bit and they find the cause of this. 

[Cois]

The tube was removed. I still vomited with the tube in. I can’t talk or swallow anything. So have to type everything on my phone that I need to ask the nurses and physiotherapist.

So communication sucks at this stage

[ChrisF]

Ouch ....