Adenocarcinoma - just diagnosed

Had a bunch of more tests and markers getting ready for radiation. Hope house sounds wonderful but unless you have a care giving you can not stay here. SO if one is sick in a hotel thats better than being sick at the Hope house Hope house facility is free if you are getting treatments at least 3 times a week BUT no care giver no can stay her SO stay at a hotel & try to take care of oneself. Makes lots of sense!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Colleen, This is Richard Burrows! I commented a lot a couple years ago about living through Stage IV Colon Cancer 25 years ago. IThen was supposed to have died from the chemo! had a serious TBI a year ago! I shut this computer and email down for the last year. I am back and available for any questions you or anyone have!
As life goes on I am very interested in effects of Brain Injuries, also Lyme Disease I have had for going on five years,
Glad to see you are still here at MayoConect !
Talk to you soon! Sundance, Richard Burrows

Amen, and ditto!

Thanksgiving is a loooong way away that I will be finally done with chemo & radiation Probably will be bald & look like a rasin but i guess it is a life not worth much that is for sure And there is not a promise that all these treatments will kill the cancer. Probably my luck will be Xmas in the hospital have my butt cut out but not by the original surgeon that spent 30 seconds with me At least they could stay & talk until the exam room door shuts not like the 1st time I saw his shadow

My surgeon told me the same thing they told you. LARS can happen or not. If it happens it can manifest in many different ways, more or less severely, and there is no way to know how long it'll last. I'm hoping for the best, since I've also consulted with a clinical nutritionist to help me with the reintroduction of foods in a way that will minimize LARS as much as possible.

Glad to hear that you found a treatment that fits your life style and that you seem more hopeful! I wish you the best with your treatment!

Thank you for your response. I was told that LARS can gradually get better over time and some people didn’t have as many symptoms as others. The Surgeon gave all the facts about it but not an opinion as to how I will do. Every case is different and I guess all I can do now is go through the operation and hope for the best. I am also going to look into a therapist to help me with my range of feelings. We really do t have a choice since the cancer has to come out. They won’t know if I need chemotherapy until after the operation, so another thing to occupy my mind.

I too have the adem cancer disease After 2 other hospitals that were on the negative, just go away & die, Mayo is a sunshine of hope. Slim ray as I will be in treatment until Thanskgiving. Other 2 hospitals just wanted to rip out my butt & then live a colo bag. My life style which allows me to eat & sleep would not allow this if I want to survive. Surgeon I saw was noy impressed as he barely talked to me & was out the door before the door closed Only bad person I have run into at Mayo's If you get treatment at Mayos look into the Hope facility Free place to hangs one hat if you are in treatment Mayos was my last resort to live

Good to know things are moving forward, @lou3 !

Before my own LAR surgery exactly a month ago, I only had one surgery I felt mattered, a transanal resection. The LAR surgery I had was a two-step Turnbull-Cutait pull-through, with coloanal anastomosis (a week later). I was very scared and anxious, so I did several things: I started psychotherapy with a psychologist knowledgeable in clinical issues; I read about the procedure to understand it fully (even saw a video by a Colombian nurse), I made an appointment with my surgeon to clear up all doubts (I asked him about 15 questions). Now I'm again doing psychotherapy to help manage LARS and have joined a FB group of people with LARS, because recovery from LAR is slow and complicated.

I wish you the best for your surgery.

Thank you for asking. I finally got ahold of the other surgeon in that office and he will be doing LAR surgery in a few weeks. Very nervous as I have never had surgery and worried about afterwards with symptoms.