In 2000, Katie Couric, Idol, had lost her husband to colon cancer, so she went live on TV on a morning show to have one herself. That is what made me have one in 2001. My Dr. Pollop found nothing, and even though it was in my family, he said you can wait 10 years. Wrong... When I got mine, I had developed rectal cancer, much harder to treat than colon cancer. They can just take out the affected part, and that is it. Well, not so much. I had the tumor removed and my bowels rerouted while I had a reversal ileostomy. After 3 months, I had the reversal done. It had not spread, so no treatments. All was well, pretty much, except my bladder incontinence, but overall good. I even made a trip to Montego Bay, Jamaica. Wonderful. My colonoscopy came back good this past January, but I knew something was wrong. Your body will tell you, so listen. As it happened, the damn cancer was back, same place. So now I have no rectum and a bag, but the worst thing is the hernia behind my stoma, which is the size of a half large orange. No good fit for my bags, so I get leakage. Oh joy, nice way to wake up in the wee hours of the morning. Crap. Yelp. Now, after surgery to remove a hernia back in May, it's back. The hernia. Help. No spell check, sorry.
Yellowjack--I too am from Raleigh, NC. I too had an unbelievable experience as far as medical care or lack thereof. I am not a full member, but would love to hear from you. If you are a full member, you can message me and I can answer. I'd love to speak with you.
Peace,
Nancy
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Hi Yellowjack, I had my colon and rectum removed in 1994 and have an ileostomy. I know what you're going through. I didn't have cancer; I had ulcerative colitis for 15 years before my surgery. So if you need to talk, I'll listen, and we can chat and exchange experiences if you feel comfortable. Steve
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I guess I'm the lucky one. After numerous tests for heart problems, it turned out I had four masses of colon/colorectal cancer. After five days, I went home with a permanent ileostomy, went through several months of chemo and radiation, luckily without side effects, and continued working. Now, I have a grapefruit-sized hernia, again luckily without pain, and developed a methodology to manage to have the appliance last for five to seven days without leaks. Check my blogs for more information, or you can contact me directly.
In spite of my age, I am on multiple social media platforms, i.e., Facebook, etc., so you can search for me and contact me here or there.
Cheers,
Ed Maste