questions???

cherriann

hi all,
i have yet to start chemo-rad or surgery for rectal cancer.will find out results of cat bone scan hopefully tommorrow. will also decide between 2 docs by thursday. 1 says chemo then surgery other says surgery then chemo. any thoughts on this, not medical advice just your thoughts. also has anyone had severe cramps. starts in buttock then shoots down leg.any advice on pain relief besides meds would be great. thanks again, cherri

markatger

Hi Cherri,

I was diagnosed with rectal cancer in Feb 2005. I had chemo and radiation before surgery. You didn't mention that you were to have radiation in addition to chemo. I believe radiation is recomended for rectal cancer patients. But maybe yours was caught in the earlier stages and radiation isn't necessary.

I'm going to go ahead and tell you what my understanding is about the having both chemo and radiation treatment prior to surgery.

1. Shrink the tumor so it can easier to remove. I think this is especially important for large tumors. If your tumor is small this might not be as important.

2. By having radiation before surgery, they are able to remove much of the tissue that was radiated. Radiated tissue is less flexible and will not function as well as unradiated tissue.

Sorry if the radiation info doesn't apply to you. I also received chemo after surgery. So I had it before and after. It is nice psychologically to have it after surgery as well as before. I felt like the post-surgery chemo was the extra insurance to clean up any little bits that were missed during surgery.

Well there it is...my layman's opinion of a complex situation. So sorry you are getting different opinion form the oncologist. That can be unsettling. Maybe you could get 3rd opinion??

Best wishes,
Maria

KathiM

Cherri,
I had rad/chemo before with stage II rectal tumor. 2 inches. Squamous cell carcinoma. (I know, anal cancer, in the rectum....crazy).
Wierdest part, when I had flex sig in surgeon's office, there was a pause, and he said "Where WAS this tumor???" Seems the pre-surgery treatment eliminated the whole thing. Because of rarity and other factors(big one being my fear of reoccurance,since I had just had a friend lose her fight with anal cancer), opted to do bowel resection anyway.
As far as cramps, for me, because of position of tumor, I had many sharp pains from siatic nerve that stretched down into my leg. This was resolved during tumor reduction during radiation.
Please, keep up posted.
Kathi

terril

In was given the choice of chemo first and surgery or surgery and then chemo. I decided to do chemo first to shrink the tumor in my pelvis. I onc felt this was the right decision. We are waiting to see it the chemo worked. I will have a CT in a few weeks. It might be different regarding cancer in the rectum. Mine was originally in the cecum. Good liuck with your decision. Prayers and positive thoughts are headed your way. Terri