New Here. Husband Diagnosed 1/11/12

lac1005
lac1005 Member Posts: 3
in Colorectal Cancer #1
So, I have been lurking here since early last month. My DH, age 39, has some blood in his stool on January 7th. We went to the family doctor on the 9th, got admitted to the hospital on the 10th, colonscopy on 11th showed the rectal cancer tumor.

The PET/CT scan on 1-23 showed there was 1 lymph node near the tumor, but nothing else showed up.

On 2-6, DH started the M-F routine of radiation daily for 28 treatments as well as 3500mg of Xeloda chemotherapy pills M-F for the same time frame. At first his body was rejecting the chemo pills, but that was only 1-2 days. Since then, things having been progressing. We are on treatment day 15, so over 50% of the way done. Fatigue has begun to set in, but he is resting and taking care of himself.

My question is about the blood in the stool. The bleeding stopped while we were in the hospital in January. There was 1 time with blood just before readiation. Our radiation doctor said this was normal, and as treatment began to attack the tumor, this would stop. Well last night, Dh said he heard the blood when he went to the bathroom. Is this still normal? We will ask dr when we have our weekly appointment on Monday, but I thought being this far along, the bleeding should have stopped.

Thanks,
Lori

Comments

  • Minnesotagirl
    Minnesotagirl Member Posts: 141
    #2
    Welcome
    Hi Lori,

    First of all welcome and second I am sorry that you and your husband have to make this same journey as I did. It is a tough journey but I am so glad he has you right by his side!

    Question for you...you have written " DH said he heard the blood when he went to the bathroom"...did you mean saw the blood? The reason I ask, if he heard the blood...that would be alot and I would call the Dr. immediately. If he saw the blood, I think you should still call but I don't think it would be an emergency.

    I had rectal cancer with lymph node involvement too. Radiation is a tough one. It went pretty good for me in the beginning but around day 18 I started having severe burning. Everyone is different but I bring this up because I was bleeding from every orafice, blisters that were infected in the area, etc. (Very painful to say the least) They did have to stop my radiation at 25 treatments due to severe burning in and out. Does your husband have hemmroids? That can cause alot of bleeding problems too.

    I would call the nurse and let her know...they will probably want him to estimate how much bleeding there was, etc. I think it is better to error on the side of being cautious than not.

    God's blessings to you and yours and I hope only the best for both of you. You will get through this...remember that these next 2 weeks of treatment and feel free to come back and ask more questions ~ everyone is great here and certainly well versed in treatment plans.

    ~Minnesotagirl

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