Stephen Lewin, London
I was diagnosed with stage 2 bowel cancer in October 2020. This came as a complete surprise to me, as I was fit and well and had no obvious symptoms.
For some years prior to my diagnosis of bowel cancer, I had been experiencing haemorrhoids and, in 2014, I had a flexi-sigmoidoscopy to see if I had bowel cancer. The haemorrhoids were treated and, fortunately, they didn’t find anything more serious. Since my 60th birthday, I’ve completed every bowel cancer screening test that I’d received and prior to 2019, the results have always come back negative.
Fast forward to July 2020, when I went to the GP as I was passing some blood quite regularly but, to be honest, I wasn’t too concerned as I thought it was likely to be just haemorrhoids again. The GP referred me to a colorectal consultant who treated my haemorrhoids and asked me to see him again a month later. He arranged for me to have a CT scan and, at the next appointment, carried out a flexi-sigmoidoscopy. All of this was done very quickly through my private healthcare insurance.
During the flexi-sigmoidoscopy, he found a tumour in my colon and told me I would need surgery. At the follow-up consultation with me and my wife, he explained what the surgery would involve.
In November 2020, I had the surgery at my local hospital, which initially went well. However, about three days after the surgery I developed an ileus, which then started to resolve itself. After five days, I developed abdominal distension, which was painful and proved to be an anastomotic leak. The consultant had to perform an emergency end-colostomy. I subsequently developed a haematoma in the wound from the original laparoscopic surgery and had to return to theatre to have the haematoma removed and the wound cleaned. I spent 15 days in hospital and had three visits to theatre in that time. As it all happened at the height of the Covid pandemic, my wife was unable to visit me but we kept in touch by FaceTime.
I was discharged from hospital in December 2020 and had to get used to having a stoma and coping with colostomy bags. Apart from a couple of mishaps, I seemed to manage. Early in the new year, I started a three-month course of chemotherapy. This had a cumulative effect from which I took some time to recover. I then asked my oncologist, a senior consultant, to refer me to a new consultant to review my case and advise me about the possibility of having a reversal operation. The new consultant advised waiting a year from the original surgery before undertaking anything further. Later, he recommended carrying out the reversal in two stages: first, in January 2022, to join my colon and create a temporary ileostomy, using the same stoma as for the colostomy, and, secondly, in May 2022, to reverse the ileostomy. These surgeries were successful, and I now feel back to normal.
While having a stoma and having to use bags for the colostomy and ileostomy was a challenge, I found it something I could cope with without too much difficulty or embarrassment. I am, however, glad that my reversal works well and that I no longer have a stoma or need bags.
I previously had prostate cancer in 2007 and, after two encounters with cancer, I am fortunate still to be here. I would recommend going to see a GP if there is something wrong, rather than putting it off, and asking to see the best consultants available.
