An extract from Dr Anisha Patel's book
Tuesday 18 April 2023
Dr Anisha Patel was young, fit, and married to a consultant gastroenterologist and bowel cancer specialist when she was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer in 2018.
Despite being a family doctor, Anisha had no idea what would come next. With the benefit of hindsight, and after first-hand experience, she now understands that the diagnosis is just the beginning, that the treatment can be physically and mentally overwhelming, and that the hard work really starts when the treatment ends.
She has very kindly shared with us an extract of her book, 'everything you hoped you'd never need to know about bowel cancer'.
"In October 2018, I underwent an operation, initially an examination under anaesthetic, to assess whether my cancer was operable. I found contemplating the prospect of surgery tremendously nerve-wracking, and the uncertainty about whether my surgeon would be able to excise the cancer or not played havoc with my mind in the long days leading up to my surgical D-day, only serving to heighten my anxiety further.
"On account of the size of my tumour, it also wasn't clear-cut whether the chances of it being removed surgically would be increased by a course of neoadjuvant chemo-radiotherapy (treatment given before surgery to increase the chances of surgery being successful). The surgeon and oncologist involved both my husband and me in the decision-making processes, and we decided to pursue the surgical approach first, as this might possibly spare me the chemo-radiotherapy and all the potential side effects that come hand in hand with this treatment, assuming the tumour could be removed successfully at operation.
"I've never felt fear like it, adrenaline pumping through my veins, the day I was wheeled into the operating room with the anaesthetist. I was feeling out of control – my place wasn't on the patient trolley, it should be as the doctor! So vulnerable. It felt so wrong. I was sedated through tears as I went under general anaesthetic, not knowing what I was going to wake up to – the cancer gone and perhaps a stoma, or the cancer still there and needing chemo-radiotherapy before they could even entertain the tumour being removed. However, my tumour was (thankfully) deemed operable, and I underwent a laparoscopic anterior resection and a total mesenteric excision. The decision was made to give me a temporary ileostomy (stoma) from a surgical safety perspective, to allow the surgical join to heal where the tumour had been removed.
"My husband tells me that time stood still for him as he paced the corridors in the hours I was away from him in theatre. I, on the other hand, woke up bleary-eyed in the recovery room with beeping machines surrounding me, unaware of my fate. My hand slowly moved towards my belly, knowing I had to firstly find out whether surgery had taken place and secondly, whether there was a stoma.
"Through the curtain my surgeon's head appeared. He smiled, the tumour was gone, removed in its entirety, and the relief was palpable. Yet this was just the beginning."
- Purchase 'everything you hoped you'd never need to know about bowel cancer'
- Read more about Dr Anisha Patel's experience of bowel cancer
- Follow us on Instagram for a chance to win a signed copy. You can find full terms and conditions of the prize draw here
Pictured above: Dr Anisha Patel
Pictured below: Dr Anisha Patel's book 'everything you hoped you'd never need to know about bowel cancer'. Follow us on Instagram for a chance to win a signed copy in conjuction with Sheldon Press.
