Pre-op Appt

As much as one person could want to know whats going on, Joel HATES getting an exam because they hurt. The tumor is very low and takes up about 3/4 of the rectum leaving hardly any room to maneuver. But it was a necessity so that the surgeon can know how to prepare for Joel's surgery. After the exam, Dr Huang explained to us that there was some shrinkage from the radiation and that the tumor was approx 1cm from the muscle, unfortunately she needed 2 cm to be able to save Joel's Anus.

Pre-chemo and radiation there were 2 surgery scenarios that were explained to us. 1 being that the tumor would shrink and they would be able to give Joel a temporary bag while his rectum and anus healed and everything would be reconnected at a later date or that the tumor would not shrink enough and he would end up with a permanent colostomy bag. The latter being 90% and the temporary bag being only a 10% chance. Well, the tumor did shrink but not nearly enough to get Joel where he needed to be. So after the exam we were told that she was scheduling Joel's surgery and he was sent to see a stoma nurse who explained to Joel and showed him pictures of what the stoma will look like. The nurse marked a spot just left of Joel's belly button that was right in the middle of his six pack where the stoma will be. She explained to Joel that it could takes months to get used to and get the hang of his body again but eventually he will fall into a routine and no one will even be able to tell that it is there. Either way, Joel knew he was going to have a stoma and a bag but we were just hoping that he would eventually be able to have it reversed once the 1st surgery healed but that wasn't the case. I feel Joel knew all along but it doesn't hurt to have hope.