Proctocolectomy

I had my second appointment with my oncologist yesterday who scheduled me to start chemo on Monday.

But then today I had my second opinion with a surgeon at University of Maryland and he suggested removing my entire colon. He's worried that because of my age if the colon is not removed I have a very high chance of recurrence. So confident that he definitively said I would get cancer again.

This operation would not require me to have a bag, which is good. My small intestines would be hooked up directly to my rectum. The downside is that I'd have diarrhea like stools for the rest of my life and probably have to use the bathroom 5-8 times a day. He was adamant that the colon come out. The next step, from his opinion, is for me to have an endoscopic ultrasound (I'm learning so much!) which will determine the depth of my rectal tumor.

Basically, this test will determine my course of treatment. Chemo/radiation then surgery then more chemo/radiation? Or surgery then chemo/radiation? I meet with him again next Tuesday to discuss the results to the endoscopic ultrasound which I'm having tomorrow.