August 2024
I am 77 years old and had surgery and radiotherapy 25 years ago to treat endometrial cancer.
Just before COVID started I became incontinent of faeces. I saw my GP, who agreed I seemed to have a problem and made an urgent referral to a colorectal clinic. Within two weeks I was seen by a nurse who agreed I had a problem and gave me an enema kit and told me to give myself an enema every morning.
Fifteen months later I was seen by a consultant who arranged all sorts of tests, and during the follow-up consultation, I was told that my condition was so bad that I needed a colostomy. He was surprised to see that I had a hysterectomy 25 years previously for endometrial cancer and informed me that if they had known this I would have been seen earlier, but my notes had gone missing. I only had five sessions of radiotherapy but it was enough to finally paralyse my bowel.
I feel resigned about it. The colostomy has given me my life back, but I cannot help but wonder if I had been seen earlier by a doctor, might the outcome have been different?