I was absolutely horrified by what I read there and arranged an appointment at Burton to discuss my treatment options. I chose to go to the Christie in Manchester for treatment as it’s closer to Burton than Basingstoke. Scans, colonoscopies and blood tests ensued and on July 4th, 2011, I had full cytoreductive surgery with HIPEC at the Christie. I was the first patient in on of their new operating theatres and appeared in the local paper! My surgeon was Mr Wilson.
I awoke to find I had an ileostomy (albeit temporary), major depression, chest infection and an e-coli infection. I spent three weeks in hospital and received amazing care in the Christie. My rehabilitation was slow — it took me a long time to get used to stoma bag.
In January 2012, I had my stoma reversed. In the following November, I had an umbilical hernia operation at the Christie which unfortunately was unsuccessful. It had been keyhole surgery but the hernia was huge. In July 2013, whilst on holiday in Cancun, Mexico, my bowel became trapped in the hernia repair mesh. I had necrosis of the bowel and had to have 2m of bowel removed and an air ambulance home!
In October 2014, my amazing partner, Laura, found out she was pregnant. In May 2015, my hernia was successfully repaired and on July 18th, just over four years after my operation, our beautiful daughter Isla was born. Don’t give up hope!
– Paul
Paul and Isla
In case you missed it...
Jennifer tells us about Jim’s diagnosis
Jim's surgeon's secretary (for his appendectomy) called him and told him they needed to make another appointment because they "had found something". Thank G-d I decided to go to that appointment! The surgeon came in and told Jim, "You have appendix cancer and I don't...
My pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) was picked up on an ultrasound scan
CT scans showing the cyst getting bigger with each scan and a final scan showing fluid in my pelvis, the doctors thought I had a burst cyst. An MRI scan showed the fluid still there after 2 months where it should have been absorbed by then should it have been a cyst. The Christie Hospital in Manchester where straight away doctors diagnosed it as pseudomyxoma peritonei.
I thought I had a kidney infection
I feel great. I was worried about catching colds and things without my spleen but I’m as healthy as I was before. My son and husband have caught colds but I have not which is normal for us. I have caught a sickness bug from my son since surgery but I recovered quickly with no problems and again compared to what I’ve been through, it felt like nothing.
My appendix was just removed due to a 4 cm mucinous appendiceal neoplasm. Surgeon now wants to remove part of colon and lymph nodes. Just trying to figure this out.
Whatever you do follow this up. My husband has his appendix removed in 2012 – same as you. We were never told to follow up because the surgeon supposedly removed everything. Now in 2016 he has full blown PMP and is now in the U.K. for treatment
Hello
My mother needs to undergo Cytoreduction and HIPEC surgeory.
I need to understand if this stoma bag.Will this be fitted for all the patients who undergo this surgery . If so what will be the duration of the stoma bag
Hello Ashish,
I’m sorry to read about your mother and I hope her surgery goes well. A stoma isn’t usually fitted for all patients. Some patients have one, some don’t. Some have one temporarily to allow parts of the bowel to recover after surgery, some have one permanently. For a temporary stoma, the duration would depend on how long the bowel is expected to take to recover. In my case, I had a stoma for about 14 weeks.
Hope this helps
Kind regards
Angela