I had the phone appt with the surgeon, surgery tentatively scheduled towards the end of May which is good timing as the biting flies emerge and can't do anything outside. I'll be glad to have the rectum chopped out, but unsure if I want to lose the colon. Life will be more difficult and expensive with the watery output without the colon, more interruptions during the night and a greater chance of catastrophic containment breaches in bed. Another unknown is how much weaker will I become without the colon for digestion. The rectum creates a lot of urgency, often ending in a mess, like this morning, and cancer cannot be ruled out.
Carol, I like telephone apts with the doctor far better than in office. There are few distractions when talking one on one on the phone as I find the doctor spends a lot of time in office entering data on their laptops, and other interruptions. I don't care for the driving in and the waiting for the doctor, its so much easier from home. I have had some very deep conversations with my GP doc that wouldn't take place at the office, there is something different without the sterility of the clinic.