Pete Hill worked years in the public health in London.  He then became involved in the Alzheimer’s Society.  Pete seemed to be in good health in 2021, but in November of that year, he had COVID.  When his bowel habits seemed abnormal, he initially attributed that to COVID; but while he eventually put COVID in his rearview mirror, in 2022, the bowel problems remained.  Then there was blood in his stool, which he later learned was an indicator of bowel cancer.

 

Pete soon went in for the colonoscopy that revealed the presence of bowel cancer.  Part of that diagnosis resulted in his having to wear a stoma bag.  After the diagnosis, Pete Hill was referred to a surgeon, who said without a stoma bag, there could be leakage from his bowel.  That’s why he recommended a temporary stoma bag  On June 10, 2022, he woke up with a stoma bag.

 

He said it was quite daunting to be diagnosed with cancer and to have to deal with all the things tied to having a stoma bag and having to maintain it.  Pete had no experience with a stoma bag, said its maintenance bag required a steep learning curve, which he found worse than the cancer itself.

 

Pete Hill said he was greatly relieved to be in the care of an outstanding stoma nurse, who said he would not be leaving the hospital until he knew everything that needed to be known about maintaining a stoma bag.  Once he learned how to maintain the bag, he was hit with another challenge, that of making various dietary changes.  He also had to regulate how many beverages he could drink.  If he drank too much, that could adversely affect kidney function. 

 

As for the surgery, the doctor said 24 lymph nodes were and none were cancerous.  However, cancer cells were found in the blood vessels surrounding the tumor.  The surgeon said there was an 85 percent chance the cancer won’t return and gave Pete the option of no more treatment.  However, he recommended Pete see an oncologist for what he called “mop up” chemotherapy, in pill form, which would raise his chance of survival to 90 percent.  After speaking with family and friends, he opted for the eight rounds of  chemo, which would maximize his chance for survival. 

 

Although his having a stoma bag actually eased the chemotherapy experience, Pete still suffered side effects, while popping 20 pills a day.  His nails split and he didn’t have much energy.  Undergoing chemotherapy meant he had to keep the stoma bag longer than had he eschewed chemotherapy, but after eleven months, he was able to have it removed.  However, because his body had been functioning in a different way for eleven months, returning to the way it functioned pre-stoma was difficult.  That’s when he learned he was dealing with Lower Anterior Resection Syndrome, or LARS, which is something experienced by many people in the months after they have a stoma bag removed.  One of the byproducts is having to reverse the dietary changes he had made while having the bag.

 

After the removal of the tumor, the cancerous cells surrounding it and the stoma bag, Pete Hill says his health is about 80 percent of what it was, pre-diagnosis.  He says in large part, he is able to the things he did before he was diagnosed.