Helping a Friend in Need
- Actress Jodie Sweetin, who played Stephanie Tanner on the hit shows Full House and Fuller House, is supporting her stylist-turned-best friend Shannon McClure through a rectal cancer diagnosis.
- Sweetin started a GoFundMe for McClure with other close friends to help McClure through this scary time fighting this disease, which can be particularly hard for patients given the area of the body.
- After colorectal surgery, your sex life is typically not affected, which is important for patients to knowespecially younger patientssays a leading expert to SurvivorNet.
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Shannon McClure was diagnosed with rectal cancer after a recent history of Chron’s disease, which is a type of inflammatory bowel disease. After debilitating symptoms, “Mama” McClure, as Sweetin calls her, was diagnosed with stage 3 rectal cancer in December and had surgery a week after her diagnosis, according to her GoFundMe page. Her friends have been encouraged to send her “a healthy amount of ridiculous memes” related to her rectal cancer diagnosis, which is a great way to ease the stigma of the disease and make it more comfortable for everyone to address. Many patients have a hard time disclosing this type of disease to friends, so raising awareness is a beautiful thing, which will in turn help others with a similar diagnosis.
McClure is in the process of undergoing 12 rounds of chemo, and will then see how much “Helen,” has shrunk. Helen is her tumor, which she lightheartedly said she hoped would finally be a size zero at the end of the treatment process.
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“It’s crazy that when you go through the hardest times you really find out who cares about you,” the wardrobe stylist wrote in an update. “What a blessing to have people hold you up when you need love and support. I wish I could read all the comments and comment back, but it took me over an hour to write this. I want you all to know, I AM OK, I WILL GET THROUGH THIS, but I also want to be honest about my journey. LOVE YOU ALL and if you can donate or share this fund, I would appreciate it.”
Living with Colorectal Cancer
Colorectal cancer, which is bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is any cancer that affects the rectum and colon.
The American Cancer Society estimates there will be 104,270 new cases of colon cancer and 45,230 new cases of rectal cancer in the U.S. just this year alone.
Dr. Heather Yeo, a surgical oncologist and colorectal surgeon at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center, talked with SurvivorNet about living with colorectal cancer.
“One of the most exciting things about my job is that we’ve made a lot of progress on treatment options,” Dr. Yeo says. “However, patients are still– while they’re living longer, they are still living with colon cancer, and so I think it’s really important that we talk about how some of the things in your life affect you. So talk a little bit about diet, talk a little bit about the environment, talk about what you can do to improve your length of life, and improve kind of how you interact with your disease.”
One of the major concerns from colorectal cancer patients, especially younger patients, is how surgery will affect their sex life. Sex may be the furthest thing from their mind while going through it, but as the person gets over the initial blow of the diagnosis, and begins to heal, or adjust to living with the disease, these are valid questions to discuss with an oncologist.
While doctors typically recommend you don't participate in any sexual activity immediately after a surgery, most people can expect to be back to normal after their recovery period.
“After general colorectal surgery, your sex life is not affected,” Dr. Yeo says. “I mean, except for around the time of recovery, we obviously don’t want you to pop any stitches.”
Related: 'It Ain't Over,' Says 73-Year-Old Suzanne Somers About Sex After Cancer
However, with rectal cancer, there are some risks associated with taking out part of the rectum. Men may experience erectile dysfunction or retrograde ejaculation, and women may have fertility issues.
“Women can have a harder time getting pregnant after they’ve had pelvic surgery,” she explains. “So if I have a young woman who has colorectal cancer, I have them meet with this fertility specialist to talk about what they can do and whether or not they can preserve their ovaries.”
Your Sex Life is Probably Going to be OK After Colon Cancer Surgery
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