Colon Cancer Recovery

The time it takes for colon cancer recovery depends on the extent of the treatment. The type of treatment depends on the stage of colon cancer and when it is initially diagnosed. As a rule the more extensive the treatment, the longer the colon cancer recovery.

Surgery

The most common and most invasive colon cancer treatment is surgery. In preparation for the surgery, the patient should consider a colon cleanse as this will help to make process faster and easier. During this procedure, the surgeon will remove the cancerous tumor as well as some healthy colon surrounding the tumor to ensure it has all been removed. In addition, the lymph nodes closest to the tumor are also taken out. The surgeon then connects the two ends of the bowel on either side of the resection. If the cancer is in the lower bowel the rectum is removed. As a result a colostomy is performed.

Recovery After Surgery

For those patients who had colon cancer restricted to the outer most layer of the bowel, no further treatment is usually needed. In this case, survival is upwards of 80 percent. The patient undergoes the typical recovery time as any other surgical procedure. Normal activity can resume usually 6 to 8 weeks after surgery as long as the patient is in good health and there are no complications. Some delay in colon cancer recovery can occur for patients who have had the rectum removed. Doctors normally give special instruction on how to deal with the colostomy during colon cancer recovery.

Recovery After Chemotherapy

If the colon cancer has spread to the lymph nodes and is embedded well within the colon walls both surgery and chemotherapy are required. The medicine used to kill the cancer cells in chemotherapy can significantly prolong colon cancer recovery. In a best case scenario, only microscopic cancer cells remain. As a result the chemotherapy can be directed only at that area with the cancer cells. In this situation, colon cancer recovery time is fairly rapid. For patients that have severe metastasis, a longer regiment of chemotherapy is required. Colon cancer recovery is this case is lengthy and complete recovery is not promising.

Use Of Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy is only used to treat rectal cancer. The radiation can be administered either before or after surgery. Use of radiation therapy seriously diminishes the length of time for colon cancer recovery. Without radiation the patient has a 50 percent chance of developing colon cancer in the future. This percentage drops to only 7 percent with radiation. Radiation does have bad side effects including pelvic hair loss, skin irritation and fatigue. As a result the colon cancer recovery rate is a bit longer with radiation as compared to surgery without radiation.

Alternative Therapies

There are several different treatment options that are less harmful so colon cancer recovery is faster. Using antibodies to seek out and destroy tumor cells is one such therapy. Lasers are another way to destroy cancers. Photodynamic therapy can also be used. This treatment uses a light sensitive medication that is absorbed by the tumor and ultimately leads to its destruction.

Surgery is the favored method of treatment for colon cancer as it is aggressive and quickly removes the offending tumor from the body. Alternative therapies are only used when surgery is not an option.