Your colon and rectum are part of your intestines (also known as your bowels). Your intestines are a tube covered with muscles. You have no control over these muscles. They automatically tighten and relax to push food from your stomach through to your rectum. The food waste leaves your body through an opening called the anus.

Your colon is the first 6 feet of your large intestine, and your rectum is the last 8 inches to 10 inches of your large intestine. The waste from food you eat passes through your colon into your rectum.

The walls of your colon and rectum are made up of layers of tissues. The inner layer is called the mucosa. This is the layer next to where food waste passes. It is from cells in the mucosa that cancer usually starts.

The outer layer of your colon and rectum is made up of muscle. This helps to move food waste (known as

 

 

 

 

 

feces
Feces are also called stools or bowel movements. They contain what is left over from the food you have eaten and other things that your body wants to get rid of.

 

 

 

 

 

feces) through your colon, down to your rectum and out of your body.

Sitting next to the blood vessels near your colon are groups of lymph nodes. These are small collections of cells that are part of your

 

 

 

 

 

lymphatic system
The lymphatic system is the body's way of clearing and cleaning unwanted materials from the blood and tissues. It includes an interconnected network of lymph nodes that filter these materials to see if there is an infection that will require response by the immune system.

 

 

 

 

 

lymphatic system. This is a network of tubes and lymph nodes that helps your body fight off disease.

Your rectum and anus are surrounded by a ring of muscles called your sphincter muscles. Sphincter muscles enable you to empty your bowels. The more of these muscles that you still have after surgery, the better the chance that your bowels will work normally.

As soon as food waste enters your rectum, you get an urge to go to the bathroom.

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