-
13 months after completion
I was stage 2 . i am still having trouble on my left side of anus. tumor was on the right side. have bumps and inflammation. can not sit for very long. cannot do fast walking for exercise. sweat really irritates. have to apply lantaseptic, aquaphor to go out. have to use KY Jelly to have BM. still have 3-5 Bm's each day.…
-
Anal Cancer Foundation
Hi Everyone-- I have learned through one of my forums that three people, the Almadas, who are siblings and the children of a woman who died from anal cancer recently, are starting an Anal Cancer Foundation. I spoke at length on the phone this past Saturday with one of them and am so very impressed by their knowledge and…
-
thanks
Again, thanks for words of encouragement. I am allergic to benedryl, however. But Dr. Chiu gave me 2 new meds on Thursday, 1 a cream called Regenecare, which stings like crazy going on, then it numbs it a bit. Then he also gave me a pain patch called Fenadryl which I leave it on for 72 hours at a time, so I've been getting…
-
PET Scan Coming Up
Well, my first PET scan since treatment ended is coming up on Wednesday and the anxiety is overwhelming. I was anxious to have it done asap but now I'm thinking that if the news is bad, I'll just be back in a world of despair. My treatment ended in April and the CT scan in July showed that my pelvic lymph node, which was…
-
Will i lose my hair
I have already purchased a wig and hats because i was told it most likely would. my hair is long and when i brush it more hairs seems to be coming out but nothing that is noticable. it doesn't matter to me whether i lose it or not. i just want to get well. i guess i am a little surprise my hair is still there. everyone…
-
looking for the foolproof (ha!) chemo/rad survival tricks (insider knowledge)
I am headed to MDA-Houston tomorrow to begin treatment. I have been reading this board and find the support here and information here very valuable. I will just put out the request to give me what helped you get thru the treatment the best and what do you wish you had known then that you know now?
-
almost done
Hey y'all...one more week and the rad is done!! Good news today, my lab was almost perfect. My white blood cells were at 1.9 when I started, they are now 10.0. ABC is up to 7.3, hemobloglin up to 2.7hemocrit up to 37.8. My paletlets are only 71, but they were in the 20's just weeks ago. My onc told me that my body produces…
-
How fast does it spread?
Hi, So, when my mom was initially diagnosed, it was good news as it was a cancer that spread "very slowly". Does anyone have any idea as to what that means?? As I'd mentioned in another post, we learned that it had already spread to lymph nodes and the liver. The odd thing is that she had a pet scan last Jan as she…
-
Another bump in the road
Hi, I'm 3 months post treatment, I just had my first p e t , which did not see any cancer left, but the doctors want to do a biopsy to make sure. I am fine with all of that, butI now have swollen lymph nodes in the lungs. They were going to do a needle biopsy but now want to do an open biopsy because it is not safe to do…
-
only 3 more rad txments left. yesssssss
Hi everyone, I only have three more boosts of rad txments left, for a total of 28 txments!!!!!! I am sick, tired and burnt, but thankfully I see the end of this part of the nightmare!!!! Just a few weeks ago I really didn't understand why they use the term cancer survivor, boy do I know now. Thankfully I have had the…
-
Rectal Cancer Rate Increasing in Young Adults
(Since there is no rectal cancer board, i chose to post this article here instead) http://abcnews.go.com/Health/CancerPreventionAndTreatment/rectal-cancer-rates-rising-young-adults/story?id=11463628 Using data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) cancer registry, Dr. Joshua E. Meyer of New York…
-
burning
Hi, thanks for answering. The burning is mostly when I pee, when I have a BM it's just like sitting on glass. I'm almost done with radiation, so I'm hoping the "sunburn" will go away. What's should I expect after radiation? I really have no clue. Melodie
-
3 wks into treatment
Hi Y'll. Okay, I'm 3 weeks into treatment and boy do I hurt!! Imagine going to the beach nude, on the hottest day of the year, and falling asleep for 5 or so hours. I am so red down there and I feel like someone has lit a blowtorch every time I go to to bathroom. I use a cream after each incident, but the relief doesn't…
-
Dry Mouth
Has anyone had a problem with a dry mouth well after chemo ended? I'm 4 months out from treatment and lately my mouth is sooooo dry I can't stand it. I thought it was from the menopause, but when I asked my gyn, he said he never heard of that before. I didn't have any mouth problems from the 5-FU while in treatment, but…
-
Got good news today
I am typing this while sitting in the infusion chair for my 3rd of 4 carbo/taxol treatments. I got the results of Mondays PET scan today. Apparently the chemo is doing its job as there was not a sign of the pleura thickening on the PET. Got this news from the med/onc. She was delighted. She recommended that I proceed with…
-
ct scan results spn
Hi everybody, I received my ct with contrast results to check out my spn (solitary pulmonary nodule) in my lung. On 5-4 the pet-ct showed a 7mmx8mm spn and on 8-11 the ct with contrast showed a 11mmx9mm spn. I will have a consult with a thoraic surgeon on 8-31 to see what the next step is. This dr told my oncologist if its…
-
Need to talk to Anal Cancer Survivors who are Post Treatment.
I had the most bizarre appt with Radiologist today. I'm 3 months post treatment. I went in to Rad's office for follow-up. This Rad did not examine me once during my whole entire 6 weeks of treatments meaning she never saw any of my burns. Now, she examined me after everything had healed up. When I told her about the…
-
Chemo-more specifically_
My specific question is about Mitomycin vs cisplatin. All my research says mitomycin is the gold standard, but her rad/onc last week said we were going to have a hard time convincing this chemo dr otherwise....We are at MD Anderson and this chemo doc has been on every study confirming mitomycin........but that she will…
-
chemo
My sister was diagnosed 4 weeks ago with stage III anal cancer. I am of course going somewhat blind into this thing trying to help- getting as much info as possible. I found your message board last weekend and have learned more from you all in that short amount of time- than I have in a month of research. She had her first…
-
weight loss
HELP!!! I need to know what is the best weight gain plan. I topped off today at 86.2...not good. My skin is hanging off me, I'm wearing the Hannah Montana collection, for Gods Sake, and they are too big. I eat bagels with cream cheese, pudding, oatmeal, cookies, ice cream, sherbet, I drink Ensure every morning, but the…
-
1st p e t results
So I got my p e t results today. The doctor said nothing lit up or was a red flag, but she wouldn't say there was NED. She wants me to have a biopsy to make sure. She said that the p e t scan does not sometimes give a good view in the anal area. Has anyones doctors ever said that? However I have 2 lymph nodes in lungs that…
-
Newbie
Finally ran across this site & really enjoy reading all the info so HAD to join. Im 51, diagnosed with stage 3b rectal C. in May of this yr. Underwent 28rds of Radiation treatments along with Xeloda.PET scan showed spread to 2 LN, liver ok. Have me going back Aug 31st to look and set up for surgery Sept 15th if it has not…
-
thanks for peptalk
Thanks so much for getting back to me on this. Trace (my husband), does try to understand, but yeah, a bottle of water and a bowl of pudding is not all I need right now. He works out of town Mon - Fri, and when he's home on the weekends, I try to make everything as normal as possible. I either sleep too much, or not…
-
anal rectal cancer
Hello to all. I hope you are doing well. I have read a number of postings, particularly Philly AC(/) and would like to add a few things based on my experience. I was diagnosed in '03 with stage 2 anal rectal cancer. A short but agressive program of chemo (FU5) and radiation for 8 weeks. I have extreme and unusual responses…
-
Advise
I am a 10 year anal cancer survivor. Anyone else out there this long? Side effects now showing up are very severe diarrhea. Can not control. Anyone else experiencing this? Nothing helps.
-
Have any of you LADIES experienced this?
For the past several weeks, but much more frequently now, I have been experiencing a very weird, sensation in the vaginal area, specifically right in the clitoris. (Sorry if TMI, but this is a little embarrassing talking about this, but I've got to find some answers). This may sound crazy, but it almost feels like some…
-
PET scans
Hi y'all, as you know, or maybe not, I'm fairly new to all this. Where I should be going itno week 5 of radiation, I'nly finishing week 2, due to hospital interruptions. What is a PET scan, and should I ask ny doc when they start? Thanks, Melodie
-
Does the ripping every end?
I have been cancer free for a year (go me!) but I am still struggling with fissures almost everytime I have a bowel movement. I take colace daily. I will admit I have been slack with the water lately but I am having a lot of mucus recently, some of the discharge not well controlled. I haven't really had those types of…
-
Tiffanys ??
Looks like we've been HIT again! I reported it. I only wish I could afford TIFFANY's with all my doctor bills!
-
A Possible Remedy for the Broken-Glass-Through-The-Butt Syndrome
I was given a suggestion by another anal cancer survivor who suffered from an anal fissure and I tried it and WOW what a difference! She told me when I'm ready for a BM, sit on a sitz bath filled with very warm water (hot enough that I could bear it), relax (read a book or magazine) and release the stools in the sitz bath.…