Newly Diagnosed

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Comments

  • Tushygirl
    Tushygirl Member Posts: 28 Member
    ginatom said:

    How to clean off the salves

    Hi everyone!  I'm probably starting treatment in a couple of weeks.  Can someone say real clearly how you cleaned off the Aquafor and other things every day before treatment?  Obviously you can't be scrubbing.  Do you use something special to remove it?  With special wipes?

    Also did anyone get one of these little bidet attachments that "wipes" you with just water?  Was that helpful or awful or something in between?  I see many advertised if I google portable bidet, and they're not THAT expensive.  And does it NOT cause problems with fecal material going forward into the vagina?  I can't quite imagine it all!  

    I used a bidet attachment.

    I used a bidet attachment.  It was great at first but then because I did not have an electric one, the water was too cold and caused more pain.  What I really did find helpful was a shower wand attachment that I could regulate how strong a stream it was.  It needed to be a weak stream of Luke warm water.  It was the only way I could keep clean.

    unscented wipes are also a necessity.  so far I have gone through over 600 of them and I amstill using though I am slowly transitioning to toilet paper on my 3 week of healing.

  • ginatom
    ginatom Member Posts: 44 Member
    Salsify said:

    peri bottles

    No contortions needed! just aim and squirt! ;-)

    Thanks everybody. Guess I'll

    Thanks everybody. Guess I'll be getting a peri-bottle! 

  • tanda
    tanda Member Posts: 174 Member
    ginatom said:

    Thanks everybody. Guess I'll

    Thanks everybody. Guess I'll be getting a peri-bottle! 

    ginatom

    I also sat is a sitz bath several times a day and, during the last week or two and a few weeks after, I lay in the bathtub and was soothed by the warm water.

    I began with Aquaphor and as the pain increased, the nurses gave me Aquaphor mixed with lidocaine and Domboro soaks

  • Wisteria83
    Wisteria83 Member Posts: 160
    tanda said:

    ginatom

    I also sat is a sitz bath several times a day and, during the last week or two and a few weeks after, I lay in the bathtub and was soothed by the warm water.

    I began with Aquaphor and as the pain increased, the nurses gave me Aquaphor mixed with lidocaine and Domboro soaks

    Domboro

    I asked about the Domeboro soaks and the dr. said he didn't want me to use it because it was an astringent, which meant it would dry the skin.  The ONLY thing he wanted me to use is Aquafor.  I WISH someone offered it to me with lidocaine in it!  I would have been bathing in it!

  • Tabbysmom12
    Tabbysmom12 Member Posts: 8
    Aquafor

    What is everyone doing to keep the stains off your clothes or underwater. I use pads when I need to go out but that doesn't cover the area higher up on the crease of your legs. I am trying just gauze pads right now but they don't stay in place. 

  • Mollymaude
    Mollymaude Member Posts: 431 Member
    Tabbysmom

    I never felt good enough to go out at that stage! But I wonder if a depends diaper type thing would work? Or if you could get a roll of gauze and wrap it around your upper leg in the crease?

  • ginatom
    ginatom Member Posts: 44 Member
    ginatom said:

    Thanks for THAT Salsify

    I will look into these peri-bottles.  It's hard to imagine getting into the right position to use them, but obviously people are using them.  

    I, too, said "colon cancer" to the first few people I told, but I did some de-sensitizing on the word ANAL and ANUS and after a couple of weeks started being able to say it out loud.  I feel like it's helpful to desensitize these words.  Then again, I didn't have to go to an office every day and talk to people who I wasn't really friends with - I think I'd just stick to colon if I did.  The only problem with that is that right away everybody knows someone who had colon cancer and did such and such, and they tell us all the details to be helpful, and it's irrelevant as it's a totally different disease.  So now I say I have "anal cancer caused by the HPV virus, which I didn't even know I had".  Somehow that makes it easier and maybe even more helpful.

    Got my PET Scan results and

    Got my PET Scan results and there's no evidence of metastases from either the old breast cancer or the new anal cancer.  So that's GOOOOOD!  Nice to have THAT happy moment!

  • Wisteria83
    Wisteria83 Member Posts: 160
    ginatom said:

    How to clean off the salves

    Hi everyone!  I'm probably starting treatment in a couple of weeks.  Can someone say real clearly how you cleaned off the Aquafor and other things every day before treatment?  Obviously you can't be scrubbing.  Do you use something special to remove it?  With special wipes?

    Also did anyone get one of these little bidet attachments that "wipes" you with just water?  Was that helpful or awful or something in between?  I see many advertised if I google portable bidet, and they're not THAT expensive.  And does it NOT cause problems with fecal material going forward into the vagina?  I can't quite imagine it all!  

    Cleaning off salves

    I went on Amazon and found pure cotton polishing cloths.  They came in a 6 pack of two ply 11"x17" and are like a super soft tee shirt fabric. The cost was around $8.50 and well worth it, IMO.   I sat in the tub and G E N T L Y wiped with warm water.  Some of the little folds required a wet Q-tip. One small area at a time, then I patted dry with a fresh one and used a blow dryer on cool setting to dry completely before dressing.  I had instructions to remove the salve 4 hours before treatments, but since my treatments were at 10 am, I didn't do it at 6 am.  It was more like 7:30-8:00.  

    If you decide to get these, when you wash them, don't be tempted to use fabric softner even though you might think it will make them softer.  The softner makes them less absorbent for some reason, and as long as you put them through the dryer and don't hang them to dry, they will be plenty soft enough without an additive.

     

     

  • Wisteria83
    Wisteria83 Member Posts: 160
    ginatom said:

    Got my PET Scan results and

    Got my PET Scan results and there's no evidence of metastases from either the old breast cancer or the new anal cancer.  So that's GOOOOOD!  Nice to have THAT happy moment!

    Celebrate!!!!!

    What fabulous news!  I'm SO happy for you!  

  • mp327
    mp327 Member Posts: 4,440 Member
    edited May 2017 #51
    ginatom said:

    Got my PET Scan results and

    Got my PET Scan results and there's no evidence of metastases from either the old breast cancer or the new anal cancer.  So that's GOOOOOD!  Nice to have THAT happy moment!

    ginatom

    What wonderful news!  I am SO happy for you!  Time to celebrate!

  • Mollymaude
    Mollymaude Member Posts: 431 Member
    Ginatom

    Wonderful news, what a relief!

  • ginatom
    ginatom Member Posts: 44 Member
    Thanks everyone!

    I think about all of you all the time now and hope for comfort and success.  Tomorrow I see the rad onc for the first time and I guess I will get more info about staging and their recommendations.  Then sending my stuff to UCLA for Brachytherapy consideration.  Decision time is coming up, and I'm feeling nervous about it off and on.  Love to you all!

  • tete1715
    tete1715 Member Posts: 14
    Hello everyone I'm new to

    Hello everyone I'm new to this site and just been diagnosed with anal cancer can anyone help me with this

  • mp327
    mp327 Member Posts: 4,440 Member
    tete1715

    I welcome you here, but am sorry you have a reason to join this site.  Please be more specific about what you need from us in terms of information and I can assure you, you will get lots of support.

  • Wisteria83
    Wisteria83 Member Posts: 160

    Aquafor

    What is everyone doing to keep the stains off your clothes or underwater. I use pads when I need to go out but that doesn't cover the area higher up on the crease of your legs. I am trying just gauze pads right now but they don't stay in place. 

    Tabbysmom

    I had hoped to just be able to wear boxers and skirts, but because I need to wear a pad due to leakage and incontinence, I've found it necessary to wear underwear too.  Pads and boxers just don't work together.  I did manage to find underpants that have no elastic at the leg which hold the pad but still fit loosely where my thighs meet my groin so there is no chafing there. They are similar to boy shorts that are popular now, but looser.  The burns there and the aggravated, itchy hair follicles there would have made the elastic unbearable.  Buy some loose, cheap underwear that you don't care if you never see again.  Save the quality stuff for when you are healed!  (On a side note, the itchy hair follicles can be helped somewhat by Hydrocortisone 10, but my dr. said not to put it on the burns)

    Since my spirit and my wardobe are still stuck in the '70's, I have an abundance of gauze Indian skirts, which I have found to be the most comfortable clothing to wear, especially now.  Better than sweats or leggings.  

    I actually just Googled, "How to remove Aquafor stains from clothing." and I was surprised at how many other people asked the same exact question.  The majority of answers said to use Dawn Dishwashing Liquid.  Some suggested Mix it with Baking Soda, or Peroxide.  Some people swore by OxyClean Max Force Spray, while still others said to use a pre-wash spray like Shout.  EVERYONE said, if you already put the clothes through the dryer, forget about getting the stains out...they are there for the duration.

    Sorry I can't be more helpful.

    ~Wis

     

     

  • ginatom
    ginatom Member Posts: 44 Member
    edited May 2017 #57

    Tabbysmom

    I had hoped to just be able to wear boxers and skirts, but because I need to wear a pad due to leakage and incontinence, I've found it necessary to wear underwear too.  Pads and boxers just don't work together.  I did manage to find underpants that have no elastic at the leg which hold the pad but still fit loosely where my thighs meet my groin so there is no chafing there. They are similar to boy shorts that are popular now, but looser.  The burns there and the aggravated, itchy hair follicles there would have made the elastic unbearable.  Buy some loose, cheap underwear that you don't care if you never see again.  Save the quality stuff for when you are healed!  (On a side note, the itchy hair follicles can be helped somewhat by Hydrocortisone 10, but my dr. said not to put it on the burns)

    Since my spirit and my wardobe are still stuck in the '70's, I have an abundance of gauze Indian skirts, which I have found to be the most comfortable clothing to wear, especially now.  Better than sweats or leggings.  

    I actually just Googled, "How to remove Aquafor stains from clothing." and I was surprised at how many other people asked the same exact question.  The majority of answers said to use Dawn Dishwashing Liquid.  Some suggested Mix it with Baking Soda, or Peroxide.  Some people swore by OxyClean Max Force Spray, while still others said to use a pre-wash spray like Shout.  EVERYONE said, if you already put the clothes through the dryer, forget about getting the stains out...they are there for the duration.

    Sorry I can't be more helpful.

    ~Wis

     

     

    Same here with regard to

    Same here with regard to leakage, constant, because of the fistula - need to always have a pad there.  Guess I'll go shop for new cotton underwear that will hold a pad.  Also bought washable chux pads for  . . . whatever.

  • Tushygirl
    Tushygirl Member Posts: 28 Member
    ginatom said:

    Same here with regard to

    Same here with regard to leakage, constant, because of the fistula - need to always have a pad there.  Guess I'll go shop for new cotton underwear that will hold a pad.  Also bought washable chux pads for  . . . whatever.

    I found my husband's knit

    I found my husband's knit boxer briefs worked best for me.  They were tight enough to hold what ever type of pad I needed at the various stages, were soft and the longer leg didn't irritate the blisters in my leg creases.

  • StruTanToot
    StruTanToot Member Posts: 126 Member
    Gay male also

    Hi David:

    I very much identified with the concerns in your post. I am a gay male also and actually  think other gay males are the hardest to tell. Not sure why I feel that way. I think it's because I've know some gay men who have spoken disparagingly about other gay men with HIV or "anal warts." 

    At any rate, I tell people that I had coleo-rectal cancer. A person doesn't usually probe any further. Once in a while, someone might ask a more probing question, and then I try to give off the vibe that I don't want to talk about it.

    I think it's a very personal decision. I admire people on here who can talk openly about it. I think that's beneficial, but it's not something with which I'm comfortable.

    All the best...D

  • Jane s
    Jane s Member Posts: 77 Member
    edited August 2017 #60
    I jsut read through all these

    I jsut read through all these postings, thank youto all of you, it is so helpful to hear form others who have or are going through what I'm goign through.  I also feel embarrassed to say "anal" cancer and I feel like everyong thinks I've been having anal sex, not that anyone has the right to judge me for that, but it feels embarrassing, like i'm exposing something private.  I like the idea of sayng it's colo--rectal, like skin cancer that moved into the colon.  Maybe I'll try that.  

    As for creams, I switch around depending on how things are feleing "down there".  Aquaphor is the best, I also use prep h, the lidocaine cream, somehing called ane-cream the doctor gave me.  I also was using wipes but finally jsut started keeping a spray bottle with water in it next to the toilet and spraying the toilet paper.  Works great and is better on the pipes.  Apparently those "fluhsable" wipes clog up the sewers.  It's been 8  months since my treatment and dry toilet paper is still not an option after a bm.

    My son is 10 and just had his first HPV vaccine and it felt really good to know he will never have to go through what I'm going through.  He's my reason to keep fighting to stay alive.  I can't stand the thought of leaving him.

    Love this group, love reading through the posts.  Sending good wishes to all of you!