back from MD Anderson

sephie

I am 13 months post tx for anal c. just had procto and blood work. all good. still have inflammation and pain on left side of anus (tumor on right). thought i felt a bump but apparantly is scar tissue. Dr. said might need another year to heal radiation damage then if not healed after that probably permanent. I am amazed at you who were able to go back to work so quickly. i could not sit for long periods of time for over a year after. I still lie down in back seat for long rides. I still cannot do fast walking for long periods of time due to pulling of tissue. but am working on that. i only write this so that others will see that everyone is different. and that improvement within 2 months is wonderful. sephie

z

Sephie
Hi Sephie,

Good for you and your good results. Yes everyone is different in how they heal. I wish you continued good news. Lori

mp327

Hi Sephie!
I'm glad to hear that your exam and blood tests were normal. I think for some of us, things will never be the same after radiation--I believe I am one of those people. But the good news is I have learned to live with it. I hope you will still see some improvement.

lizdeli

mp327 said:

Hi Sephie!
I'm glad to hear that your exam and blood tests were normal. I think for some of us, things will never be the same after radiation--I believe I am one of those people. But the good news is I have learned to live with it. I hope you will still see some improvement.

Sephie
First of all congratulations on your 13 months of NED! That is wonderful. I'm sorry you are having radiation after effects. You are absolutely right, everyone is different and we never know how or when the radiation is going to affect us. I had really weird pains in groin, hips and legs, but fortunately it subsided. I guess so much depends on location and size of tumor and just how our bodies react.

I am sending you healing thoughts.

Liz

ranelle65

differences
Sephie, it's good to hear that you are 13 months outside of treatment and recent tests were good. I agree people heal at different rates...I worked all but 2 weeks of the 5 scheduled weeks of radiation; I had to take two weeks off because my groin area surface skin was so burned I could not wear clothing...it also meant that my radiation was put off two weeks, so I didn't finish until week 7...but I got it done. Yeah! Also, after my 3cm mass was removed from the anal area, I was able to sit and walk with no pain...matter of fact, the "donut" that a friend loaned me to sit on was more uncomfortable than just sitting on my chair, on my butt. LoL. And, in all the discussions I've read from people with anal cancer, I think I've been the only one posting anything about having a green discharge either from my urethra or vagina. My pcp dr says it might be infection...the referred to gyn dr says it is probably normal for radiation...and I just think there is something going on that they don't want to treat. I am waiting until the 24th when I see my onco dr again to see what he has to say about it.

My point is that while everyone has different healing times, our side effects of the treatments seem varied as well. I just hope that someone diagnoses why I have this nasty yellow-green discharge and have some cramping in the low abdominal area. I pray that you continue to get well, and stay healthy.

Ranelle

princessrobin

Happy for you
You know I am happy for you, booty buddy. Keep on healing.
And thank you soooooo much for our little talk and your advice.

sephie

princessrobin said:

Happy for you
You know I am happy for you, booty buddy. Keep on healing.
And thank you soooooo much for our little talk and your advice.

thanks
It has been so wonderful to meet you---wish the circumstances were not for this stupid horrific anal cancer. I did not even know about this site until Tish told me . so you can teach an old dog new things. I love your photo. I do not know how to put a photo on here. showed it to my Husband and he just roared. This photo shows your great attitude. PS remember all the pain starts calming down pretty quickly after the radiation stops.