4 weeks past treatment

Scubajoe

Hi there,

I was diagnosed with anal cancer on October 13th. I had a small protrusion which I thought could be a external hemorrhoid and went to my GI who did a MRI followed by a colonoscopy with a biopsy. I went to him 6 months earlier and nothing was there so it seemed to really come up quickly. Not sure how it would have grown so quickly though but I usually am well aware of my body and did not have any issues there during the first colonoscopy. When they did the MRI it was about two centimeters in length. Anyway things seem to progress quickly it's all a blur now I had 30 days of radiation treatment and two weeks of chemotherapy with the fanny pack. I did not have a ton of side effects and the worst of the pain occurred about 2 weeks out after radiation. Currently I am 4 weeks post radiation and my skin has healed up nicely it was never burned very much. I am finally able to do a little bit more around the house. Today I actually made it to the gym for 30 minutes for some light work out as well as taking pictures of some birds by the lake for about 40 minutes so today was a busy day for me compared to usual. I hope to be able to keep up this level of activity and increase it as time goes by. I think my biggest concern now is radiation enteritis and how long that can last. I am still weaning myself off the Oxycontin currently taking 10mg in the morning and 10 at night. Bowel movements are still somewhat soft but not diarrhea. Never had any issues with diarrhea through the process. I do have a lot of mucus and liquid discharge from my anus as I observe in the depends that I where when I leave the house. 30 days past radiation I went for a follow-up where the doctor did the digit test which I'm not sure how common this is but he puts his finger in my butt to feel around. He said he still feels some abnormal area about the same size as a tumor but much decreased in height. He says this is fairly common anybody else had any experience with this? My second question would be around the mucus discharge and the liquid and how long it would be before I see that decrease and get two more regular bowel movements. Thank you for any help you may be able to provide.

Mollymaude

Scubajoe

Welcome to the site and congrats on being done with treatment. Yes the DRE (digital rectal exam) is the gold standard to tell if the treatment was successful. My doctors told me that they felt it was even more accurate than the post treatment CT. The radiation can continue to work for the next 6 months so the area your doctor is feeling will likely be completely cancer free in that timeframe. There is a lot of inflammation and scar tissue right now. I hope your enteritis clears up but a lot of us have had bowel issues to some degree after treatment. I became lactose intolerant so it might be worth a try to cut out lactose and see if things get better. It took a couple weeks off lactose to notice a difference. You can try probiotics too but for me they didn't help much. Avoid raw veggies, salads and greasy fatty foods which may make it worse. It was nice to hear how you spent your day today, it sounds really nice getting outside. It made me remember how low my energy level was, you have to spend it wisely! I also remember days I had pretty good energy followed by days I was wiped out which felt discouraging. It does get a lot better though , hang in there!

mp327

Scubajoe

Welcome.  I'm glad you are done with treatment and that you had few side effects, as compared to other people.  I hope you continue moving forward in your recovery.  The lingering side effects you are experiencing are within the norm and I hope they will subside with time.  I wish you all the best as you get further out from treatment.

Scubajoe

mp327 said:

Scubajoe

Welcome.  I'm glad you are done with treatment and that you had few side effects, as compared to other people.  I hope you continue moving forward in your recovery.  The lingering side effects you are experiencing are within the norm and I hope they will subside with time.  I wish you all the best as you get further out from treatment.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Scubajoe

Timing?

Any idea when liquid will stop dripping from my rear? Also or any guys out there if I masturbate I get the sensation but nothing comes out.  Is this common and will it heal?