Mother just diagnosed Stage 3 rectal cancer

I had something similar. Radiation and chemo before surgery to try to reduce the size of the tumour. It was difficult. The fatigue was much worse than I expected. But once it was gone I felt much better and then had the surgery. Mine was staged at 3 but I wasn't told that until after the surgery and was based on them finding it in three lymph nodes involved. The chemo did not make me lose my hair or become nauseous. The radiation wasn't bad at all. I took warm baths in epsom salts and made sure I didn't use my seat heaters in my car so I could sit on the cold seat after each treatment. I swear that's why I didn't burn. the surgery was 2 1/2 years ago and I'm now up to having checks (scopes becuase I have an illeostomy) every 6 months and have had no recurrence. I'll find out on Jan 30 if the spots they've found in one lung have grown. They found them last year but don't know if they're mets or not because I'd had a blood clot in that lung the year before and it could be scarring from that. So far they're very slow growing, whatever they are. I can't have a biopsy because I'm on blood thinners due to the blood clot. So it's possible I've beaten my cancer but even if the spots are mets I expect to be around for a good long time.

I hope this helps.

Jan

Bethers1010 said:

Thank you all

We are starting chemo next week and are schudeled for an MRI next week as well to stage it better and then start radiation.  I am glad to have this process geting started as she is eager to get better and fight this.  Did anyone have any bouts of diarrhea with treatment? she is already having diarrhea due to how low the mass is in the rectum and how much it is clsoing off the rectum.  I am trying to prepare the bag she will be carrying with her and have no idea what to include in it.

That's a joke in the subject line.  

Treatment, radiation or chemo, has different side effects for different people, so I can't say what your mum will or won't go through, but lets just say that diarrohea is one of the more common side effects, as is.......constipation. Yeah, from one extreme to the other. 

That brings me to my 'joke'.  It wouldn't hurt to get a pack of Depend or some other brand adult underwear.  I have a saying 'Depends are my friends'.  I could not have survived radiation without Depend underwear. 

You may also want to have ready some good quality creams or oils, as radiatoin burns the skin around the anus and the surrounding area. My favourites were Burt's Bees Vitamin E & Lemon Oil, Aubrey Organic's Pure Aloe Vera.  There is also an adult diaper cream called Balmex, if things get really bad.  - Not to be used on before going in for radiation. The skin has to be clean and free of any oils, creams or powders. -

I also recommend a Sitz Bath. 

I don't want to scare you, but it is also good for you mum to be prepared for some serious pain. It may not happen. There are many here, how have just breezed through radiation, but for me, well, I won't go into it unless you want me to.  I just know that I was grateful for the member (passed on now) who warned me about the pain. Not that it really prepared me, but at least I wasn't totally freaked that something was terribly wrong. 

It is the same drug, effect is the same when it comes to cancer cell, pill converts to 5 FU in the body.

Quality of the life is much better with pill, to receive iv drug, one needs pic line, there was one patient in my group that had pic line, it requires more time in hospital , where pill is taken at own convience, there is less side effects with pill as per Mayo clinic.

I dont have much side effects, my oncologist was voriying about hand foot disease when I mentioned to her burning feet, but didnt happan, last couple of days my leg muscless started to hurt after my daily walk, so today I took magnesium and calcium pill, and the pain is gonne, I feel less tired.

I have feeling that every thing is shrinking behind my tail bone, no pain.

Bethers1010 said:

Depends are now HER frineds

Thanks Turbrit, i would like to know about the pain you experienced, just so I am prepared to help her however I can.  We saw the oncologist today and received our receipe.  she will get Capecitabine + radiation therapy 5 days a week for 6 weeks.  the dosage on the pill is going to start out at 3 pills 2x a day.  Has anyone ever had experience with the pill vs. the pump.  I know she is worried about side effects and also having to take so many pills a day(she is not a pill person).  From looking at the handout on the drug, it looks like the side effects are pretty much the same as with the 5FU pump. Any information would really help keep me up to date.

thank you

 

Again, I want to emphasise that not all patients experience the same side effects. I do know others that expreinced the same as I did, but I think for the most part, the majority of patients, well the ones who post here, had a much easier time during radiation. 

The pain.  I remember reading a post where our friend (now passed on) said how he kept a clean wash cloth by the toilet to bite down on when he went to the bathroom. I remember thinking 'Really?'. And I found out, REALLY!  The pain was equal to contractions while giving birth, except it happened over and over again - as in ten or more times a day - day in and day out, week in and week out.  I was totally exhausted from pain. I literally, and I mean LITERALLY, would crawl from the bathroom to the chair.  

I have suffered much pain in my life, including a C-Section without anesthetic (yeah, you read that right), and the pain during radiation surpassed that horror. 

The awful thing was, I would have these contractions, that worked their way down the colon, and then at the end, a tiny bit of viscous material would plop into the toilet bowl, when it felt like I was surely passing a bowling ball. 

I did lose my hair during radiation. I looked like Gollum, and ended up shaving my head. I think the hair loss was a result of the 5FU as opposed to the radiation, or proably a combination of both. 

I also suffered terribly neuropathy in my hands and feet. In the end, my 5FU was stopped because of the severity of the neuropathy (See pictures of my hands). Don't let your mum's hands get that bad.

I apologise for the large picture. I tried to make it smaller, but it is not working. 

If your mom is going to be doing 5-FU pump and not Xeloda pills, try to get a medical port installed.  It's much easier to deal with than a PICC line which has an IV stub external to the body and has to be covered when showering and flushed weekly.  A medical port is completely under the skin so no covering for a shower, and is flushed monthly or during treatment).  The use a bent IV needle to access the port and tape it down with tegaderm which is a waterproof covering.  The port also helps to preserve the veins because it empties into the vena cava, a really large vein, rather than a small one in your arm.  Traci