Anyone else have the tumour growing on the outside with ulcers on it?

Hi Janet, 

I totally understand your fear, I to was very fearful 4 months ago when I started chemo-radiotherapy however, there is nothing to be fearful of. You will get through this with the help of your medical professionals, family and friends. The treatment is manageable and passes by quickly. Believe it or not, once you start treatment you’ll feel better. You will just be focused on completing each day and dealing with the side effects as they arise. Everyones different, the side effects build up gradually so you probably won’t notice much for the first week or two.

I didn’t have a stoma but there will be people on here that did/do so I’m sure they’ll come back to you.

I had quite a large tumour that was very near the skin surface. I didn’t know it was there and ended up in A&E when I had a very painful abscess. They drained the abscess and took a biopsy. The surgery didn’t heal prior to my treatment and was sore. The only relief I could get was soaking in the bath, so I had a lot of them! My oncologist told me I’d notice an improvement once radiotherapy started and his was right. After about a week, the pain from the abscess and biopsy had pretty much gone. So I’m hoping something similar will happen to you.

Good luck for your op on Tues. I can imagine this in itself is scary. You just have to keep going and remember that everything is temporary and the treatment is highly effective and curative. 

I had a total response to the treatment, my tumour has gone. 

Keep talking on this forum. As I’m sure you are aware, this is a rare cancer so there's not many of us out there. The people on here understand and can support you. Also consider contacting The Anal Cancer Foundation, a charity who provide a peer to peer support programme. I used the programme and found/find it extremely supportive. 

https://www.bing.com/search?q=theanalcancerfoundation&pc=cosp&ptag=G6C999N0765D010417A316A5D3C6E&form=CONBDF&conlogo=CT3210127

Sarah X

Hi and thank you Sarah. Sorry for not getting back to you sooner, as you will have realised I have had the colostomy and was released from hell Fri. eve. I am staying at my friends/carers. Will be seeing oncologist on Tues. & having ct mapping but I have been told I need to try to not be so emotionally depressed & psychologically unstable otherwise my treatment could be delayed. Sorry if I am not making any sense, am still catching up on sleep deprivation from hospital & am stinging & sore. Will reply when I feel a bit better. xxx

In response to your post 28 October a bit late in responding!  When  my tumour was picked up I had put off going to the doctor for about six months.  I obviously had more than piles!  My tumour was outside my anus on the skin - perianal, perineal tumour. Did it grow from the front to the.back or vv?  Noone knows, but it doesn't matter now because it has  been  gone now for nearly five years!!

My tumour started to shrink from the second week of chemoradiotherapy and continued.  You can be lucky like me!  Hope springs eternal!  Where there's life there's hope.  Keep hoping.  Mxx

Thank you Happylady, pleased to hear you responded to treatment so soon and all clear since. My tumour started just inside my anus but within a few weeks started to grow outside. It keeps having ulcers on it and sometimes they rupture. I have also had an abscess right next to the tumour and a fissure just inside which has a discharge & often bleeds when I clean the area.

Did you have ulcers on your tumour? I have been told it will start to get better during treatment which hopefully starts on the 26th of this month. It is bad enough sitting on the tumour but with it being so sore it has made me cry often. I have had a colostomy formed last week so as to not aggravate the area, plus it was beginning to block my passageway. 

I just wondered if what I am suffering is common with anal cancer and if anyone had any advice.

Wishing you all the best for a rosey future.

Janet x 

I didn't have a stoma, but then again it was never mentioned - although I had severe pains and problems after the initial biopsies.  The pain was much worse than the initial symptoms, so I can sympathize!  Remember crying in the middle of the night and wondering if there would ever be an end result - but there was.  Hopefully your stoma will have provided relief in the short term and perhaps it will be reversed in the future after your treatment has finished.  Wasn't offered one but I am sure that I would have accepted if I had.  Had a 60 mile round trip every day for the 28 days for my chemoradiation!  Found sitting for the journey virtually impossible, even with the ''foam donut" provided by my son.  It really didn't help cos the hole didn't seem wide enough to relieve any pressure on my bottom!  Spent all my journeys up and down the motorway naked from the waist down sitting on a towel on top of a cushion!!  Hopefully we were never stopped!  Hope that soon you will have some comical memories to look back on from your treatment.  Take care.  Hoping to hear of your progress soon.   Mxx

Hi Janet, 

Prior to my biopsy & subsequent cancer diagnosis in February this year the results from my initial examination by the lower colon team at my local hospital was that I had a polyp externally & an ulcer internally, in hindsight this ulcer was on the internal side of the tumour & the polyp on the external side! I’ve since had my tumour removed surgically & a course of chemo radiotherapy as ‘mop up’ treatment. I was very lucky that I was diagnosed pretty early, hence the removal of the tumour prior to any treatment. My first set of post treatment scans appear clear & DRE’s performed by both my oncologist & surgeon have been recorded as ‘normal’ 

Hoping you’re getting to grips with your recent colostomy & your treatment will be underway soon.

Take care

Nicola x

Thank you M. & Nicola, it is really nice to hear from people who have had similar experiences and receive words of encouragement and understanding. Thank you so much for your time in responding to me.

I am feeling a lot better now & have not cried since Sunday. I have got use to the stoma but still very sore around the tumour & anus & pain in my lower back from sitting on the tumour. I do have a donut ring but can not sit on that for long because that also causes pain across my hips. I have an approximate 80 mile round trip to appointments & for treatment.

I was talking to someone today and mentioned that I will have to make the journey on Christmas day for treatment. they mentioned turkey can't remember what exactly, but I replied, I have the parsons nose! my first joke about it all. Hopefully by Christmas the tumour will have shrunk & sitting will be more comfortably.

Yesterday, I had an appointment with the stoma nurse and found out that I will always have to be careful about lifting anything heavy, due to being cut through the muscle wall & the risk of a hernia. I also have a herniated disc pressing on the femoral nerve and was not very happy about this news. Earlier this year I treated myself to a brand new mobility scooter that comes apart & fits into the boot of my car. I could only just manage the two heavier pieces but now it looks like I will be unable to keep my independence.

May the future for you both remain good, healthy and happy.

Janet. xx

Hi Janet,

It’s good to hear things are settling down a little concerning your mood & the stoma. 

I’m lucky that the hospital I received my treatment at is just a 20 minute drive door to door but know of several people that have had fairly long journeys to & from their treatment centres so I feel for you having the prospect of that journey every day. I’ve recently met a lady receiving treatment at the same centre as me that has stayed over Monday-Friday in accommodation close to the hospital, would that be an option for you even if it’s just for the last couple of weeks when you’ll probably be feeling pretty exhausted? 

Honestly my sense of humour & the support received on this forum has got me through this whole thing.

It’ll be sad if your independence if affected by the fact that you’ll no longer be able to lift your mobility scooter in & out of your car, there must be someone that could offer a solution or help you out with a way around this! Maybe see your GP & see if they have any ideas on who could help you in finding a solution, it just doesn’t seem fair that you should lose your independence when you get through the other side of your treatment. 

Do you have a start date for your treatment? 

Take care

Nicola x

Dear Janet, was so pleased to read your last post, and to learn that you are now coping, and not so despondent and emotionally and psychologically worried about the future that it would have compromised your treatment.  I know it is not easy!  Loved your comment about the parson's nose!  You are obviously on the road to recovery, and accepting what has happened is a big part of the journey.  Well done!  I don't know how old you are or whether you are on your own. Will try to not waffle on too much.  When I was diagnosed at age 67 in November 2013 I had spent almost 3 decades worrying that I had some terrible illness, after a positive smear test and subsequent cone biopsy, and after got the all clear!  Spent years, not worrying all the time, but worried about aches and pains!  Not a hypochondriac but on the fringe!  

When I was diagnosed I realised that I couldn't change the diagnosis and had to accept what was to come, but that I was going to give app that I could to get through it!  My younger sister had fought through womb cancer 2 years before in 2011, a lot more unwell than me and was hospitalised several times, when her body just couldn't cope with the treatment!

When it was my turn I thought you just have to get on with it!  Don't know how or where I found the stamina, but I was determined to get through the whole process of treatment.  Didn't know how hard it would be.  I won't lie, it was horrible and I wouldn't wish it on anyone!  But it had to be done if I was going to come through and I decided to try my hardest.

I know that it won't work for everyone, and that makes me sad and I don't feel complacent that I have come through the process.  But please believe that you can do your best to get to the end of the treatment.  If you can get through with belief and hope that you be healed at the end of the treatment that is all that you can hope for!

My only wish for you is to look forward and not back!  Keep a positive outlook and please don't worry.  Whatever will happen will and worry won't help you to get through!  Spent too long worrying about what never happened!  When it was real, acceptance was the only thing that helped me get through!  There was no way I could change it..  Don't  question why.  It is what it is and you just have to get on with it - with a bit of a fight!!  You'll get there!  Keep hoping and trying.  Mxx

Dear M, Thank you yet again. I accepted the diagnosis of cancer very well, it was the stoma that really threw me off course but now it is done I have had no choice but to get on with it and can even appreciate the reason for it being done now. I suspect it all happened so quickly too. I am 62 and also had pre cancerous cells on my cervix many years ago which were lasered off. No problems since, until 5 years ago when I was diagnosed with precancerous cells of the anus. 

I am concerned that I was diagnosed 14th Sept. & still waiting for treatment, I have been given a date for the 26th Nov. whereas I read others on this site are starting treatment much sooner. All the while my tumour, bearing in mind has been growing onto the outside of my anus now for about 7 weeks, is getting bigger sometimes by the day. It also seems to change shape almost by the day too.

Another set back. I started replying to you last night as I had not been on the site for a while, and the tumour has started bleeding quite heavily. I am still having injections to prevent blood clots so that could be a reason why there is so much blood. I called 111 & they called an ambulance for me but then the bleeding stopped so I cancelled the ambulance. But while I was asleep I had another heavier bleed, just really pleased I had put a really big thick pad on.

I can not wait to start treatment, especially if it shrinks the tumour so soon, I know everyone is different, but it is so sore & painful and causing my herniated disc lots more pain because I am no longer sitting for the comfort of that now. I am however due for steroid injections in the facets of my spine & an epidural on the 21st of this month. I am just hoping I do not have too many of the side effects & that they will not be severe I feel I have suffered enough. 

I have just reread your reply and am really grateful for your kind words of wisdom and agree with everything you have put. Yet I seem to have slipped backwards a bit, I am sure it is just a blip because of this bleeding & I will bounce back very soon.

May your health continue.

Janet. xx